To be sick of kids at soft play!

[changedname10]

I follow my DD round at soft play, she's only 2 and has a speech delay so doesn't say much! We go once a week and without FAIL every time we are there another kid either pushes or hits her.. I am so sick of it! And the child that does it is always with a grandparent that is sat on there ass drinking coffee!

I follow my DD round to make sure A:she is ok and B: that she doesn't hit/push other children and if she does I can correct her!!!

AIBU to think people are just fucking lazy and should watch there kids!!!

YANBU after working at a softplay for a few years as a teenger I can confirm it's hell on eath. Equipment isn't meant for adults, but because of shitty kids they would follow their smaller kids around, then get angry that we would tell them to get off the equipment. The kids that we're being little brats wouldn't listen, when you did tell the parents they didn't care, so you would try and kick them and get a load of abuse thrown at you. Apples don't fall far from the tree...

Kick them out * not kick them.. although that would have been satisfying.

we're talking about young children not school age

Several people here have claimed school age children should be always followed. In our soft play, under 3s should stay in baby area or if they want to go to big part, should indeed be followed by parent. I let my 5 year old roam free though, as said.

My DC loves soft play, but I'm determined not be either the parent that takes their laptop and charger with them and ignores their kid for an hour, nor the parent that thinks it's ' hilarious' for them to go through the soft play with their kid, which is dangerous and unfair on other kids ( There is an age limit for a reason).

The whole point of these areas is for kids to play, adults don't need to be climbing around inside - you watch from outside and call them over if they are naughty. I hated them, too noisy but in the park I really felt for the kids with helicopter parents - luckily we lived in a village where all the kids knew each other and the bigger ones watched for the younger ones in the park, when we moved to the city it was odd that parents climbed on the climbing frames!

Some older children do need a parent on there with them but most children of 4 and over don't.

Anyone else with older DCS reading this and thinking "Thank Christ I don't have to do that any more?"

God I hated taking kine to soft play (teens now whoppee) I always likened it to cage fighting for the under 5's

I used to love taking my two to soft play. A group of us would go, the kids would go off and we would sit, drink coffee and eat cake. Clearly we were the kind of parents that aren't really liked!

@MrsJBaptiste yes you sound like the people at our soft play at the back of the room

I stopped following mine when they each reached 2yrs. Dc1 used to get hit by other children every so often and I felt very cross and indignant. Now DC2 likes to give children a friendly pat on the face so I think it's swings and roundabouts really. I'm always very apologetic to the child and parents if it happens. Maybe they're livid inside like I used to be I can't get worked up over it now though. I love a bit of softplay independence so i can sit and chat over a latte with equally relaxed feckless parents

anarchyhouse

Those who don't want toddlers in the big kid area. How do you feel if parent takes the blame for harm to their child I.e 'we shouldn't be here anyway it's not your fault just an accident'.

. That is my attitude at soft play. My 2 year old gets very bored the baby bit. So I go to the big bit with her. I take it on the chin if an older child hurts her through being boisterous on the big kid zone. I only have myself to blame. It's part of learning for her too.

I’d have no issue with this. I have no issue with younger kids being in older bits as long as the parents have the attitude that you have about it. I agree that the baby bits are boring at times and kids need to learn and explore. I get more bothered when it’s then my fault that my 7 year old has knocked the toddler over when all they have done is play in the part they are allowed.

I do however completed disagree with older kids running about the baby bit, that’s not on and parents should stop that.

Never mind kids, I've seen a group of Young Farmers, pissed as farts, jumping into the pub soft play area, terrifying the kids.
The landlady marched in and threw them all out. She was ace.

Don’t go if you don’t like them. Soft play access is hardly a fundamental human right. Your child will grow up just fine without.

I hate them so much! We went a while ago when my DS was younger (he was about 1), and this older kid kept throwing balls and those soft play cushions at him and they're quite heavy so it was knocking him over! Later on I saw him with his mum and her friend and both of them was sat on their phone and gossiping. I haven't taken him since! I really wanted to smack the little shit lol.

Oh blimey soft play - I could have written this myself! I actually really enjoy it as it's something my 2 year old adores, but I struggle with the lack of supervision of other children. I get sometimes you need a break and it's fine to let them play under a watchful eye and intervene where needed, but some of the scenes I've seen are shocking!

This week alone myself and three other mothers went along to a toddler event at a local attraction and one toddler (less than 2!) had managed to climb 3/4 of the way up the main slide which is massive, four lanes wide with bumps. The kind you go down in a sack. She kept standing up and wobbling and we all screamed every time she did as she would have plummeted and likely have been killed if she fell. Meanwhile Mum was sitting at a table NEXT to the slide, engrossed in her phone. A member of staff had to fetch her down!

Plus the amount of children far too old in the baby section - one 4 year old slapped my DS (then 1) quicker than I could intervene as he didn't want any other children in the ball pit with him which was for under two's!

A lot depends on the set-up. My favourite one locally is open, clean and I can now let my 21/2 year old off on her own if it’s quite. There are others near me where I think you’d still need to be on the frame with a 4 year old by the way it is designed. I get annoyed with the big kids in the baby area and the odd feral one but really it’s a chance for kids to let off steam. I am yet to go to one on a wet day in the school holidays so I suspect I haven’t had the full blown hell experience yet.

Instead of screaming () every time the child attempted to stand @Gemstonemama why didn’t you alert the parent? I know it’s not your ‘job’ as she should have been watching but if the child really could have been killed, which I highly doubt, wouldn’t it have been better to be a bit more proactive rather than sit there screaming?

Considering the parent was at the table next to the bottom of slide @AhoyDelBoy and WAS alerted (seriously do you honestly think a bunch of mothers and staff/onlookers would just watch and not intervene?!) there's not much else you can do if the response is 'meh she's fine'.
She wasn't bothered when she realised what all the fuss was about, had her child returned then just sat at the bottom filming her whilst she attempted to scale it again with the retort "she does it all the time".

I stopped following my DD around softplay when she was about 2. Once they can get up and down the levels safely (and provided you can hear them shout through the netting if they need you) I think it's unhelpful to follow them. Softplay teaches them confidence and independence in a safe place. How will she learn to deal with boisterous kids if you're always there to intervene?
You might find she stands up for herself fiercely if you're not hovering.

I let mine go off exploring, then have coffee with friends while keeping an eye/ear out. When there's a group of them they stick together. If you have a friend with a slightly older child, you can ask the older child to come and get you if there's a problem.

I've told children off in soft-play for hitting/pushing and spoken to their mothers.

I definitely wouldn't camber around the big kid bit with my 6 year old (although he wouldn't push or hit anyone and we'd go home if he did) . Parents would block up the whole structure and ruin it for everyone, kids should be able to run around and bash past each other etc. I wouldn't let either of mine on the baby bit either.

I take my 14 month old to one as it's £1 for him. There's an area for under 3s only. Older kids run riot in it, dunno why it's as shit next to the bits for their age 🤷🏻‍♀️. I get in with my son and have several times ended up with several toddlers around me with no adults in sight!

I once had two babies with him when he was younger in the ball pool - again no adults about 🤷🏻‍♀️

No, no, no. You've all got it backwards.

The parents that follow the kids around are the lazy parents who have brought their kids there out of guilt to play with them as this is their specific window of parent/child time, and it will be back to, 'Not now, Tarquin,' when they get home. Or, it's their PFB, and we've all been that parent.

The ones finally having a cup of coffee in peace are the non-lazy parents, who lavish their kids with attention to the detriment of even their own sanity at home.

Raines eh, what?!?!? You're saying the people who play with their kids at soft play are lazy? How about each parent is different, no need to attack if you're one of the people who sit down for a cup of coffee, to each their own!!!
Also I have four kids, they're goid but not perfect and they're all boys. I follow them about to make sure no one chances their arm. You can't just follow along outside as they're more likely to be high up than down low and then you can't help/get thing under control! (Plus asi said above there's no staff about)

Raines, sorry that doesn't ring true in my personal experience, lazy parent = lazy at soft play, involved parent = involved at soft play. What parent would think soft play is a good place to have a break? It's completely irresponsible to allow your child to be unsupervised where they can /get lost/stuck/hit by other children. I'm not saying you need to follow millimeters behind them constantly but a vague awareness of where they are/what they're up to at least! Obviously age is a factor and younger children need more supervision.