sick of lazy parents at soft play

[lazyeffers16]

took my 11 month old to soft play today and YET AGAIN an older child (about 4ish) came in the under 2 section and tried to literally pick her up while she was playing. everytime i come i seem to have a kid come over and try to drag her or throw a ball pit ball off her head etc and there never seems to be a parent in sight?! wtf?? i tell them no myself (as in ‘no, don’t pick her up please/throw things at her/get off her please’) but am waiting for the day they go crying to mummy. aibu here? don’t understand where their parents disappear to

I avoid soft play when the schools are out for holidays for this very reason. I did go to soft play on Monday. My daughter is nearly 4. What I couldn't understand was why there were school age children in there? I wondered if they had Covid and the parents just took them out regardless? Anyway there were 2 boys of about 8 and 10 who were running wild and knocking the little ones flying. The mother just sat there on her phone.

@pollyperkins87 they may be homeschooled. There's quite a few homeschooling families local to us.
If they had covid but the parents were taking them out anyway they'd likely just be sending them to school anyway and not telling school they had covid.

dd works at soft play.
She spends whole days in the toddler section, telling toddlers to get out of the baby section and older kids to getout of the toddler section.

But the parents are worse than the kids.
Please take you toddle rout of the baby setcion - Why? there're no babies here and he is enjoying himself. yes madam, but your presence encourages other toddlers in, and the toddlers break the baby toys as they are too big, please move. BUT WHY? IT'S NOT FAIR! MY KID IS HAVING FUN>
dd is only 17, but she takes no nonsense and kicks them out.

Other days spent standing by the slide stopping children climbing up it, because they get wiped out by kids coming done. Again, parents not co-operative.

The closest soft play to where I lived priced by age so babies to 4yrs was crazy cheap, 4-8yrs £6, 8-11 around £12. This resulted in lots of “no, my child is 4yrs old” claims when the child in question was over 4ft tall and clearly should’ve been in the older play area but instead was bored witless maintaining the facade in the toddler section so spent most of their time pushing kids over under the un-interested gaze of their parents.

I used to detest the place, always ended up stressed, boiling hot, frizzy-haired and with a raging headache.

YANBU, although I wouldn’t have taken mine to soft play at 11mo as I think they’re too small to really get much out of it.

Mine is 3.5 now so I will let him go off on his own to play but I still stay close enough to keep an eye on him and we only go during term time when I don’t have to worry about him getting flattened by older kids.

There really seem to be more and more lazy parenting. I don't go to soft play areas any longer as my kids are grown up but I see it in the parks, trains, restaurants, and other public places. Parents considering public areas as places to meet their friends and families and forget about their kids just because they can't escape.

Kids run hammock and anyone who dares say something to the kids or parents get defensive.

Kids run hammock

Not being funny but soft play allows kids up to 11 ish I suppose. My kid is big for his age and also he and his 8 year old friends will be boisterous in a soft play. Something you’ve got to get used to. Also toddlers in the baby bit - they’re still so small themselves, just supervise your baby properly and there won’t be an issue. Nothing wrong with parents sitting back a bit in soft play. Quite frankly it’s weird to follow a kid older than 3 around at SP that’s the whole point!

I agree @vivainsomnia. I work with a lot of parents who justify letting their kids run rampant in public places without supervision as it's really hard living with them 24/7. They say other people just need to show a little kindness and tolerance. Drives me mad.

I think only parents of small children in the baby section need to pay close attention. Soft play is soft for a reason - so kids can go off by themselves in a safe and fun environment while parents have a coffee and a well deserved rest. (I've never taken my kids to one, but if I did I'd be plonking them in and leaving them to it and not in the least bit sorry for that!

@Makeitsoso

They shouldn’t be in the baby section. So definitely send them out.

Generally speaking parents of older children (3plus) won’t follow their children around and that is normal and expected.

Agreed. I've never experienced this tbh. The older kids were never interested that much in the babu section

@Thasheblows88

Oh gosh this is one of my bugbears! It happens everywhere! Soft play, local park, and even more worryingly, at the indoor swimming pool. People abdicating their responsibilities and ruining it for others!

I was at one of those swim leisure places recently where they have tubes and splashes, and a sort of false beach area, where adults can relax. Two five or six year olds were allowed to run riot in the baby pool, and then they jumped in the shallow end of the adult pool and splashed all the adults who were sitting nearby. And they kept doing it. Their parents were sitting chatting drinking coffee nearby, aware of what was happening and doing nothing about it. In the end, someone called a member of staff and got them to sort it out.

@Thasheblows88 in the pool I work at, an adult would have to be in the water, closely supervising children of that age. I expect that is the same Rule in all leisure centres/water parks in the UK. The lifeguards should have got the two kids out of the water and explained the rules To the parents. It is to reduce the chance of drowning and injuries.

I think only parents of small children in the baby section need to pay close attention. Soft play is soft for a reason - so kids can go off by themselves in a safe and fun environment while parents have a coffee and a well deserved rest. (I've never taken my kids to one, but if I did I'd be plonking them in and leaving them to it and not in the least bit sorry for that!

But going back to the main point - older kids in the baby area, with no parental supervision, ruining the experience for the babies/toddlers. You don't think the parents of those kids need to step in?

@ThePrincessSleptFor100Years

Let me tell you. I was that helicopter parent. I was the mum of the five year old hauling her fat arse around the soft play frame because I was so worried that something terrrrrrible would happen to her.

Let me tell you where this has got me. I now have a nearly 8 year old who lacks the confidence to run off and play by herself. She’s getting better but it’s taken a while and some hard work. Entirely my own stupid fault.

And while I’m here. Keep your 11 month old out of the big kids’ area. See it goes both ways.

when did i say my 11 month goes in the big kids area? or when did i say to go in following your kid?

@Eleanoravarney

I think only parents of small children in the baby section need to pay close attention. Soft play is soft for a reason - so kids can go off by themselves in a safe and fun environment while parents have a coffee and a well deserved rest. (I've never taken my kids to one, but if I did I'd be plonking them in and leaving them to it and not in the least bit sorry for that!

parents of young babies/toddlers deserve to have a nice time too though, not spend their whole time fending off other peoples kids

I gave up on softplay very quickly because of OPKs. My children were constantly getting hurt and that's not actually fun. No, older children don't need you to go around with them but you should still be keeping a general eye on them.

If I take my 2&4 year old to the soft play, the 4 year old goes off by himself. I don't follow him round. I check on him about every 10/15 mins if he hasn't come to find me. The point of soft play, is for them to burn off some energy and save some of mine!
But that said I have no problem with someone firmly telling him not to do x, y & z (as long as they're not screaming at him like a banshee) and know he won't like being told off by strangers, so will either do as instructed or come and sad face to me.

And keep little ones out of the big kids bit too please. OK mid week but don't go on a weekend and complain that the big ones are being too boisterous because your little darling wants to go into the bigger bit.

Not accusing OP of that at all before I get jumped on, just the otherside of the coin.

My local soft play used to hold special sessions for up to 2 year olds, only for a couple of hours one day a week but it helped x

Seems dangerous to leave children unattended at soft play surely there’s plenty of signs around. I would speak with o the staff on shift and email the company with your concerns

I had to actually shout at one kid NO! he almost beat up my not even 2 year old baby ! Bigger boy about 4 for sure, he dragged, shook and literally threw my boy down and this was within seconds! I reacted as quick as i could but his mother came a bit late and said sorry he gets a bit excited 🙄 i always keep an eye on my kids 2 & 3.5 softplay isnt day care..

You can really tell who the shit parents are by some of the answers on this thread.

Hate it, it’s a nightmare at my local place. I had my 11 month old in the under 2 section and this great big kid - 9+ just jumped in and started throwing the blocks around. I asked him to stop and fully expected to see an irate mother in front of me about how mean I was to her little precious 🙄. They are a joke and ruin it for everyone who actually cares. Sick of parents treating the place like a babysitter, they soon whinge when little Johnny skins his knee on the slide he was pissing about on 🤦🏻‍♀️.
Sorry, launched into my own rant there 😂, safe to say you’re definitely not being unreasonable.

The one close to me has been taken out for the very reason,sad for the little ones, but the non behaving kids have spoilt it

@Hmm1234

Seems dangerous to leave children unattended at soft play surely there’s plenty of signs around. I would speak with o the staff on shift and email the company with your concerns

plenty of signs, just choose selective reading