# Pack N Play questions- safety concerns



## Dazedstella

My new pack n play just arrived today. it's going to serve as her bassinet and then crib in our room as I plan on room-sharing and likely co-sleeping part time but I really want to have space to put her down in that isn't our bed for times we want a little bed privacy or relaxing sleep (or when DF is in there alone because he is way too deep of a sleeper to co-sleep well at all). I really like it except I have two questions/safety concerns-

just for reference this is the the particular PNP I got- http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=3417592

1. so it has this newborn napper thing- made of fleece and not flat- I feel like this isn't a safe sleeping safe given the risk of SIDS for having soft fabric near their face and having them not completely flat. I don't know though- am I being paranoid? Plus is this is the only part that is a COMPLETE pain in the ass to put together just to take back apart in a couple of weeks. So I am not sure if I should just trash this piece.

2. When you put them to sleep in the bassinet part do you leave the changing table piece attached? What if they roll under it? Is there enough space under the changing table piece to allow adequate air flow or should I take the changing table piece off everytime I put her to bed?

Thanks for any thoughts you have.


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## prettyflwrs

FYI - your link just take people to the home page for Toys R Us. Not a specific pack n play.

other then that, we used one for my DD who is now almost 3. I did take the changing table off when she was napping in the bassinet, but it was more of a personal choice thing then me really being worried about her safety.


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## Dazedstella

thanks prettyflwrs- I fixed the link- I don't know why it did that.

that's kind of what I was planning on doing but I wasn't sure what most people did or if I was going to make my self crazy doing it all the time.


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## LittleLlama

I would say there's plenty of air flow under the changing pad, the whole side is mesh. Most of them "hinge" off to the side too, so they're not too hard to get out of the way anyhow.

As for the fleece part not being flat, in what way? The sleep positioners are like logs to the side of a baby which that one looks like (the sides go up). If babe can roll, it's time to take out the napper anyhow. The risk of SIDS starts to go down once they can roll too. As long as the actual fabric isn't billowy so that it could fold over your babe, it should be good.


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## 3pink1blue

actually, sleep positioners increase the risk of sids. i would not use anything like it, in my own bed or otherwise.
they are made of foam, and baby can suffocate using them, by rebreathing their own oxygen depleted air.

http://www.kidsindanger.org/fac/2001_Andy.asp


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## MamaMonica

Moved to Family Safety.


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## soxthecatrules

FWIW--- don't 100% count on your babe wanting to sleep in the bassinet feature of a pack n' play. DS hated it. We had to put him in his crib as we have a waterbed. I know of a couple of other families this happened to.


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## mormontreehugger

I've been looking at getting one of these too to avoid buying a bunch of furniture that won't last that long and won't be used that much (hopefully) as we plan on co-sleeping. I don't understand the thing hanging under the bassinet part... What is that exactly?


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## mormontreehugger

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3pink1blue* 
actually, sleep positioners increase the risk of sids. i would not use anything like it, in my own bed or otherwise.
they are made of foam, and baby can suffocate using them, by rebreathing their own oxygen depleted air.

http://www.kidsindanger.org/fac/2001_Andy.asp

I found a picture of this sleep positioner and it was under the baby's butt, well away from his face. Could that have made a difference? I was fully planning on getting something like that to keep baby safe in our bed while we figure out the best co-sleeping arrangement but I don't want to buy anything unsafe...


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## Anastasiya

Never never never put a child to sleep in a pack n play with the changing table still attached - whether that be in the bassinet part or the floor of the PNP. Children have accidentally strangled/hung themselves by getting their necks caught under the changing table and the frame.









http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recal...play_yard.html
_"When children are placed in these portable play yards when the changing table is still in place, they can crawl under and lift the table up. If this occurs, a child's head and neck can become trapped between the changing table and the play yard rail, causing a strangulation hazard. "_


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## Dazedstella

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mormontreehugger* 
I've been looking at getting one of these too to avoid buying a bunch of furniture that won't last that long and won't be used that much (hopefully) as we plan on co-sleeping. I don't understand the thing hanging under the bassinet part... What is that exactly?

that's the actual bassinet- the other thing that looks bassinet-y (the white thing with the canopy) is the newborn napper thing that is causing me concern. The bassinet part hangs about a foot down in the PNP and goes the whole length of the PNP. (I think anyway, if I understand you correctly) Then the next layer down is the bottom of the PNP.

To the other posters- I figured leaving the changing table on was a bad idea ( I doubt I would have let myself do it even if everyone said it was ok) but because it didn't say anything about it in the information that came with the PNP I thought I would ask. I am mostly concerned about the fleecy newborn napper thing. I think I likely will just trash that part and just use the bassinet and then the actual PNP.

Thanks!


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## RunnerDuck

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sancta* 
Never never never put a child to sleep in a pack n play with the changing table still attached - whether that be in the bassinet part or the floor of the PNP. Children have accidentally strangled/hung themselves by getting their necks caught under the changing table and the frame.









http://www.consumeraffairs.com/recal...play_yard.html
_"When children are placed in these portable play yards when the changing table is still in place, they can crawl under and lift the table up. If this occurs, a child's head and neck can become trapped between the changing table and the play yard rail, causing a strangulation hazard. "_

This is kind of old news.

When my son was a baby you could get the pack n play 2 ways - with the 3/4 size bassinet and the nice changing table, or the full size bassinet and the crappy flimsy changing table. The 3/4 bassinet it lame but the changer is nicer.

My memory is a little fuzzy - ok, that's a lie, my brain is like oatmeal - but I am pretty sure that they made this combination up because a few people had this changing problem and since no one has any personal responsibility any more they just wanted to make it impossible to put the changer one while the bassinet was in. I *think* you can't put the nice changer on over top of the 3/4 basinet - it will go on the size it's not on... the flimsy changer, I think maybe it just fits lower so you can't put a kid underneath in the bassinet?? (This really irked me because I wanted the nice changer and the full bassinet and didn't like that Graco felt I couldn't be trusted with them together)

At any rate - the current design of the changers is, I think, safer - elevated more? - so there is even less risk - don't quote me, we're using the old one still, but I have seen the new ones in stores.

still, no, you don't want to do it just because then there's something between you and the kid and who needs that? And I don't mean that from an AP standpoint, I mean it from a practical standpoint. It's just another obstacle to work around.

Now safety issues aside - a lot of kids don't sleep well in the pack n play, top or bottom, once they reach 6 months or so. The mattress pad is so thin and hard. We had one of mine sleeping in one in our room and it just didn't work so well after a while. Same thing with my son, once he got to a certain size, he didn't sleep well in the PnP.

Supposedly - I just learned this - they do make after market thicker mattresses you can put in - of course not being made by the manufacturer you will have to weigh the risks and benefits... lots of people use them. But we ended up putting a crib in our room and the baby starts the night in the crib now, then moves to our bed when I go to bed - and we move her in and out as her actions determine.







She was in bed with us all night last night, but when she starts poking eyeballs that doesn't happen. We like our eyeballs.


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## Anastasiya

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RunnerDuck* 
This is kind of old news.

Old or new, the OP obviously wasn't aware of it...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RunnerDuck* 
At any rate - the current design of the changers is, I think, safer - elevated more? - so there is even less risk - don't quote me, we're using the old one still, but I have seen the new ones in stores.

If the changing table part still flips over to be removed while Baby sleeps in the bassinet, then no, it's no safer. I don't know how her model works, but the strangulation hazard doesn't have to do with the space between the bottom of the changer and the top of the bassinet (in other words, leaving a bigger gap down there doesn't make it safer). The hazard is in Baby lifting up the flip-over side of the changer and getting a head/neck trapped between the changer and the PNP rail itself.

As far as I know, companies just recalled their items to issue new sticker warnings; they didn't actually change the way they were making them.

As for the PNPs being uncomfy, I'd have to agree. They also seem flimsy to me....I prefer the Arm's Reach Cosleeper.


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## RunnerDuck

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sancta* 
Old or new, the OP obviously wasn't aware of it...


I specifically meant the news article you linked to was old news, not the changer in or out issue - wasn't meaning to make the OP look clueless.







There have been definate design changes since that time. Still probably not the *best* idea to use both at once - but if the baby is small enough for the bassinet in the linked PnP, they shouldn't be able to do much if anything with the changer portion anyway - if they can, time to move out of the bassinet part.


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