travel crib / pack 'n' play

Travel cribs are helpful for travel and also if you are going to be out and about and the baby will need to nap elsewhere. Our rule tends to be that we bring our travel crib on road trips when we aren't staying at a place that has a proper crib (most hotels have free crib rentals, but we are more and more into home rentals, and many of those don't come with a crib option). We also use the travel crib a lot when we have other babies visit. Another use is to set this up in your kitchen so it's a place your baby can play while you are cooking. We have the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib but there are lots of good options. Graco makes these sort of gigantic ones that include a newborn sleeper and changing station that some people love. Guava has a cool one with a size zip. Whatever you choose, my top advice is to go for something that's easy to pack up and lightweight/small once packed.