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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Soft play grot

6 replies

OneSliceIsNeverEnough · 31/08/2019 01:40

Aibu to think that if you are paying for your kid to go to a place where they can play in a soft play and play with a few toys, you might expect those toys to be cleanish ?

Clearly you can't prevent the child playing nearby from sneezing over a toy but I'm talking about ground in grime and grot.

Went to a soft play party recently and baby caught impetigo. It was literally the only place we'd been. Dr said to wash his toys as it can be spread that way. Baby had a course of yummy banana antibiotics and I put it down as one of those things and will happily return to the soft play in question I guess. Basically no hard feelings.

But today we went to a local play cafe which prides itself on its play area. It's more upmarket than the other play place and seems to try to appeal to mums who go for coffee and lunch (if you know what I mean, it's a fancier menu rather than just juice and nuggets). You have to pay a small fee for your kid to play.

So i put baby in, and this place is only a couple of years old, and I couldn't help but notice that the soft jigsaw tile floor was filthy and ripped, even though kids are supposed to take off their shoes. I saw a mum in there with shoes on.
Almost every toy was tired and worn or broken. None of the battery operated stuff worked. My little tot was jabbing away at the buttons looking disappointed that they weren't working. The walls were grubby and stained with dark marks.
I thought about it and realised another nice coffee play place I'd been to also had a lot of broken toys.

What's this all about? How hard would it be to run a hot cloth about the place once a week? We're talking about a pretty small surface area- the place is tiny. Like, half of your living room floor tiny.

I don't think little kids are particularly dirty or destructive. It just seems that the play area had never been cleaned and the toys really uncared for.

Just seems so sad. My local free, toy library clean all toys that go out.

Ah well.

OP posts:
HennyPennyHorror · 31/08/2019 01:48

They are universally awful places. Total pisstakes. There was one locally to me which was owned by a family who had a child in my DC's school so a lot of parents used to book their DCs party there.

It stank. Literally REEKED of piss and poo.

I was Shock the first time I went and vowed never to return....but when your child's best friend's party is there...what can you do? It always stank....of piss and chips.

I've seen bloody plasters in ball pits, poo, wee, sick...old food. Take my advice and avoid.

OneSliceIsNeverEnough · 31/08/2019 02:13

I can't imagine why the owners wouldn't want to provide a gorgeous play experience in order to attract customers. When it's your primary raison d'être. I just think auditing and wiping a few toys is not hard.

Yuk to the hidden delights of ball pits!

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HennyPennyHorror · 31/08/2019 02:22

Money OP that's why. It costs money to make things clean and to replace them when damaged. It costs money for enough staff to police the play areas...they're content to cough along safe in the knowledge that they get just enough custom to keep going.

DaisyDreaming · 31/08/2019 02:57

I see soft play as giant germ pits festering with grime and god knows what. A friends daughter randomly pulled a whole fish finger out of the ball put one day!

avamiah · 31/08/2019 03:05

It’s similar with Trampoline parks ( or whatever they are called , they don’t look to fresh when a kid has just been sick all over the place .

OneSliceIsNeverEnough · 31/08/2019 06:27

I'm kind of surprised there isn't a national regulation or certification scheme.

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