This is a great looking Pack 'N Play, which is what drew me in to start with, then I read about all the features, and liked it even more and went ahead and registered for it. Now that our little guy is 6 weeks old, I'm ready to review.
The appearance was true to the photos and pleasing. The colors are great. If you're looking for a sheet to match, try anything "natural" or "ecru" -- the hanging dogs that dangle from the bassinet top are that sort of color. Chocolate brown goes well too -- Carter's makes a great quilted one
And now for the features --
1) Changing table = awesome. So very convenient to have it right there. There are three pockets for storing necessary items on the side -- a large wipes container fits well in the center, and diapers and creams/sprays/etc fit in the other two. I have not had any problems with the changing table becoming crooked or non-level, as others have commented -- and it's been our primary changing table, since we're in the process of moving. The only downside to the changing table is that the cover/fabric portion is not meant to be removable for washing. It says to wipe it down with a damp cloth or the like. Now, the bottom of the changing table is truly waterproof, but the sides are not -- they're a very wettable nylon sort of fabric. So air-pees get them good and soaked, and it's hard to remove stubborn diaper cream that may have been kicked there by an irritated baby or spilled there by an exhausted parent.
2) "Soothing vibration" for the bassinet -- very nice, but we've used it a LOT and it no longer works reliably. We can't seem to find the loose connection, either. Jiggling the switch, the connection to the switch, or the unit itself has only inconsistent results. I haven't had time to troubleshoot it fully, but it's very frustrating when you're really hoping for that soothing vibration to help the little one get back to sleep at 2AM, and it doesn't work! EDITED TO ADD: The vibration can also be very loud when it does work. I think this is because the "mattress" has hard boards in it. We were able to quiet it down by placing a folded cloth between the vibrator and the mattress. I'm not sure I'd recommend this though, as adding extra thermal insulation over even a battery powered electric item may be a bad idea.
3) Nature sounds and music -- nice, but quite low volume. The music is really too low to hear well at all. There is one nature sound that sounds like ebbing and flowing waves -- sort of -- our LO likes this best, perhaps because the rhythmic nature of it reminds him of heartbeats in the womb.
4) Lights on the sound/music unit -- really too dim and poorly directed to be of much use. I thought they'd be great, but the one pointing inward never seems to illuminate more than a toe at best, so I usually end up using my phone or a closet light to really see the baby to check for movement/spitup/etc.
5) The bassinet itself -- super convenient to have the child up high like that, to minimize bending over. The canopy is cute, as are the dangling dogs, but they don't do much beyond look cute really. The canopy doesn't quite deploy as roundly as you might like, but it would still shade some sun if you needed it to. If you've never had a Pack 'N Play (I know I hadn't) -- the bassinet "mattress" is an accordion-folding set of boards covered in slightly padded nylon. It sits on a sort-of hammock-like support that you drape and secure over the top of the crib-like unit, and extends the full length/width of the Pack 'N Play. It can tend to lie less-than-flat if you put the baby sideways in the bassinet, rather than lengthwise, which is what my husband likes to do. This sort of nestles the baby in a very slight "V" shape of one of the accordion folds. One thing to note -- the instructions state that the bassinet portion is only good for babies up to 15 pounds. Also, some people find that the bassinet "mattress" feels flimsy to them and they want to add a mattress -- then instructions specifically warn you *not* to do this. I did, however, try to find one that would fit snugly in the bassinet or bottom of the crib just in case -- I failed. Standard portacrib mattresses seem to be just slightly off, leaving enough of a gap that we, as first time paranoid parents, were not comfortable with.
OVERALL -- It's a great Pack 'N Play if a Pack 'N Play is what you want/need. The changing table is super useful, even though the cover isn't removable for washing. The music/lights are marginally useful at best because they're very quiet/dim, but the nature sounds work fairly well. The soothing vibration may be great if your baby likes it, but our unit no longer performs reliably at 6 weeks and it can be very loud when it does work. Also note that as others have pointed out, this Pack 'N Play does not fit through a standard doorway when fully open/set up. EDITED TO ADD: Note that if you're going to travel with the bassinet attachment and the changing table, you probably won't be able to pack it all into the sack it comes with -- at least we can't. The basic playard fits, but we need a full-size duffel bag to pack the bassinet and changing table separately.
UPDATE: As much as I love this Pack 'N Play, we're extremely frustrated with the vibrating unit -- it won't work even remotely predictably now, and we really need it some nights! During said nights, I'm tempted to downgrade my review drastically, but that's lack of sleep talking.
Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Great Post!
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