Playpens - advice needed

[jasperc163]

Apologies if this isnt the right forum but it seemed the most relevant....

LO has just started crawling and I need a playpen to keep her from trouble when i need to leave the room etc. What i was wondering is whether people have found the railing type (ie babydan etc) the best or if travel cots are better? It seems to be the first offer the baby more visbility etc but they are more likely to knock themselves etc?

Any advice from those who have tried either/both much appreciated.

thanks alot
alce

I've only used a travel cot; ok for one or two weeks, then baby usually gets frustrated and screms until free!!

better idea is to remove all or most opportunities for trouble!!

i think the railing type are best because they give more space for crawling and my baby boy seems happiest being able to crawl around all over the place. Also if i'm knackered and hes playing up (ie. crying lots if i'm going out the room) i get in there too with a cup of tea and a magazine. he can play without me having to watch him constantly. we got this cool wooden 4 part divider/ playpen off ebay, but we had to attach it to the wall ourselves which was a bit hasselly. friends who have small playpens say that their kids will only play in there for a max. 10 mins and i'm sure mine would be the same if he was restricted too much. hope this helps. byeeeeeeee

i'm a tad now other people know that i spend time hanging out in a playpen !!!!!!!!!!

We are wondering about this at the moment too. Ds goes in the travel cot at the moment but gets bored/frustrated quite quickly. I'm thinking about the babydan one, apparently you can get extension pieces to make them bigger too?????

Travel cot worked fine for me. I have a Babydan as well which I've used as a room divider once DS started to become more adventurous. I still put him in the travel cot when in need to keep him in one place for a while. Pros and cons of each:
Travel cots: very cheap and easy to get hold of, store etc. They are not designed for a baby to stand up in due to the metal framework underneath despite the base which is fairly substantial but not very padded. The sides are nice and soft, kinder than bars if they fall over and bump their head, but can cause babies to fall over as not firm to hold.
The babyden: more expensive, unless you find one second hand, I got mine for £30 (!) or try a well-known website. The structure is more stable and the base pad (when used in the playpen mode) is lovely and soft to bump down onto. Can be used as a fireguard or many other shapes for safety.
Hope that helps.

thanks all - sounds like the babydan one might be the better bet.