Is a Portable Crib Good Enough for Newborn Baby?

I would use the portable crib...and I would also be asking around to see if anyone has a crib to borrow or buy one at a used store, they are very nice! We had 3 kids in 3 1/2 years. It was so nice having the older in cribs not roaming the house. I was tired enough from the new baby, having a newly transitioned sleeper was not something I was up for.

My two boys are 21 months apart in age. Although we had the big boy bed in place and my oldest was taking naps in it, he ended up sleeping in the pack and play at night until he was a couple of days shy of his second birthday.

What about a bassinet or a cosleeper that goes next to the bed? These would allow the baby to be close to you for night time feedings. I would be a little worried about all those mattresses. Seems like a saftey hazard for a newborn and the risk of SIDS.

Also try www.onestepahead.com. They have great things for babies. You could find something there for your little one.

Have your considered a bassinet or cradle for the first couple months and in those couple months moving you older child to a toddler bed. A portable crib would work but I don't think it is as good of an idea as a bassinet and moving older child shortly after baby is born. The older child could easily move to a toddler bed he will be 2 by that time. Plenty old.

S.

I have used a portacrib for 2 of my 4 children since they were newborns & find it easier than a crib. Only because of space wise I could take w/if we go on trips & stuff. My 23 month old just learned how to climb out of the portacrib & sleeps in a regular big person bed now.
I used the newborn attachment to the portacrib until they learned to turn over about 3 1/2 ~ 4 months then took the attachment off. Hope this helps =)

Sure it would work. I have a friend who had her baby sleep in a drawer for a few weeks. She pulled it out of the dresser and put in tons of padding and put it on the floor. She had ordered a crib and there was a problem getting it in time. She also is a unique individual, so it really didn't surprise me.

Unless you have a fussy baby, they will sleep almost anywhere.

My boys are 19 months apart. We used the pack n play bassinet for the first 3 months. 2 months after the baby was born, we transitioned the 1 year old to his big boy bed...we took the mattress from the crib, so the crib was still set up, but going back to the crib wasn't really an option. Then a month later we transitioned the baby to the crib...so it wasn't like we were taking the crib directly from the older one for the baby. worked out well.

A portable crib is fine for a newborn. Just check to make sure that there has not been any recalls on the one you have. Just a suggestion, you might want to try and start moving your 20 month old up to a big boy bed. It is going to be hard on him when the new baby comes. Everything changes when you add a new baby. If you can already have him sleeping in his big boy bed now before he does start to climb out, you & your husband will have an easier time when #2 comes. He's not going to feel like he is moving out of the crib because of the baby. He will be 2 by the time the baby comes so you can start out slow and take your time. Get a play tent for his naps during the day and set it up some place where you know that the new baby is not going to be while he is napping. A new routine now will not make it seem like it's the baby's fault that he is not in a crib or his room any more. Just think ahead of how your sleeping arrangements are going to be once the baby arrives and start changing things around now. At 2 years old, most kids understand that their routine is changing because of the baby. Some have a very hard time and resent this. If things are in place before the baby comes then they feel it's because they are "big" not because the baby is here.

S.,
I had the same problem when my daughter was born. My son was 26 months and I didn't want to kick him out of his crib, when he was perfectly happy there. We looked at buying another crib or having the new baby sleep in a portable crib. We decided to do the portable crib, to save money really. She slept there for almost a year in our room for most of the time, just because her room was far down the hall from our and our sons room. When my son was three we gave him a big boy bed and he graciously gave his BABY sister the crib. I wouldn't invest in another one unless you do the 3 and one convertable so the new baby has a bed that can follow him as he grows.
Good luck with your decision,
K.

Do it! We did the same with our two boys who are 18 mos. apart. After my little guy got too big for the pack & play we put him on the crib mattress and my older son on a twin mattress. Both were on the floor. It did look a little strange--but the boys loved it at the time.

Our eight month old has been in a pack n play since she was a newborn! Why not???

If you do decide to buy a crib, check out Craigslist or www.napervilleyardsales.com. There are a lot of nice, used cribs for a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Yes, you can use the portable crib for your newborn. We did the same thing when we had our second child...18 months after our first. We didn't have the room for a second full size crib (only a 2 bedroom home at the time) and our porta crib worked out perfectly! We also got the thicker mattress and it was wonderful. The only thing I noticed, was that as he got older, you can hear his every move. I don't know that you should add two mattresses, just use one of the thicker ones that you can buy to fit.

Also want to add, that my oldest son loved his crib...don't rush him out of there. Your newborn will be perfectly happy in the porta crib for many many months. I think ours was in there for 9 months, and he was very very happy.

Good luck!

Your portable crib should be fine for now. Putting the new baby in a portable crib is a common thing to do when you have two kids relatively close together. Just make sure that your portable crib has never been part of a recall if it's an older model. Your other options are to borrow a crib from someone (This is what we did on our 2nd child. Our kids were 20 months apart.) or buy a relatively inexpensive crib for the new baby from IKEA.

It's fine. Our twins slept together in a portable crib for the first few months.

that will be fine for the baby until at least that old. But please do NOT change the mattress or add on in any way from what the manufacturer put in there. The ones in there are perfectly safe and healthy and fine support wise. Adding anything on could cause the baby to suffocate as the pack and play was not made for any other mattress to work with it.

That worked out fine for us. We had to buy a new mattress because the one that came with it was to flimsy. My daughter stayed in there until she reached the maximum weight. Good luck.

Hi S.,
My older daughter had already graduated to her toddler bed when my second daughter was born so I had the crib all ready. Unfortunately, she is now 18 months old and has never slept a single day in the beautiful crib. Every time I put her in there, she became completely hysterical. So, she went from the bassinet to sleeping in the pack n play. She's on the flimsy little mattress that it came with and she sleeps great and is perfectly happy and healthy.

I would agree with some of the others moms that I would be VERY careful about adding an extra mattress for support. Sounds like that could be a suffocation hazard. Good luck!