How to close a pack and play

A pack and play is one of the best things that you can purchase for your baby. It provides a place for your baby to sleep wherever you are. You can put your baby down in your bedroom when they are still very small.

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How Do I Set Up a Graco Pack 'n Play?
How Do I Take Down a Graco Pack 'n Play?
Rate Your Graco Pack 'n Play

If you are sitting outside, your baby can nap right beside you. Pack and plays are especially useful when traveling. Your baby will always have a familiar place to sleep during your trip. While pack and plays are very convenient, they can be difficult to close up if you don’t know what you are doing. The pack and play how to fold up instructions are not that difficult. As long as you follow the directions carefully, you should be able to fold up your pack and play with ease.

Start by lifting the mattress out of the pack and play, and fold it along the creases. After you have removed the mattress, set it aside.
Find the red loop at the bottom of the pack and play. It will be located at the center of the floor. Pull up on the loop until the pack and play’s legs begin to fold.
On each of the long sides of the top rail, there is a button. Press them simultaneously.
While pressing the buttons, lift the pack and play off the ground about and inch or two. The sides will begin to fold down right in the middle on their own. You will need to push it the rest of the way down.
On the short sides, there are buttons as well. Press them simultaneously, and lift the pack and play and the sides will fold again in the middle.
Bring the legs together, so that the pack and play is closed up, in a rectangular shape.
Open the pack and play bag, and slide it inside.
Slide the mattress in the bag on top of the pack and play.
Using the drawstrings, close up the bag.

As long as you fold up your pack and play properly, it should fit into the bag quite easily. If you don’t properly fold the pack and play, it will not fit into the bag correctly.

There are a few tips that you should follow to keep your pack and play clean, and to make sure that it always fits into the bag.

Never try to fold up the mattress with a sheet or blanket still on it. The mattress will not fold up correctly, and it certainly will not fit into the bag.
If your baby was eating while sitting in the pack and play, you should make sure to wipe down the mattress and anywhere that your baby got food on the pack and play. If you allow it to remain on the crib, it will spoil and can attract bugs. Also, it will not be a sanitary place for your baby to sleep the next time you use it.
Don’t try to stuff your pack and play into the bag if it is not going in easily. If you are having trouble getting the crib into its bag, chances are that you didn’t fold it up properly. If this happens, you should unfold the pack and play and fold it again, paying close attention to the directions.
If the bag that your pack and play goes into gets dirty, you can wash it in the washing machine. If any other part of the pack and play gets dirty, it should be cleaned with a mild soap and warm water.
If you washed your mattress or your crib, you should let it dry fully before you fold it up. If you put it away when it is wet, it can develop a musty smell while it sits in the bag.
If the buttons on the pack and play are malfunctioning, do not try to put your baby in the crib. Even if you get the buttons to work and close up the pack and play, you can’t be sure that they won’t let go, folding your baby up in the crib.
If you are traveling with a pack and play on a plane, train, or on a boat, you should keep it in a duffle bag to be sure that the bag does not get torn or scuffed during your trip. If the bag is torn, it can make getting the pack and play into the bag very difficult.

Read more useful things about how can you maintain your Pack and Play.

Having a pack and play for your baby is very convenient. After you purchase one, you should make sure that you can properly care for it, and that you know how to fold it up after use.

Setting up a Graco Pack 'n Play can feel like you're trying to crack the DaVinci code at times. Sometimes it doesn't fold up as it should because the bars aren't completely folded, and other times you can't even get the bars down to try folding it up.

Setting up and taking down a Graco Pack 'n Play is a very delicate process that must be done in a very specific way that makes it possible for you to set it up and take it down in a matter of minutes. Check out the video at the bottom of this article for reference.

Pull up the long sides first and ensure they're locked into place.

How Do I Set Up a Graco Pack 'n Play?

Remove the Graco Pack 'n Play from its carrying case and place the side with two legs and two wheels on the floor. Ensure that the piece connected to the red pull tab is pulled up as high as it can be.
Grab the center of the long bars and then pull up until all the parts of each bar click and lock into place. You shouldn't be able to move any of the pieces on the long bars.
Grab the center of the short bars and then pull up until all the parts of each bar click and lock into place. You shouldn't be able to move any of the pieces on the short bars.
Push the piece connected to the red pull tab down toward the floor. You may have to stop intermittently and adjust the pack and play so you can push the piece connected to the pull tab down further. Continue pushing the piece connected to the red pull tab down until it's even with the bottom of the Graco Pack 'n Play.
Place the pad that covers the bottom in the pack and play. Ensure that the corners of the pad with the Velcro tabs in the corners are in the same corners as the slots on the base of the pack and play.
Slide the Velcro tabs through the slots and then fasten them to the fasteners on the bottom of the Pack 'n Play.

Detach the Velcro tab from the two lower corners of the Graco Pack 'n Play.

How Do I Take Down a Graco Pack 'n Play?

Unhook the Velcro tab on the underside of two corners of the Pack 'n Play. After you find one of the Velcro tabs, the other one will be in the diagonal corner. Repeat this process for that tab as well.
Position yourself over the top of the Graco Pack 'n Play. The pad along the bottom of the pack and play is broken up into four vertical sections. Lift one of the outer pads, pulling the Velcro tab through the slit in the bottom of the pack and play. Repeat this process for the pad on the opposite side.
Lift and remove the pad from along the bottom of the Graco Pack 'n Play. In the center of the bottom of the pack and play will be a red pull tab.
Pull the red pull tab up as far as you can until the bars at the top of the pack and play fall down around the frame for the bottom of the pack and play that's pulled up beneath the red pull tab. Locate the buttons on the outside center of all the bars.
Press the two buttons on the outside of the two long sides and then push the center of each side down as far as you can. The bars will break up into a centerpiece and two more pieces on either side of the bar.
Re-position the Graco Pack 'n Play so you can reach the two outer buttons on the short bars. Be careful that the pieces of the bars on the long sides don't click back into place. If any of those bars click back into place, you'll need to pop the pack and play back up without the pad and start again.
Press the two buttons on the outside of the two short sides and then push the center of each side down as far as you can. The bars will break up into a centerpiece and two more pieces on either side of the bar.
Pull all of the sides in together and bunch the pack and play up. The Graco Pack 'n Play should fit snugly in the carrying case that came with it.

Rate Your Graco Pack 'n Play

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Debbie on November 19, 2019:

How do I fold the pack and play that has the changing table?

Kathy Lundstrom on August 06, 2018:

I received an older 296LJ pack and play There are not any buttons on the outside but show a triangle tab. When I press it nothing happens so I don't know how to take down the pack and play.

RTalloni on April 07, 2018:

Okay, maybe I'll try it again one day. All I can say about my first time is VIVA MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW! :)

Max Dalton (author) from Greater St. Louis, Missouri on February 05, 2018:

Thank you!

Lauren Flauding from Sahuarita, AZ on January 26, 2018:

This is golden! There have been more than a few instances when a pack and play has left me totally bewildered and more than a bit frustrated. These instructions are so thorough, they’re fail proof!

Hande on January 09, 2015:

Clear, infeamrtivo, simple. Could I send you some e-hugs?

Manuel on January 09, 2015:

At last! Something clear I can unsddrtane. Thanks!

tam on December 02, 2012:

Thank...I'm the mother and not use to setting up and taking stuff down.

Max Dalton (author) from Greater St. Louis, Missouri on February 28, 2012:

Hi RTalloni,

That's no joke, lol. The first couple of times I tried setting this thing up wound up in disaster because no matter what I did, the side rails wouldn't lock out. I think I need to add a note somewhere in this article stressing the importance of getting that center circle piece as high as possible and then working around that.

And, yes, the cat is having a blast. I edited out the parts where I had to lift her out of the pack and play before most of these shots, and she's always lurking in the background.

Best,

Max.

RTalloni on February 27, 2012:

I've seen these pack and plays make well educated men look and feel like dolts. You made it look easy enough. Love the cat's attitude. :)