The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) is my current favourite baby essential that I cannot live without. As part of my “Product Review” series I thought I’d kick things off with reviewing this handy piece of travel furniture.

---

Full Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links which means that when you click on these links and buy something, I may earn a little commission but it does not affect you in any way. I only recommend products I myself love, know about and/or have purchased before. Some of the items have been gifted to me as part of a collaboration to review but please note that all of the opinions are 100% my own 😊

---

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot

I would definitely purchase the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) again and would recommend it to my friends and followers as “the” must have baby essential for a busy and full household. I got it as part of my registry list (I’ll be doing a post on my registry list very shortly so make sure you sign up for my blog updates) on Amazon.

Related Post: Benefits of Amazon Prime

We keep the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link)in the family room and use it for baby M’s daytime sleep. This worked out quite well in the early weeks when Baby M could fall asleep under any light or noise. Now it’s slightly harder as he is much more aware of his surroundings and reacts to the slightest sounds. All the sleep trainers I have come across on the internet do recommend a dark room for sleeping, so I guess so it may not be too bad.

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) has quite a lot of cool and handy features. I’ll go through each of them for you now.

It has a great changing table

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) has a very handy and large changing table on top of the cot. This allows me to not have to worry about going into another room to change him or finding a safe space for me to change him.

The changing table has raised sides which ensures that the baby doesn’t roll over so I am pretty confident that baby is safe whilst lying there (not that I recommend leaving baby unattended at any time!!).

The changing table has a wipe-able mat-type surface to it which is fab for any spills and messes. I have noticed that if any liquid gets on the surface of the changing table it needs to be wiped well with something very dry to make sure it’s all gone. That is why I use these handy disposable changing mats (US link) with the changing table to soak in anything that happens to explode.

The changing mat can hold up to 11 kg which I think is pretty generous. Of course if your babies are anything like mine they reach 11 kg pretty fast so watch out for that. I say it’s pretty sturdy as on a few occasions my toddler had decided to give this cot a trial run before his brother and jumped straight in and lay in the changing table too and it managed to hold his 17 kg. Again I am not recommending this to anyone. Always follow the instructions on the package.

It’s durable and sturdy

As I’ve mentioned above the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) is well built and pretty sturdy. The instructions are more or less easy to follow. Hubby and I had to redo a few things but it’s only because men think they know it all and don’t have to read the instructions. Once a project is given that woman’s touch everything seems to fall into place as always.

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) managed to fold into place quite easily. There always seems to be this crazy way of unfolding travel cots where you have to thrash one or both sides of the cot quite harshly so the poles click into place. It definitely took a couple of hard thrashes before it all clicked into place for us.

One side of the cot has foot stands and the other side has wheels. This allows for easy movement of the cot if you need to place it somewhere else. It feels quite light when moving it around so I could easily do it on my own.

The inside of the cot itself is quite deep and has 2 positions the mattress part can be lowered to. The first is the newborn/baby stage (usually up until baby starts to sit up or is 6 months – whichever is sooner). The second part is the bottom where older babies and toddlers can go into.

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) can be folded easily and compactly to take away with you when going away so it can be a baby bed when away plus I can use it as a toddler bed when the bed element is lowered completely. Currently, we have it raised for Baby M to sleep in it.

Related Post: Baby Essentials for every mum

It’s Spacious

The Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) is definitely very spacious. We have tried quite a few of these travel cots when staying at hotels. Most of them were flimsy and small. In comparison, this travel cot is amazing. It’s large and can no doubt hold a larger toddler comfortably. We keep essentials like nappies, wipes and change of clothes on one part of the cot bed area so we have it to hand whenever needed.

You may be thinking, then how can this be portable and easy to take with you. I haven’t myself gone anywhere with this bed yet but when I do I will update this post for you. Yes I agree it is on the heavy side but it really is a life save so I hope I will like it just as much for travelling with.

It comes with an entertainment unit

Another amazing feature of the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) is that it comes with its very own entertainment unit. There’s a vibration function, white noise and baby music to help keep baby entertained and when needed to drift into a calming (hopefully deep) sleep when needed.

There’s a a timer included so that you can set it to automatically shut off after while. The vibration setting after 30 minutes I think it was, automatically shut off by itself – I guess to protect baby from vibrating non stop. There is also a soft night light function button which puts a bit of light in the cot in case you need to see him in the dark. It has 3 intensities, but even on the highest it’s not harsh. – just keep an eye on how close the baby’s face and eyes are near the light before putting it on.

And now its negatives…

No product review is complete without at least one bad thing right. The one thing I do not like about the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) , is the mobile arch that it comes with. It attaches to the sides of either side of the cot and holds in place and looks great. Then after a few minutes it raises off the sides on its own and goes flying with a little *bang* into the cot itself. Now what happens if the baby is inside and it *bangs* (albeit not so harshly) onto the baby?

Well firstly baby would cry and secondly, it may hit the baby on the head/ face and hurt him. I honestly don’t understand why it was created this way. Couldn’t they have secured it better or created it somewhat differently – at least perhaps tested it properly before releasing for sale. I thought maybe it was me not attaching it properly but no matter how I try, it just keeps happening. If you have used one of these and know I am using it incorrectly, please leave a comment before and let me know!!

Another little negative (if you could really call it that), which I was a little weary about at the beginning, is the large battery that goes into the bottom of the cot in order to make the vibration setting work. I told my hubby to take it out as I didn’t want a battery right underneath my little newborn. But add in many a nights where baby is being rocked around the room and the vibration setting seems like a bit of a lifesaver.

So after a week or so I asked hubby to put the battery back in. I just hope it doesn’t affect the baby in no way by having a battery underneath him. Perhaps the large plastic casing that the battery sits in (which connects to the main control unit) protects the baby from any harmful affects of batteries.

Related Post: Silver Cross Bedding Set

Verdict?

There you have it. My product review of the Graco Pack n Play Travel Cot (US link) . Minus the little flaws, all in all this really is a great investment and the price is great for what you get! I am very happy with it for my newborn and will continue using it as he gets older. If you’re considering buying a travel cot and have any questions or worries about it, you can either comment below or email me (monica@stylinglifetoday.com) and I will try to help where I can.

Have you used this travel cot before? Let me know in the comments

If you enjoyed this review please feel free to share it with your friends 🙂

XoXo til next month XoXo

Monica