Entitled parents need to keep older kids out of the young section of soft play

Yanbu. It’s also about learning to co-exist with other groups and having an awareness that sometimes things are for others’ benefit, not yours.

YANBU. I don’t even let my 2.5 year old in the baby area.

i agree with other posters about older siblings as long as playing safely (eg not diving into the ball pit). When dd was younger she had a 6 year old land on her in the baby ball pit

I just generally find soft play hellish outside of school hours. I’ve lost count of the times my toddler has crashed into a 10 year old who’s decided to climb up the slide just as she’s going down 🤦🏼‍♀️ and obviously the 2.5 year old is to blame in the other parents eyes 🙄 (baring in mind I supervise her and stop her going if someone’s on it)

Why does it have to be soft and clean? Mine learnt to crawl at the park, to be fair it was probably cleaner than going to soft play.

Yanbu.

I have several DC and as they grew up the older ones would help out at soft play with the younger ones by climbing in and help support them around the different obstacles. Often siblings are in there helping out.

Can we also include parents who follow their child around relentlessly doing their performance parenting!

This isn't an Oscars audition 🙄

Kick the older ones out of the baby section, stop parents going in, and for goodness sake, give the tables a wipe!

I read the post and was sympathetic. Honestly there's plenty of places for a child to have space and learn to crawl that are not soft play centres on a weekend.

I tried empathising but obviously you just want to rant which is fine but let's not pretend your only choices are sitting at home, being pushed around a supermarket or soft play.

Oh I agree.

where is appropriate to take a baby out of interest where older children can't hurt them? Because I'm yet to find a business that offers a babies only play area.

You wanted somewhere to stimulate your baby, my point was literally everywhere is stimulating to a none mobile infant. Unfortunately you won't find a place catering to just babies because they wouldn't stay in business for long, sadly babies don't bring in any money to businesses like soft play, role play cafes or play centres.

oh definitely. I have 2 older kids and a one year old. Last time we went to soft play there were 2 10 year old girls literally climbing on the actual play frame and monkey swinging on the DOORFRAME of the baby section, so we literally couldn't get in. Swinging in then jumping off into the soft blocks. I looked around for their mums. Sat literally next to it, watching them and chatting and encouraging them. While a bunch of us sat nearby holding babies. Unbelievable.

I also find this really annoying but it's part of the parenting mindset of 'this rule doesn't apply to my precious angel because...'
Just because your child likes the baby section, they shouldn't be in there if they are too old.
I don't let my older dd in with the baby to play with him either. That just muddies the waters for her and for other children who are there. I don't think it's hard to just follow the rules of the venue.

No OP you shouldn't have to "avoid going until your child is older", what stupid advice! Of course bigger kids shouldn't be in there. I've had this problem since 4yo DS was a baby. Last time we went to soft play there were 2 10 Yr old boys in the preschool section, they took a toy of my son and teased him with it. I went over and told them off, the nearby parent as usual did nothing. Lots of parents stop supervising as soon as they get in a play area, let their badly behaved kids do what they want and sit chatting drinking coffee/ staring at their phone instead.

The staff need to regulate it, u did the right thing by saying to the staff about it. Also the parents need to be abit more aware of where their child goes off & plays too, unfortunately some of them don't seem to engage with the fact that the bigger children aren't allowed in those areas for a reason... my child is 6 and she's gone off over to the baby/toddler section & she's always told to come out again & explained to why. Would hate for something to happen, incase she fell on top of a smaller child or something & hurt them. No matter what age the child is, the parent should be responsible for them & where they play.

Do you include older siblings who are playing with a baby?

There was an age gap between ours of 9 years. My husband worked away from home. Softplay was a rare opportunity to sit in a corner with a nice cup of real coffee by myself and think about nothing because our daughter loved to go in with With her baby brother.

Otherwise, I agree.

Wait til your baby is older and the entitled baby parents let their babies and non-walking toddlers into the older sections and climb up slides etc while older kids are sliding down then blame your kids for hitting them. Where I am that’s more common..

Why assume everyone saying don't take an immobile baby during the time big kids are off school is a culprit. That makes you look a touch ridiculous to be honest.

Noone is saying your child has to stay at home but equally there's so many other places you could take them to get stimulation that it seems daft to choose a busy soft play on a weekend.

Write to the management - a letter that they will have to reply to. Much better than asking a particular member of staff if you want to address this issue more long term.
Get the management to commit to enforcing the baby only areas, and making sure all their staff are aware and follow it through.

I recently saw a TikTok where a SEN parent of a 7 year old filmed and criticized the parents of babies for not being more understanding when her kid entered the baby section and proceeded to throw large toys at the babies. I understand the child's needs, but given the parents would have known their child couldn't adhere to boundaries, could they not have gone to a specific SEN session.
I imagine 7pm every third Wednesday wasn't very convenient!