Pack n play crib - do you provide sheets, extra mattress?

[Susan1188]

Hello all, 

Do you provide an additional mattress for your pack-n-play bed?  Or do you use just the mat that is provided to wrap the travel bed in?

Do you provide sheets?

I do not want to provide either, for hygiene reasons and for safety/liability reasons. 

I want guest to bring own sheets for the baby.  And I never even thought about providing an extra cushion.  Until today a guest was surprised that our pack and play bed was provided without an additional softer crib mattress.

Is a guest justified for getting furious,  because I did not have an extra cushion on hand?  He demanded I deliver one immediately. 

I'm a Mom of 2 grown kids and I remember it was not recommended as safe to add soft mattresses for babies to sleep on?

And when travelling, my kids always slept on the travel bed mat which is indeed quite hard but this never bothered them or any of my other guests.

What do you think?

[Tanya865]

Nope. Not 6 months or older. A year or older.

[Tanya865]

Is is not safe to use any mattress w/ a playard that didn't come new w/ that playard. The mattress (yes, it is a mattress) that cones new w/ a playard is the only safe one to use w/ that playards. Playards are acceptable for full-time sleep until the child maxes out the height or weight requirements, so a playard w/ only the provided mattress is perfectly sufficient for vacations. Please get rid of your additional mattress & make sure the recipient knows it is not to be used w/ a playard. You are putting babies' lives @ risk just by having it on your property. Please do your research before equipping your BNB w/ anything else.

[Tanya865]

It is not safe to use any mattress other than the mattress (yes, it IS a mattress) that comes new w/ a playard w/ that playard. Playards can be used for full-time sleep until the child maxes out the height or weight limits of the playard, so the mattress that comes w/ the playard is perfectly sufficient for vacation use. Please get rid of the additional mattress that you offer & ensure that the recipient knows it is not to be used w/ a playard. You are putting babies' lives @ risk just by having an additional off-market playard mattress on your property. Please do your research before making anything else available on your property.

[Ann72]

I have a portacrib at my family listing @Susan1188 and two sets of sheets.  I use this one - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LVMSU0S/ref=asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 - and I note that while several customers talk about getting an extra mattress, the manufacturer replied with the following:

"For the safety of your child we do not recommend using any after-market mattress or extra soft buntings in our playards. Unlike cribs which have rigid sides, the playard has flexible sides and playard mattresses are specially designed to prevent suffocation. Using a thicker or a different sized mattress/pad may allow a child's head to get between mattress/pad and the side of the playard causing suffocation.  --  Graco Consumer Services"

To be extra safe, I even recommend that guests set them up themselves!  I don't want to be blamed for a collapse or anything like that.

[Susan1188]

Absolutely.  Thanks for this.  My kids were at risk for SIDS and that is what I've always been told.

[Sarah977]

@Ann72  Of course safety instructions are designed to cover a company's butt and account for the fact that many people are ignorant and have no common sense. There isn't anything wrong with a homemade baby mattress if the foam is not thick, is quite firm, and fits snugly. 

But those packnplays, as they have soft sides, aren't designed to be used as cribs for a baby to sleep in all night in the first place. They are really supposed to just be a safe place to put a baby and maybe for them to have a nap, with the parents close by or with a baby monitor next to them so they can hear and see the baby.

[Ann72]

@Sarah977  Of course, but the point is not - never make a mattress - it's - you don't HAVE to make a mattress.  A baby will be perfectly comfortable sleeping on the one provided.  I'm sure you're right about the product's intended use - after all, they call it a playard, not a play crib - but you can't instruct a baby not to fall asleep in a certain location (just as you can't instruct a baby to fall asleep when you need it to!).  So it has to be safe enough to cover that possibility.  

[Tanya865]

But you SHOULD never make a mattress for a playard. That is the point. The only mattress it's safe to use w/ any playard is the one that comes new w/ it. Also, playards are perfectly safe for overnight/full-time sleeping.

[Tanya865]

Not true. NOTHING but the mattress that comes new w/ a playard should be used as a mattress w/ it, including thin, foam pads, etc.

Also, playards are perfectly acceptable for full-time/overnight sleeping, as long as the child has not maxrd out the height or weight requirements. Playards are a very feasible (& safe) option as a full-time crib in areas that are tight on space or for whatever other reason they are used. I am planning to foster a 0-2-year-old & am going to use a playard as the crib. Licensing is perfectly fine w/ that as long as child is w/in height/weight requirements.

[Kim866]

@Susan1188 --we provide a pac-n-play and a travel crib, the mattress that comes with both is generally just a pad.  I do also provide a crib mattress.  I provide a waterproof mattress cover, 2 mattress pads, 2 fitted sheets, and a variety of blankets.  My thought is that babies do wet the bed etc and sometimes things need to be changed in the middle of the night or whatever.  My goal is to make it as convenient as possible for the guest.  I do not put any of this together for them--due to the crib is set up differently dependent on weight of child.  I actually put protective mattress covers on every mattress and waterproof mattress pads on the bunk beds--because I expect mainly children to be sleeping on them.  I also leave a complete change of bedding available to the guest for the bunk beds only.

Keep in mind there is a washer/dryer in our cabin also.

We raised foster children for 15+ years and so we really try to make it comfortable for families. 

Good luck!

Kim

[Susan1188]

@Kim866  wow when my kids were young I would have felt like a princess in your property.

You are spot on for properties that target/rely on families.

My listing is adults only but airbnb does not stop people with infants from booking.

Amazingly, lots of people flash on the photos and want to rent regardless of whether the amenities are for kids.

Just had another last minute guest today, 200   review host, book last minute and I warned him about  my basic baby travel bed - no sheets, no extra mattress -  his response on arrival " thank you so much that is all that we need" .

[Marie6762]

@Kim866 

Wow - what a beautiful listing, Kim- and congrats on 4.99 for 174 reviews.  That is a real accomplishment, and an inspiration!

[Kim866]

@Marie6762 Thank you so much!!!!!!

[Tanya865]

It is not safe to use any mattress that didn't come new w/ a playard w/ that playard. Please get rid of your additional mattress & inform recipient that it is not to be used w/ a playard. You are putting babies' lives @ risk just by having an additional mattress @ your property.

[Helen744]

Helen@744. they generally come with a fitted shallow foam mattress as the crib itself have bars and is like sleping on a bedbase with a sheet. I provide a fitted sheet made for children and a few different little blankets but never a cushion and I leave the bed making to the parent and place the crib in the most suitable room generally near the kitchen and bathroom . It is always a concern and is not provided unless a parent asks  but new parents can be and are often very demanding so be careful and remove the crib if there is no properly fitted mattress and dont offer it H.