Mission: Pack 'n Play Review

Before we had Charlotte we decided that it would be a good idea to purchase two pack 'n plays, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. In hindsight this was probably unnecessary but now we have one to loan out to grandparents so it does still get used.
We knew the one downstairs would also be used a great deal as a changing station so we wouldn't have to go up and down all day changing diapers. (This also lead to our first "run out and get it from the store" purchase of a second Diaper Genie the day after coming home from the hospital!) So we selected two very different pack 'n plays. Here they are, along with the reasons that we chose them.

Graco Pack 'n Play Playard - Posie

 I thought it was a fabulous purchase. It had the Newborn Napper Station, lights, music and vibration and also a changing table with diaper stacker on the side. Plus, it came in this pretty flowered design.
Well, we never used the Napper Station... I had the fear of God instilled in me by the hospital nurses that babies must always be laid flat to sleep and I was afraid that the Napper wasn't flat enough and that something would happen to her (total New Mommy Syndrome, I know!). So we just let her sleep in the bassinet part and took the Napper out. She did actually enjoy the vibrating feature and this allowed me to take several showers. She wasn't a good sleeper at first so I honestly didn't even have time for a shower during the day at times without the vibrating bassinet (and then we got a swing, hallelujah!).
The worst part about this pack 'n play is the Changer. Charlotte was 9 lbs. and 21.5 inches the day she was born and she never fit into this changer, she was always too heavy. It is only supported on one side (the right side in the above picture) so it always slanted to the left and made it practically impossible to change her. I complained to Graco a few times about it and basically just got a "Sorry you don't like our product" response from them. I just hated having to deal with this when I had a far superior product that we were using downstairs. Now I'll get to that one!

S1 by Safety 1st Satellite Premier Playard - Pegasus

 Now this is a playard! The storage compartments are fantastic and the hamper is awesome to have downstairs. The changer is supported on both sides so it is extremely stable and Charlotte (all 25 lbs of her!) still uses it to this day.
We used the bassinet part up until she was about 5-6 months old. She was then past the weight limits and had also started crawling. She really liked the music that it played and also liked watching it light up and the bears on the mobile move around.
The difference in quality between this pack 'n play and the Graco are huge. This one is much sturdier and we have really used it to it's fullest potential! The one problem is that is is a little challenging to find pack 'n play sheets that fit it well. We just used the Graco brand sheets and then tucked the excess into the sides but it would be nice to be able to easily find better fitting sheets.

Something I just learned about today was the introduction of a brand new playard by 4moms (maker of the mamaRoo, which we have and I'll review later and also maker of the famous Origami stroller which we can't even come close to affording!). This playard is named the "Breeze" and is expected to come out this August. It is being billed as "the easiest playard ever" and does actually look pretty cool. Watch the demo video here. I hope it's not going to cost over $800 like the Origami does! Maybe I can get them to send me one for free if I do a review on it... I guess that would mean that I actually have to have people that read this blog... Need to start working on that!