Behaviour in soft play/play centres

[Disgruntledpelicanlady]

Need some advice on whether I'm being precious and need to get a grip or whether the parents I'm encountering have forgotten how to act in a civilised manner.

Thanks to the crap weather myself and my toddler have had the pleasure(!) Of visiting various indoor play spaces in the past few weeks (some soft play, some play cafes). I appreciate my daughter is very much a young toddler and my only child so far so maybe I just haven't encountered some of these challenges, but I have been disgusted at a few points.

• kids left completely unsupervised, fighting and biting strangers in the soft play (surely you need to keep a vague eye on even older children?)

-adults sat loudly swearing in their conversations sat round tables -I've seen multiple people bringing potties from home and putting them on the floor next to their table for kids to use. Next to where people are eating 🤢

• a baby with a leaked poonami whose mum's friend said 'why don't you just change him here?' At a table, in the cafe area, surrounded by people eating lunch

Yup that's grim.

That's soft play!

I avoided like the plague.

Yep… all very normal for soft play! My son loves it but I only go if we are desperate as it’s always full of undesirables… that’s the nicest way I can put it! It seems to literally be full of the dregs of society who don’t care about their kids!

Ick!
I’ve seen one lady and change her baby’s nappy in the soft play’s baby section on one of the soft play cube things they have 😖

Always full of feral kids.

my bet hate at those places is when you’re playing with your kids and all the kids that are being ignored by their parents (who are happily reading, drinking coffee - all the things I’d love to be doing instead of crawling around a too small space after my kids) want to play with you.
Errr no thanks. Go and ask whoever brought you. I’m not the entertainment team.

I’ve had 6 years of soft play and never come across this with nappy changing or potties so maybe it’s a bad one? The misbehaving older children is not a surprise though to be honest although not the biting and generally kids in the toddler sections are supervised in my experience

@tantrummingterrors ah yes I’ve come across this in soft play and parks to the extent they’re trying to keep you with them when your DC want to move on somewhere else

Was the same at soft play when my now 18 year old was little and will be the same no doubt in years to come. Filthy germ ridden hell holes.

I'd rather they use the potty than pee over the softplay area. I'd say they were things you can get over once you've been in the position yourself. I agree about boisterous unsupervised kids though and tend to avoid them in school holidays when the bigger ones come out

I completely avoid them when school age kids are there because I just don’t think it’s safe. I also tell off other people’s kids, but I’m a teacher.

I've never seen anyone use a potty. I agree about unsupervised kids though. My pet hate is when I'm playing with my 13 month old in the under 3 area and kids who are clearly to old/big to be in there come charging in.

Yep that’s grim. I see so many people changing babies on tables where people eat it’s just grim!!

If you have a baby why bother going in the 6 weeks holiday i would avoid it in the school holidays!

I’d actually expect staff to intervene re nappy changing/potties in food serving areas. That’s just revolting and unnecessary - if your child cannot hold on for twenty seconds to walk into the toilets with the potty then they aren’t ready to be out in public without a nappy on.

The slightly feral behaviour and bad language is par for the course.

The worst is the local soft play near us is also attached to a nursery chain. The staff just bring their toddlers in to public sessions, send them off in little fluorescent vests and then sit at tables chatting. It’s a massive area, poorly lit, with tunnels etc, and I’ve been followed around by these kids cos they’re bored - I could be absolutely anyone, doing absolutely anything and no staff would have a clue. I often wonder if the parents realise that their sometimes barely toddler children are having lengthy interactions with total strangers in invisible corners of the frame. I even had to rescue one that got themselves literally trapped upside down in netting once and had been screaming for help - no staff even realised he was in trouble.

YANBU, I'm so glad my soft play days are over!

Ew, never encountered the potty/change at table thing thankfully and I've no problem having a word with unsupervised badly behaved kids. My main bugbear, is that there are always tiny kids - barely toddlers - unattended in the big kids section getting narrowly avoided by stampeding 10 y/os! 😬

I've been to loads of soft plays as my 5 year old loves them (I don't!!) but I've never encountered that! I'd be finding a new venue, with a strong complaint email to the current one!!

Been to loads of soft plays recently too (different ones as my dc like variety). Not seen the nappy changing or potty thing, though I have seen notices telling parents to use the changing room, so perhaps it was an issue in the past. Older dcs generally boisterous, but often quite kind to my young toddler (15m). No biting, and generally no swearing (we're in quite an affluent part of London though, I always see prep school bookbags in the after school sessions). I always hover around her so can whisk her out of harm's way quickly, I don't bother telling other people's kids how to behave. I do take her to the big kids section as she's bored with the toddler bit, but I'm always within arm's reach.

I tend to avoid them with my kids, everyone is usually just feral. I can’t bear having my very little toddler in the up to 3 age area and the older ones come charging in. I’ve had primary school aged kids leap over his head and all sorts, it’s rude af for parents to not be keeping an eye on their kids. Can’t bear soft play honestly.

This soft play sounds awful! Where I live 3 new ones have opened that are lovely and clean, and cleaned regularly. I only visit those ones, and have never experienced anything described in the OP (thankfully!).

This is why we only went once ever, other people's kids are the worst