Playards

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by christy : LOVE this Pack 'n Play!

LOVE this Graco Pack n Play!! We adopted a little boy, and what was supposed to be 4 weeks notice turned out to be 48 hours... and we had nothing! I bought furniture online, but it was backordered. This pack n play was perfect, and covered the changing table, bassinet, etc. Not to mention it is much nicer looking that the ones you find at the store. Oh... and the dangling puppies were a pleasant surprise since we did puppies in the nursery:) The night light feature is also VERY handy... I love everything about this pack n play! 5 stars for function and style:)

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by E. sheets : LOVE IT!

This is my second Graco pack n' play to purchase and I absolutely LOVE it! Great design and wonderful material. We are very happy with this purchase.

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by Lovemeagoodsale : Great pack n play!

This pack n play was everything I thought it would be when I ordered it. It is rather large (as to be expected with any pack n play). But the changing table is a perfect height so you don't have to bend and strain your back! :) It's super cute and stylish (we went with a green and brown theme to try and tie in baby's stuff with our established earth-tone living room decor- Fisher Price has a zen collection swing that matches pretty good). The pack n play folds up nice and compact so you can just throw it in the trunk if you're traveling. (The bassinett part and changer do not fold up, but it's still pretty convenient.) I chose to purchase from Amazon instead of Target because of the Super Saver free shipping. (Same price at both locations) :)

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by Maurer "mama maurer" : new pac'n'play

ok so i just got this for our new baby. it whent togeather farly easly, if you ever had to put a play pen togeather befor its a snap. got a little confuzed thou with the changeing table, althou that may have had somethng to do with my toddler "helping" me. i havent put batterys in it yet to test the added features yet as i am not due for another month. my toddler "test drove" it for me and it holds togeather well(shes only 30 lbs)wish i could have gotten her to stay in one when she was younger lol. will up date revew when new baby comes..

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by M.N. : Great alternative to traditional bassinet

We've been using this pack and play since we brought our son home from the hospital and now he is 10 weeks old. We didn't want to buy a traditional bassinet since it would only be used for a few months and then be useless. This was a great alternative. Once our son exceeds the bassinet portion, we can still use the pack and play as a play yard.

Pros:
-The sound machine that attaches to the side is great--the music and nature sounds are soothing. Our son likes the music and falls asleep easily when we use it.

-The diaper changing station that attaches to the side has been a real life-saver, making late night diaper changes easy. The storage compartment easily holds lots of diapers and a box of wipes.


Cons:
-It does not fit through our door frames and must be broken down to move from room to room.

-While the bassinet is very secure, it does tend to bow in the center a bit.

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by kakabonga "genious" : Love it!

We assembled this Pack n Play in half hr. and its big and very sturdy. I have it in "Bombay" and its beautiful! We bought a firm 2 inch mattress with it as the pad that comes with it is thin. Looks like it will last a long time. Very happy with the purchase!

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by Velvet Marmoset : Pretty -- and pretty good, with a few flaws

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 ( Carters Velour Playard Fitted Sheet, Chocolate)!

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
Review by Carrie Jacobs : Baby loves it!

I have this set up in our room to use for our newborn before she moves into her nursery. I love it. So convenient to have her in our room sleeping with the changer attached. Easy to assemble and very light and easy to move around. Would not be able to do without it.

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich
Review by Grant T. Thimsen "New Mom" : Great Crib

We live in a small apartment and we use this pack and play as our babys crib. We have really been happy with this product. It is easy to move from room to room if needed. The top basinet is great for when the baby is younger. We used the changing table the first couple months of our babies life and it worked good. I would highly recommend this pack and play.