Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Truth be told, I hate reviewing baby products. For every person you find who loves something and swears it worked for their child, another person will swear the same item is a waste of money. My first son was a horrible sleeper. He only slept in our arms or our bed (still in our arms) for the first 4 months of his life. We had bought him a cute bassinet and couldn't wait for him to sleep in it. He never did. Our second son came along and was, thankfully, a little better. Before he was born, I researched and researched pack-n-plays (we had since chucked that cute bassinet), and came to the conclusion that I would love this one. I did. Even better, HE did. Here's why this pack-n-play worked for us and some features that weren't as great as I wanted them to be. 1. The newborn napper is awesome. It's soft and contoured. The little hood over the top blocks overhead light and air. My kiddo, who was big for his size, fit in this until he was 3 months old. The vibrate and music feature are neat. But, it never did anything for him and we only ended up using them a handful of times. We used the light every night during changings. CONS: The napper material is hand wash only! The head pillow comes off and can be tossed in the washing machine (we did this often). But, this does little good for diaper blowouts. I recommend laying a receiving blanket on the napper around where the baby's butt goes, out of hands reach. Also, the hood, when not extended, can rub on the top of the baby's head. I saw no reason not to leave it up all the time, though. The napper cannot be used outside of this unit. 2. The table was perfect for bleary eyed, late night changings. All I had to do was roll out of bed, scoop the baby up from the napper, and move him over three inches to the changing table. The shelves underneath were perfect for diapers and ointments and baby clothes. I never had to dig around for anything. The table itself is super stable, unlike other pack-n-plays I've seen reviewed that were made by the same company. CONS: Some people might have to stoop to use this changing table. My husband and I are average height. I'm 5'4" and he's 5'8". This table was a decent height for us. Like the napper, the changing table cannot be used outside of this unit. 3. The shelves are nice and deep. I was able to fit all of my baby's clothes, several receiving blankets, a jumbo pack of diapers, toiletries, and two packs of wipes on them. Some people complained that they're a little unsturdy. I never had an issue with them. I wouldn't put a bowling ball on them or anything. But, they seemed to handle the weight of everything listed above just fine. CONS: Once you drop the mattress down, you can no longer use the shelves. 4. The pack-n-play itself is stable and well built. I never felt apprehensive that my son was going to get hurt in any way while using it. At 3-months-old, we moved him out of the newborn napper and into the top level of the pack-n-play. He slept in the pack-n-play until he was 6-months-old. CONS: The mattress is very hard and thin on its own. Many people have suggested buying this (http://amzn.com/B004JU0H6O) as a replacement. We simply bought a $7 full-sized mattress pad from Wal-Mart and then cut it to fit the pack-n-play. Then we put it underneath the pack-n-play sheets. I recommend anything by the American Baby Company (https://amzn.com/B001KZH692).