Customer Reviews

Graco Modern Pack 'N Play Playard with Bassinet and Changer, Zurich

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great looking Pack 'N Play, which is what drew me in to start with, then I read about all the features, and liked it even more and went ahead and registered for it. Now that our little guy is 6 weeks old, I'm ready to review.

The appearance was true to the photos and pleasing. The colors are great. If you're looking for a sheet to match, try anything "natural" or "ecru" -- the hanging dogs that dangle from the bassinet top are that sort of color. Chocolate brown goes well too -- Carter's makes a great quilted one ( Carters Velour Playard Fitted Sheet, Chocolate)!

And now for the features --
1) Changing table = awesome. So very convenient to have it right there. There are three pockets for storing necessary items on the side -- a large wipes container fits well in the center, and diapers and creams/sprays/etc fit in the other two. I have not had any problems with the changing table becoming crooked or non-level, as others have commented -- and it's been our primary changing table, since we're in the process of moving. The only downside to the changing table is that the cover/fabric portion is not meant to be removable for washing. It says to wipe it down with a damp cloth or the like. Now, the bottom of the changing table is truly waterproof, but the sides are not -- they're a very wettable nylon sort of fabric. So air-pees get them good and soaked, and it's hard to remove stubborn diaper cream that may have been kicked there by an irritated baby or spilled there by an exhausted parent.

2) "Soothing vibration" for the bassinet -- very nice, but we've used it a LOT and it no longer works reliably. We can't seem to find the loose connection, either. Jiggling the switch, the connection to the switch, or the unit itself has only inconsistent results. I haven't had time to troubleshoot it fully, but it's very frustrating when you're really hoping for that soothing vibration to help the little one get back to sleep at 2AM, and it doesn't work! EDITED TO ADD: The vibration can also be very loud when it does work. I think this is because the "mattress" has hard boards in it. We were able to quiet it down by placing a folded cloth between the vibrator and the mattress. I'm not sure I'd recommend this though, as adding extra thermal insulation over even a battery powered electric item may be a bad idea.

3) Nature sounds and music -- nice, but quite low volume. The music is really too low to hear well at all. There is one nature sound that sounds like ebbing and flowing waves -- sort of -- our LO likes this best, perhaps because the rhythmic nature of it reminds him of heartbeats in the womb.

4) Lights on the sound/music unit -- really too dim and poorly directed to be of much use. I thought they'd be great, but the one pointing inward never seems to illuminate more than a toe at best, so I usually end up using my phone or a closet light to really see the baby to check for movement/spitup/etc.

5) The bassinet itself -- super convenient to have the child up high like that, to minimize bending over. The canopy is cute, as are the dangling dogs, but they don't do much beyond look cute really. The canopy doesn't quite deploy as roundly as you might like, but it would still shade some sun if you needed it to. If you've never had a Pack 'N Play (I know I hadn't) -- the bassinet "mattress" is an accordion-folding set of boards covered in slightly padded nylon. It sits on a sort-of hammock-like support that you drape and secure over the top of the crib-like unit, and extends the full length/width of the Pack 'N Play. It can tend to lie less-than-flat if you put the baby sideways in the bassinet, rather than lengthwise, which is what my husband likes to do. This sort of nestles the baby in a very slight "V" shape of one of the accordion folds. One thing to note -- the instructions state that the bassinet portion is only good for babies up to 15 pounds. Also, some people find that the bassinet "mattress" feels flimsy to them and they want to add a mattress -- then instructions specifically warn you *not* to do this. I did, however, try to find one that would fit snugly in the bassinet or bottom of the crib just in case -- I failed. Standard portacrib mattresses seem to be just slightly off, leaving enough of a gap that we, as first time paranoid parents, were not comfortable with.


OVERALL -- It's a great Pack 'N Play if a Pack 'N Play is what you want/need. The changing table is super useful, even though the cover isn't removable for washing. The music/lights are marginally useful at best because they're very quiet/dim, but the nature sounds work fairly well. The soothing vibration may be great if your baby likes it, but our unit no longer performs reliably at 6 weeks and it can be very loud when it does work. Also note that as others have pointed out, this Pack 'N Play does not fit through a standard doorway when fully open/set up. EDITED TO ADD: Note that if you're going to travel with the bassinet attachment and the changing table, you probably won't be able to pack it all into the sack it comes with -- at least we can't. The basic playard fits, but we need a full-size duffel bag to pack the bassinet and changing table separately.

UPDATE: As much as I love this Pack 'N Play, we're extremely frustrated with the vibrating unit -- it won't work even remotely predictably now, and we really need it some nights! During said nights, I'm tempted to downgrade my review drastically, but that's lack of sleep talking.

First off, this is so stylish. If you want something that doesn't have a babyish pattern and can fit in any decor, this is it. I love the change table on this, too. Very easy to use. My biggest complaints are the canopy and the mattress. We're using this as a bassinet right now and I hate that I can't remove the canopy. Not this biggest deal in the world but we have no need to use it indoors and I would prefer that I could store it away. Second complaint, bassinet mattress. It doesn't matter what type of sheet I put on it, the mattress curves and doesn't lay flat. The only want I can get it semi-flat is to not put a sheet on it.
This unit is really great looking but if I had to re-purchase it, I most likely wouldn't. The curving mattress on the bassinet is something I really dislike and makes it somewhat uncomfortable for the baby to use, as well.

We've been using this pack and play since we brought our son home from the hospital and now he is 10 weeks old. We didn't want to buy a traditional bassinet since it would only be used for a few months and then be useless. This was a great alternative. Once our son exceeds the bassinet portion, we can still use the pack and play as a play yard.

Pros:
-The sound machine that attaches to the side is great--the music and nature sounds are soothing. Our son likes the music and falls asleep easily when we use it.

-The diaper changing station that attaches to the side has been a real life-saver, making late night diaper changes easy. The storage compartment easily holds lots of diapers and a box of wipes.


Cons:
-It does not fit through our door frames and must be broken down to move from room to room.

-While the bassinet is very secure, it does tend to bow in the center a bit.

We live in a small apartment and we use this pack and play as our babys crib. We have really been happy with this product. It is easy to move from room to room if needed. The top basinet is great for when the baby is younger. We used the changing table the first couple months of our babies life and it worked good. I would highly recommend this pack and play.

This is the next generation in pack n' play's and I LOVE the redesign!

Pros:
- The fabric and design is very modern and attractive (at least as much as a crib can be). It is setup in my living room so having something that looks decent and "blends" as much as possible is important.
- The changing station is sturdy and at just the right height (baby doesn't lean to one side as with old pnp's). It also folds up and out of the way easily (which can be done w/ one hand while holding the baby with the other).
- The bassinet portion attaches around the entire top of the pnp with fabric and hooks and is very secure
- It's on wheels and is easy to move around
- The vibrating function works well and has helped to soothe my daughter when other things won't
- The diaper holder is just the right size and placement (some pnp's have these huge fabric shelving units that are SO unnecessary - this one has just the right amount of space w/o getting in the way of the looks and functionality of the pnp as a whole.
- The canopy is not the old type that clips on to the sides, where you can't move it out of the way. This one is attached to the bassinet fabric. It's large and covers 1/2 the bed but also retracts fully when not needed. So...you can block out a lot of light with the changing station in position and the canopy up together OR you can have full access to the bed/baby by flipping the changing station out of the way and retracting the canopy. I like this a lot!
- A pro (and as you'll see a con too)...it's big! The good thing is you can use it longer as your baby grows

Cons:
- It's big! ;) It is a piece of furniture. It's a little heavier too so I wouldn't get this if you want something to drag back and forth between grandma's house everyday. This is more a set up and leave it type.
- The canopy is held in the upright position by velcro tabs. It works ok for now (it's new) but I can imagine that eventually these might fail. It also is only attached to the bassinet fabric so you couldn't use it once the bassinet is removed - though I've never had a need for a canopy w/ and older child.
- The light and sound machine that attaches to the side is not really worth anything. The light is especially dim. The sounds are just ok but can really only be heard in a perfectly silent room.

I still gave this 5 stars b/c the cons don't truly detract from the overall quality and ease of use of it for me. I've had a few other pnp's with my first daughter and they're ok too but this one is by far my favorite! If you are going to be using this every day and want a more stationary crib (to use downstairs or something for grandma to set up and keep)...this is the one for you!

It's now August and I've had this pack and play since May 2011. It took my husband and I (first time parents) about half an hour to figure out how to put it together. My son was just under 6 pounds when we brought him home from the hospital and we loved having this to use! He was so tiny in the bassinet with plenty of room to grow and the changing table is so easy to clean -- great when he'd pee mid-diaper change! I like how it has the 3 storage compartments on top -- we store wipes in the middle one, diapers in another and then rash cream & items in the 3rd pocket. One of the things I didn't like about this was the music box died after a month of use. It was great at first, we loved the sounds but we don't like having to replace things every month -- it gets expensive! So we put it in storage and attached a cheap musical mobile we had laying around. I don't care for the canopy because we only use this indoors but I'm sure once we use it as a play pen it'll be nice since we do live in Alabama and the sun is out most of the year. Another part I didn't care for was the "mattress" (or lack there of). My son is now almost 4 months & 12 pounds and for the past 1.5 months the middle has sagged. It's now to the point where when I put him in it he squirms and screams. It would have been nice if they included a thicker, sturdier mattress. When he was only 9 pounds at 2 months he couldn't even lay in the changing table portion without it leaning toward the crib, so he'd roll and make diaper changes very difficult. I was pretty bummed and ended up changing him in the bassinet area instead. I do however love the neutral colors and the overall quality is very nice. I know this will last us through future children and be great for traveling. I just wish they could upgrade some of the "flaws".

We got this Pack-N-Play when our daughter was born four months ago. We wanted one that would serve as a bassinet and changing table since we have limited space. We love the colors and the fabric. The soothing sounds worked well. I love the storage pockets on the side of the changing table. They fit a package of wipes perfectly and the other pockets hold other useful items. I also did all our newborn sponge bathing right on the changing table. It wiped dry very quickly and easily. We've made a lot of diaper messes on it and it always wipes clean. Compared to our last Pack-n-Play (bought when my son was born 10yrs ago), this is DELUXE.

There are a few things we don't like about it though.

1. The canopy is NOT removable in the bassinet position. You have to use it. We've never really put it up because it never rounded out from packaging and leans to the side. It velcros in the upright position and with the changing table open, you have to remove the velcro to check a sleeping baby, which woke our baby up. We just keep it tucked down. In my opinion, that's not very safe. If you have an early roller, they could get tangled in it (fortunately for us, my daughter isn't rolling yet and has not reached the 15lb weight limit).

2. We can not lay our daughter in it vertically. The mattress does not lay flat in the bassinet sling and if I try to lay her vertically, she slides to the horizontal position. We resigned to just laying her in it horizontally. It works fine for us because she's not a long baby. Right now, she is 24" long and still has another 2" or so to grow before she won't fit.

3. The changing table is higher than most other Pack-n-Plays. This would be wonderful for a tall person. It works fine for me at 5'2". But my mother is 4'11" and cannot use it (LOL) and has to change her on the bed. So if you or baby's caregiver is shorter, you may prefer another Pack-n-Play. But I can imagine this would be a perfect height for taller people.

None of these drawbacks have caused us to return it or look for another option. All in all, it's a great Pack-n-Play and has served it's purpose well around here.

I love this Pack 'N Play! My son has been sleeping in it since day 1 and 3 months later it is still working great. It's very sturdy and easy to put together. The little doggies are detachable and really soft. My son loves playing with them. The music is quite but in his quiet room, it's just fine and has an assortment of different sounds. The vibration is the best. He uses it every night and while it uses up a lot of batteries, it still works great 3 months later. It is huge which is a little annoying since he's just using it to sleep in but when he starts playing in it, it will be great. The changing table is awesome, it's a little high so now that he's getting heavier, it's a little awkward. But I love that I can open it with one hand and the compartments are the perfect size. The changing pad it's self can be a little cold so I put a receiving blanket on it so the cold doesn't shock him. Expensive but well worth it... And I'm as cheep as they come :)

I bought a Graco pack and play last yard and loved it, so I decided to stick with Graco and buy the Zurich. The quality isn't as nice or as sturdy as my previous pack n play. The velcro tie-downs for the bassinet cover is kinda cheap especially in this price range. I guess I expected more especially if they are advertising this as their "Modern" playard. I hope they go back to their previous design. The model I owned before was the Berkshire. It has a wonderful storage area underneath the bassinet. I couldn't find it for sale so I settled for this model.

ok so i just got this for our new baby. it whent togeather farly easly, if you ever had to put a play pen togeather befor its a snap. got a little confuzed thou with the changeing table, althou that may have had somethng to do with my toddler "helping" me. i havent put batterys in it yet to test the added features yet as i am not due for another month. my toddler "test drove" it for me and it holds togeather well(shes only 30 lbs)wish i could have gotten her to stay in one when she was younger lol. will up date revew when new baby comes..

6-1-11 ok my new baby LOVES to sleep in this all of the attachments work
11-5-11 ok still works GREAT for us have stowed the "bassenett" attachment an only use the changeing table for holding toys and diapers, as my bby is to big for it. going to stow that (changeing table) any day now