7.28.2009

Baby Trend Pack n Play vs. Graco Pack n Play (in Deco)

Baby Trend Pack n Play (Orange Oak)
Price: my playard came from BRU, however, it is no longer on the website and I do not remember the price. Walmart has this item on their website for $109.98

Once again I chose this item because I liked the way it looked.


Pros:
-lovely music box/night light/vibration device
-has wheels to make it easy to slide across the floor. also has locks on the wheels
-MP3 attachment option (i never used)
-once you fold it up it's easy to transport and takes up minimal space
-nice pattern (if you like orange)
-Great "parent organizer" tray
-great changing table feature. We used it well beyond the recommended weight (tsk tsk) and found that it held up nicely
-changing table has a buckle for baby
-fairly easy to clean
-a great height for me (im 5'-0")

Cons:
-plain mobile
-mobile only played music for a minute or two
-the sunshade kept unbuttoning so we took it off all together
-very difficult to fold up and unfold
-just too wide to fit through doorways

Would I Recommend: I'm torn. We used this product all the time (even on vacation), and we will use it again for baby #2, but I probably would not recommend it to others. I found it impossible to collapse by myself, and my husband really struggled as well. Again, you should play with all the playards prior to purchasing or registering for one. Looks should take a backseat to usability

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Graco Pack n Play (in Deco):
Price:$189.99



When picking out registry items, I had heard of Graco, I had heard good things about Graco, so I registered for Graco. In addition I found the Deco pattern and just about all the large baby-gear items I was registering for came in that pattern. It might be lame, but I liked the idea of everything matching (from bouncing seat to highchair).

Pros:
- The bassinet feature makes it nice to not have to bend to put baby all the way in the bottom of the play pen.
- changing table makes it convenient to change in the living room.
- nice/neutral pattern (a personal opinion of course)
- has wheels to make it easy to slide across the floor
- has a 'soothing vibrations' pack to put under the bassinet and MP3 player/soothing sounds player, etc.
- seemingly sturdy frame
-pretty easy to put together initially
- folds up fairly easy - and collapses for easy transportation
- fitted sheets available for the mattress/pad

Cons:
- the changing station folds up and down easily, but it'd be nice to have the release button on both sides (slightly difficult to put up/down with baby in hands) or on the bar/in the middle.
- canopy/sunshade is only held up by little pieces of velcro - and a pretty boring mobile (little hanging bears)
- Bassinet portion and changing station doesn't fit into the travel bag so you can't take it with you. This is poor planning on Graco's part because one would think if you're taking it on vacation it'd be nice to have the changing station.
- main support bars for the bassinet are a tight squeeze making it a little difficult to put together - but not impossible.
- has a handy changing station storage system, but not very practical for us (we use cloth diapers though, so it might work out better with disposables).
- Just SLIGHTLY too large to fit through door ways so you have to break it down if you're moving it from room to room (this involves removing the bassinet, unhinging the sides and pulling up the base - nothing too difficult, but annoying if you'll just be moving it back in a day or two).

Would I Recommend: Comparing the two reviews I feel like the main benefit is that it's easier to collapse (it's up to you whether that's worth 80 dollars). I'm pretty happy with my decision on this particular item and I'm sure it will get plenty of use out of it not just for Jude, but with baby number 2 - but I may have been just as pleased with any other brand. Really, they could have skipped the soothing vibrations pack and the music player though because I don't think batteries even made it in this particular item. It has served it's purpose as a pack n play without any major complaints though.

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