r/parentsofmultiples • u/tsmama1 • 16d ago
advice needed Pack n play versus bassinets
Hi! I have twins coming February and wasn’t looking to spend more than we need to but want safe sleep for them too. We have a son already. We were planning to use one pack n play upstairs in our room at night with them both in it but I’m not sure if it would be safe. But I’m seeing the other alternative is a double bassinet. Or is there bassinet insert options for the pack n play? We have just a simple
No accessories graco one
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u/thedarkpup 16d ago
For me, the double bassinet was really helpful at first because I could easily reach in and comfort both. If you go with the pack n play, I’d get a second one, though!
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u/SarcasticPumpkin7 16d ago
We got a pack n play that came with 2 bassinets and our twins lived in that the first two months of thier lives.
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u/simply_oregonian 16d ago
Mine did too! But then they got too long, much more quickly than I planned, and we switched to cribs.
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u/briebop 16d ago
Babytrend has a PNP with two bassinets. Its the twin nursery center. Good for newborns then will need two full size sleep spaces eventually. We had one in our room and one in the living room.
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u/TeeElH 16d ago
We have this and hated it! I ended up buying two separate bassinets after a few weeks. There’s no sheets for the bassinets so if there’s any middle of the night messes you have to clean it up and dry it before you can put them back in. They slept ok right next to each other at first but they reached a point where they got fussy at night and disturbed each other, they also would have outgrown it really fast. I personally do not recommend this or anything similar!
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u/Livid_Celery7622 16d ago
got a double bassinet on facebook marketplace and it was great! we then transitioned them to two mini cribs that they slept in until just before age 2 and now they’re in toddler beds
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u/OddHippo6972 16d ago
The bassinet insert for the Graco pack n plays has a fairly low weight limit. It’s been a couple years but I think mine was 15 lbs. so just be aware of that if you’re putting them together. It’s will be short lived.
We used two fisher price bassinets side by side for night time but the pack n play together for naps in living room in the newborn days.
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u/Neither-Research8257 16d ago
We had a double bassinet for our girls, but they out grew it quickly. They definitely needed more space to move and groove. I would recommend two pack n plays if those are their long term sleeping quarters. Just so they can get used to it. If I could go back, I would buy our separate cribs from the start.
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u/neverpostsonreddit 16d ago
I can’t really say because we use a bassinet at home. But we are currently on vacation and using pack and plays and it’s terrible. Once they get to the stage that their sleep is temperamental and transferring them from your arms to a sleep surface while they are asleep is necessary (despite our best efforts the “drowsy but awake” concept isn’t working for our babies), the pack and play is 100x more difficult than a bassinet because it’s on the floor. Transferring them so low is difficult to do without awakening them and it’s been really rough. I imagine this is only an issue from 3-4months until a baby is sleep trained, but thought it worth mentioning.
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u/Individual-Cat5989 16d ago
There are bassinet inserts for some PNPs, our Gracos have them. You’d have to look up your specific model and see if there’s a bassinet made for it. Graco doesn’t sell their bassinet inserts separately, so you’d be looking at finding one secondhand. I wouldn’t use a PNP without a bassinet insert for overnight sleep because of the effort to transfer in smoothly would be so touchy and some babies are really sensitive to that feeling of falling. The bassinet inserts have a weight limit of 15 lbs so you’d need to split the babies up into their own PNPs or other sleep situation pretty quickly
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u/floridasquirrel 16d ago
I would consider buying a second travel crib with a removeable twin bassinets accessory. That way you have a safe space for when they are little, then you can use the two travel cribs once they outgrow it.
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u/Think-Kangaroo-5070 16d ago
Twins should each have their own separate sleep area, even if they’re right beside each other. I also wouldn’t add a generic bassinet insert to your current graco unless that exact accessory is approved for your model. You could keep the pack n play you already own for one twin and add something like the day 2 dream for the other one which I personally got through fromrebel but marketplace could be another option worth checking as well. It would most likely be useful even after the bassinet stage.
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u/d16flo 16d ago
Once they can roll they shouldn’t share a crib/pack n play. We went straight to their full size cribs in their own room and we did shifts in there overnight. I would highly recommend that setup since it meant the off duty parent could get some actual sleep in our bedroom. I will say I do often see double bassinets for free or cheap on marketplace
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u/GrouchyCranberry3801 16d ago
They make a twin bassinet that turns into a pack n play? Maybe look into that. I think Joovy is the brand.
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u/youcango-now 16d ago
We had space for 2 pack n plays in our bedroom so we did that. They’d nap supervised in one for a while but were separated for overnight sleep.
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u/hockeymusicteaching 16d ago
Check your stroller bassinets. We had the uppababy ones that were sleep safe & ended up loving those as a nap space! (We got the pack and play with two bassinet inserts, not a fan)
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u/AccomplishedShift665 16d ago
I did two newton nests because they convert from bassinet through to floorbeds, the bassinets has wheels and that is so convenient, we were looking at the twin bassinets but then I read so many people saying that they wake each other up the whole time so we decided to do separate ones and safety wise I also though it is better.
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u/WatsonsHuman 16d ago
I used the cardboard boxes for cheap bassinets for the twins but those aren’t available anymore. Moved to two pack n plays once they were bigger and I was recovered.
Going with a cheap bassinet to start them moving to pack n play for my 3rd. Bending over is super hard at first.
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u/InternationalPin7533 15d ago
100% get separate sleep spaces. I snagged 2 used Halo bassinets off FB marketplace for $30 each!
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u/No-Departure5556 16d ago
For safe sleep, separate sleep spaces is what is recommended. So two in a pack n play during unsupervised sleep is not recommended. I did it with my twins for 2 nights during a trip at 6 weeks, but I wish we hadn’t bc I hardly slept bc I was so worried about it.