Hi -- We are planning an overnight trip to my grandparents in a couple weeks. I will need to have my son sleep in his play yard, which he has never done before without the bassinet feature. I noticed the "mattress" is really hard, does anyone have any recommendations for making it more mattress-like? It is a cardboard with a thin pad, and I don't think it will be comfortable for him since he is used to his crib mattress. Maybe a piece of foam or something? I just don't know where to find it...
Thanks!
i got some fleece & put it under the sheet i have for the mattress (so it is held firm against the mattress) i just got it from the fabric store, you only need a yard or so depending on how big your pack n play is. at one yr old though you shouldnt have to worry about suffocating because they are mobile enough.
My son uses his pack and play as a travel crib and does great. We did get an extra mattress pad for it - but just one of the thin ones, nothing too padded. He doesn't seem to care. I do have one kind of strange tip for you. If you will be sharing a room with him and are worried about noise or too much light - try setting up his pack and play in a closet! My MIL has a large walk in closet off the guest bedroom which we use. My son is used to his very quiet and dark room and seemed to have a hard time sleeping till we put him in there. We just kept the door slightly open and it basically became his little room at grandmas. I know that kind of sounds bad that we put him to bed in the closet, but I swear he was much happier there.
My daughter goes between the 2 all the time with no problem. I do not think the firmness will cause him not to sleep. Whatever you decide, I would stay away from foam, to easy to sufficate on. If he gets his face pressed into the foam it would be very hard to breath!!
Our baby sleeps in his pack/play whenever we're at Grandma's house. If your baby has never slept in it before, I would try to get him to take at least 1 nap in it before going on your trip...also in a different room than he's use to sleeping in. Essentially, you're training him to sleep somewhere other than his room and his bed.
Yeah, it's probably not as comfy as his mattress, but I don't think putting foam or extra padding in it is a safe idea. Your baby will probably protest it b'c it's out of the norm, but hopefully he'll settle in for the night. Also, let your baby play in it maybe 15-20 minutes per day as well to become even more comfortable with it. At first, our baby had trouble and cried b'c it wasn't his crib; but, now I think he knows that when he's at Grandma's, that's his bed.
You could try an egg foam mattress, I think you can find something like that at Wal-Mart or Target in the camping section, maybe even the sewing section. My son will have to stat sleeping in his play-pen here pretty soon and you actually made me think of something that will work for me as well as you!! Thanks and good luck.
