Traveling and My 5 Month Old Hates the PNP

Niether of my boys slept in a PNP. We have always spent the extra money to rent a full size crib and bring my son's bumper/sheets/crib toys to make him comfy. A nice mattress pad will protect the baby from the used mattress. I am a clean freak and never had a mattress that was dirty or worn. Vacations are hard on little ones and you want them as happy as possible. I would not put a 5 month old on a twin mattress on the floor for safety reasons.

I have rented cribs at the beach and they are fine, safe and clean. Don't forget to bring/rent crib sheets as well! It's probably the best option to make it seem most like home.

Have you tried a mattress topper for pack n plays? We have one by MamaDoo Kids. It is perfect for travel because it folds in 3! We love ours and our son sleeps as well as in his crib.

We just had our first vacation with baby, and we used a rental crib company that delivered and set up a real crib for us. It was wonderful. The baby slept as good as at home. We paid $10 per day, and it was completely worth it. Good luck!

If he's not rolling around already, he will be soon!

We always "practiced" with my daughter by using our Pack N Play at home for the week before a trip (naps first, then all sleeping). Then, we either brought it, or used the one at my parents/in-laws with our own sheets, etc. I agree that it is all about acclimation - get him used to it at home first! My daughter also slept in hers until she was 5 months as we were in transition buying a home, so didn't put her in one consistent crib until then.

Good luck!

I have used the rental cribs as well and it was from a resort not an agency so it may be different, but it's sort of halfway between a crib and a PNP. It's a little mini crib and it did look sort of rickety! But really, we had no problems with it. I just cleaned it and used my own sheet that I had brought from home and it was fine.

I haven't ever paid attention to the non PNP options in the One STep Ahead catalog, but I have seen that catalog and it's great!

Here's a 3rd vote for the PeaPod Plus. We take it with us going to our in-laws and on other vacations. Its light enough to check on a plane without counting as a whole separate piece of luggage. It's cozy, its compact, it has a nice mattress, and it keeps them nice and safely tucked inside when they're asleep.

We sleep-trained my daughter with it for a week the first time we used it. I put the pea-pod inside her crib, so she was still in her room, still in her crib -- just also inside the peapod. Then when we went on vacation, she was sleeping in the same peapod she had been for the last week, now she happened to be in a different room. It worked quite well.

Good luck!

When we travel, we just get a couple extra comforters and put blankets from home over them to make a little bed for the baby on the floor. There's no worry about the kid rolling off and it's not too soft or no worry about the quality of the mattress. If your child is only 5 months old, they probably aren't doing too much moving around in their sleep. Plus you don't have to pack a whole lot of extra stuff or plan ahead with the motel or rental place. A lot of countries don't have the benefits we do and sleep on the floor all the time so I figure it doesn't hurt for a week or so here.

Under no circumstances should you put him on a regular mattress without some kind of safety frame. He's at an age where his development will happen in a blink, and what he couldn't do yesterday (ex: rollover), he'll be doing in the middle of the night, right off the bed or between the wall and mattress. You'll need your sleep- make sure he's safe so you can relax.

At 5 months old, he doesn't really "hate" the pack n play. I'm not sure what your attitude is about it, but babies in general will respond to a new situation by following your cues. The playpen will be your best friend over the next months, and if you plan to travel, you'll be so much happier if he can be safely, cleanly off the floor of rentals, hotels, etc. Maybe start placing him the pack n play more often, and letting him fuss a little. He WILL get used to it. Think of it as a safety issue: most kids don't love their carseat or stroller either, especially as they become more mobile.
I suspect that one of the problems is that you're uncomfortable putting him on used mattresses (I'm a total germaphobe myself). How about if you buy a high-quality piece of foam, cut it to fit the portacrib, pack-n-play or reg crib? You can cover it with a sheet, and then make sure the edges fit tightly, so he's safe.

My parents traveled with all 9 of us kids, and my DH and I have taken our 3 on road trips since they were born. The sooner your son learns to travel well, the more wonderful experiences you'll all have! Have fun!

do not put the baby on the twin matress! My babysitter did that for her baby and he ended up in between the wall and the matress. He was fine, but could've gottten hurt. She put pillows aroud him, but he rolled over the pillows. I would go with renting the crib, but I also know, if he is really tired, he will sleep in the pack and play...we did that with my second. He fell asleep in the stroller and we just transfered him to the pnp and he was fine...hope this helps!

Let him sleep in the pack-n-play at home a few times before you go. He will get used to it, which will be termendously helpful on your trip. Children take a while to adjust to new surroundings and anything that reminds him of home will speed the process. By bringing your own, you can use your own sheets and mattress pad (I highly recommend one to help improve the comfort of that cardboard mattress that comes with the PnP) plus bring any other security objects, e.g. blankets, animals or toys that contribute to his whole sleep experience. Despite all this, don't plan to overdo it yourself the first few days -- you will still spend more time than you'd like getting up with him until he settles in... oh yeah, have fun on your trip~

The PNP mattresses are horrible. My soon never would sleep on them either. I bought a piece of high density (NOT soft, for obvious reasons) foam which is still firm, but not as rock hard as the PNP mattress. I put that over the PNP Matteress, but put the sheet on the foam. I cut it as big as the mattress, so there are no gaps.

I think it just depends on what mattress you get when you rent-- there is no way to tell before you get there. Portable cribs have their own safety issues. Take your monitor, and do the best you can. Good luck !

Before my son was mobile we used our in-laws' spare twin bed. We put pillows behind his head, pillows to his side, a suit case below his feet, and leaned a big padded chair to the open side just in case he rolled. (bed was against a wall) We sort of 'barricaded' him in. Now that he's crawling and rolling everywhere (10 mos.) that won't work...
We've used everything from a huge suitcase full of clothes to a laundry basket. Even a bouncy chair... (Of course it sounds horrible as I write this, but whatever works...)
Good luck!

I second the PeaPod idea. We have traveled with our now nearly-3-year-old daughter several times to England and to my mom's in Lancaster, PA, and found this to be a real godsend. The first time we went to England we brought our co-sleeper with us, which worked alright (though the mattress was not the most comfy for her), but it was sure a pain to lug around. We had to bring something, though, because not all of my in-laws had a PNP or crib available over there, and we were going from home to home on our trip. The PeaPod is so compact when you pack it up, and our daughter loved the idea of sleeping in her own little tent. We did have to get her acclimated to it, however, as she was used to sleeping in a crib and not in a closed tent, and sometimes she fought going into the tent when we traveled. But now she is totally comfortable with it and I know we'll get a lot of use out if it since it's supposedly good for up to 6 years of age. We're going to get a 2nd one for kid #2!

FYI most babies have trouble sleeping away from their own house in the beginning. A different atmosphere, different smells, way different routine etc. Even at 5 months they know the difference and it can reek havoic on their sleeping. I'm not saying all babies but most so be prepared for some tough sleeping anyways. Do you have a quilted sheet for the PNP? Those help a bit to help cushion it a bit. And just because the PNP is not soft like your bed doesn't mean your child dislikes it. How soft is their own crib at home? All crib matresses are pretty firm and are meant to be that way. If you are worried about a rented crib matress wouldn't you also be worried about the twin bed matresses? They are probably more worn, used and dirtier than the crib matresses.

You also don't want an injured baby! The bedrails are meant for toddlers who can safely get out of bed and just need a little help from rolling out, not for infants who can pull up on them and fall over. Check out the One Step Ahead catalogue. They have a ton of reasonable non-PNP options.

www.onestepahead.com

My husband and I purchased this thing called a "Snuggle Nest" when our son was first born... we have a king-size bed and it allowed him to sleep in bed with us - but ensure that we wouldn't roll on top of him and that he wouldn't be able to escape... He's now 7-months old (and has been sleeping in his own room/bed for quite awhile) but when we recently went on a road trip to Florida (we live in PA) we took it with us and he still used it just fine - we just had to take out the baby positioner part.
This is the website for it: http://www.babydelight.com/
But we went to our local Babies R Us and purchased ours (about $50)... even if you didn't want to have your little one sleep in bed with you, it may be helpful to try putting him in it in the Pack & Play - or putting him in it and on one of the twin-size beds on the floor?

Good luck! :)

Are you staying at hotels, camping, at family's?

If in hotels call up the hotel and see if they have cribs (usually can get them free of charge or at a very small cost). We have stayed at many hotels that had full size cribs on wheels that they would let you use, I usually bring our own mattress pad cover & sheets/blanket for the little one. We have put a twin mattress on the floor up against the wall and bed rail which worked nicely.

At family's we usually just put a mattress on the floor or sometimes one of them would actaully have a spare crib.

In some areas you can rent baby items; car seat, crib, stroller... I would google crib rental in "area you are going." I have rented a crib once and it was full size.

There are also a blow up mattress that has raised sides.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

I tend to agree with Krista's advice.

If it were us, I'd probably just put the baby in bed with us. The problem with renting a crib is that you simply don't know if the items are up to proper safety regulations. There are so many recalls out there, it's hard to keep them straight, and I'd assume that most reputable companies that provide cribs would also be aware.

Products like the one here may be an option to at least try and then return if he doesn't care for it: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

Or even this: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

The biggest issue, of course, is his age and his physical capabilities at this point in time to avert a dangerous situation.

Good luck. It will be interesting to see what you decide.