9 Best Pack 'n Plays and Playards, Tested by Experts

The original folding playard, the Graco Pack n Play, is still a favorite. The Day2Dream model has useful extras including a portable bassinet and a diaper-changing pad. The small bassinet can sit on top during the early months, or you can take it off and use the bassinet around the house. (Sometimes your infant has to join you in the bathroom, for instance. It is what it is!) Cool part: There's a carry bag for just the bassinet so you can take it around to a new mom group or to Grandma's.

This model also features a changing station and a storage organizer where you can keep diapers and wipes. As with most playards, there's a bassinet insert for newborns and then you use the bottom of the playard as a travel crib and play space for your older baby or toddler. The playard has a travel bag of its own. This does not come with a sheet; Graco sells waterproof sheets made to fit.

"As a first time mom, I loved this product," a parent told us. "In the early infant days we had the Pack 'n Play set up downstairs with the changing station and the bassinet so we didn't have to go up and down the stairs for every diaper change or nap." With its extras, this is the heaviest playard on our list. But if you travel with just the playard and no attachments, it's lighter. Wheels on one end allow you to tip it and move it around the house (without the baby inside, of course!).

Though this doesn't have the portable bassinet and changer, we find the On the Go Pack 'n Play to be a durable traditional playard and travel crib at a value price. We appreciate that this includes an arch with dangling toys and a storage pocket, providing a little entertainment and convenience, respectively. Don't forget to get a Graco sheet for the mattress. Like the fancier Pack 'n Play, it has wheels that make it easy to move around your home. It's got more than 27,000 five-star reviews on Amazon. "I used this for weeks at my in-laws when my daughter was an infant and it was great," a parent told us.

Not everyone is a fan of how the Graco Pack 'n Plays fold and unfold. They all work the same way, and it's a multi-step process that takes some practice to learn. There are simpler playards to set up, but once you get used to the Graco method, it's no big deal. However, if you do expect to pop your playard open and closed frequently — due to travel, or wanting to hide it away during parts of the day at home — you might read on for other brands that have a faster assembly.

In awarding this piece of gear one of our Family Travel Awards we wrote that the Lotus "stands out for its ability to be folded compactly in a backpack storage bag that makes it easy to carry while in transit." It comes with a waterproof foam mattress to use. We love the side that zips open for easy access — it makes it fun for toddlers, who can crawl in and out on their own.

"I know the brand pitches the Lotus as being lightweight for travel but I also find it makes a huge difference in how easily this fits in the closet at home and in the trunk for overnights," one parent told us. "But while it's super versatile and lightweight, I'm not sure if it ranks as high on comfort for the babies. The lightweight mattress sits right on the floor. But I do love and have purchased the brand's soft organic sheet, which helps." Note that this version does not have the raised bassinet for infants. If you want that, the brand sells a crib and bassinet bundle on its site, but it's more expensive and both our Lab pros and testers have found the conversion to be a little tricky.

The AAP recommends that parents sleep in the same room, but not in the same bed, as their baby, preferably for at least the first six months. We have a lot of favorite bedside bassinets that have special soothing features or are built to make middle-of-the-night feedings easier. But some families want to use a playard as the bassinet in their adult room, because then it can still be useful as a travel crib for years. For its beautiful look, how substantial it feels and how premium the mattress is, we like Nuna Cove for that purpose.

"It does feel like the Rolls-Royce of playards," notes one of our Parenting Lab pros. The mesh sides are taut and strong but silky to the touch, the mattress sits on ventilated plastic boards for extra support and the included crib sheet is organic cotton. However, the same expert (and our testers) could not get it folded back up tightly, though it did fit easily into its roomy carry bag regardless. Of bigger concern might be the price; it's high-quality and the most expensive playard on our list.

A winner of our Parenting Awards, we like how the Sleep & Go zips open on the short end, which in a travel situation with your toddler (such as staying in a small hotel room) can really make a lot of sense. So easy for them to crawl in and out! This is another playard that, in the toddler position, just uses the mattress sitting on the ground. Silver Cross marks it as good up to 50 pounds, which means it should take your child through preschool.

The Sleep & Go has a cool shake-open assembly as shown in its brand video. We like that the travel bag is weather-resistant. This does not come with a sheet so you'll want to buy the $40 Slumber sheet as well. If you have a newborn, this does have a raised bassinet you can install with a zipper. But new parents might want something with more bells and whistles for the price — we find this to be mostly a great option for moving around with a toddler.

You literally just press down on the floor of the Breeze to lock the sides in place. Watching the assembly video on YouTube you can see that it takes maybe two seconds to unfold it, or to fold it back up, pushing to set it up and pulling to take it back down. Adding the attachments takes a little longer and is a bit trickier, so the video is helpful for walking you through that, too. The changer top flips out of your way on this one which makes toggling between changing diapers and putting an infant down for a nap in the bassinet super easy.

If your baby is approaching toddlerhood and you don't need the bassinet or diaper-changing pad, there's a less expensive Breeze Go that's a few pounds lighter and nice for travel. Neither of the Breeze playards weigh less than 20 pounds which is the price you pay for the genius assembly mechanism. Don't forget to buy Breeze sheets.

When square footage is at a premium you'll need a compact option, and the Travel On takes up less room than most other playards. It's a little shorter and more narrow than any other on our list but still has the raised bassinet and also wheels so you can more easily shift the position of it in your home. This one comes with a sheet (hooray!) and a privacy hood with two dangling toys. "If you stay with your baby in tight hotel rooms or sleep in a small guest room at a family member's place, it can help to save an extra few inches with this compact playard," says our Lab pro.

Century, which is owned by the same parent company as Graco, differentiates itself by using fabrics made from recycled materials in the design. The price stays low because this is minus some nice extras like a diaper-changer topper or sides that zip open.

If your baby is a bit older and you want them to have more room to sleep and play in their playard, the Newton option is one of the largest we know at 51 inches long on the bottom level. The bassinet insert is long as well at 31.5 inches. "It's easy to set up and the side that zips opens is nice," says a tester who noted that the wide door is especially nice for a toddler who wants to play half in, half out of the playard, using it like a little fort.

When assembling, be sure to put the mattress loops around all four legs of the playard to hold it in place. This mattress is bigger than that on a standard Pack 'n Play. Like with the Newton Baby crib mattress, your baby can safely sleep on this playard mattress and pad with no additional sheet necessary. Both pieces can be washed clean! But this also comes with an organic cotton muslin sheet if you want your baby to have an extra-soft landing pad. Newton sells direct to consumers and the brand promises a 100-day trial period during which you can return the playard if you don't love it.

Playpen isn't a word that's used much anymore, but if you have a toddler, that might be exactly what you're looking for: A safe and contained place for them to have a romp. The Play On comes with toys and an activity wall to encourage fun, and the toys stick to the wall to be safely out of the way if your toddler falls asleep. You can also add their favorite toys while they're awake and take them out at nap time. One online reviewer says she uses this to keep her youngest away from the choking-hazard toys her oldest kids have out in the house.

The Play On, which the brand dubs "the creative cube," has a zip-open side door. It's the only playard on our list that's a square and not a rectangle, intended more for a living room or playroom rather than being something you'd put alongside your adult bed. That said, it is safe to use as a travel crib. But it doesn't some with a sheet, and none are made to fit the square mattress — Century asks that your baby just use the mattress without the additon of a sheet.

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