Need a playpen.

[OhSheesh]

DS has just begun to crawl and so I have been looking at babycages playpens. The BabyDan ones look good except I have read that they are hard to put up/down. We need to be able to fold it away at night and we can't be the only ones. Any advice please?

[MerlinsBeard]

any particular reason you need a playpen? why can he not just crawl round? (genuinely interested btw)

[OhSheesh]

I want somewhere downstairs where I know he'll be ok when I need to go and do something. We don't have a downstairs loo and our house is not open plan so I can't always keep an eye on him. He is already v. keen on power cables...

[flamingobingo]

NOooooooooooo, don't get one! Just make your room safe. Take him upstairs with you when you need the loo. Think creatively!

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

Babydan are great. I used mine as a playpen, then on other occasions to fence off an area of the room /fireplace etc.

If you just want something temporary then a travelcot does the job.

[terramum]

IME you'd be better off just baby-proofing everything/everywhere. At some point he will be able to climb out of the playpen & then you'll have to do it anyway .

[littlelamb]

Ds is my second child. With dd I was horrified that anyone would ever buy a playpen. With ds it has been essential They are so different in temprament, I now know what the old ladies mean when they ask if he is into everything. He is not one to sit still and play quietly like dd was, so it is a safe place where I don't have to worry he is posting sandwiches into the DVD player. We have a babydan one and it's not terribly hard to put up, we have room to keep it up all the time though. I wouldn't want to be folding it up all the time. If you only need it to nip upstairs for a wee in peace then I'd say a travel cot would be fine.

[CherryChoc]

OhSheesh my DS has just started crawling too, he loves power cables! I let him crawl round the bathroom with the door closed when I go to the loo, or he goes in his jumperoo/highchair with play tray. We won't be getting a playpen simply because one wouldn't fit in our tiny house, so have to think creatively! My other idea was to make sure one room is totally safe, eg his bedroom (not that he has one yet ) or to get one of those big lindam safety gate/playpen things so I can fence off a large area. But I probably won't need one - I just let him crawl around in living room (not v babyproof atm) and keep checking on him all the time. But we have a small house - literally tiny kitchen and tiny living room on ground floor, so whatever I'm doing I'm not too far away.