Can someone talk to me about playpens?

[lazymonkeyface]

We live in an apartment with an open plan living/dining/kitchen. My son is 7 months and we are going to get a playpen. Does anyone have one? What kind and is it any good?

I don't want to get a travel cot because it wont give him a lot of room, also they look flipping uncomfy! So, any advice?

we have this one and it's great as it opens up and can be used as a barrier when needed. I think ds was a similar age to yours when we got it and I used to give him a basket of toys and let him do whatever he wanted in there basically. Didn't use it too much, only when I needed to be out of the room (doing the bins/ showering etc) for a few minutes. We now use it to cordon off part of the sitting room as we have no fire guard yet. HTH

www.amazon.co.uk/BabyDan-Babyden-White-Playpen-Playmat/dp/B000KGAHHU

This is a very good playpen. I used it for both my DCs and then sold it on eBay. The base is washable, you can open a door to get in and out and it is nice and big so baby can move around. Both my DCs actually liked going in it, the bars are good for a baby to practise pulling up on as well. It is a bit of a faff learning how to put it together, but once you learn, it's easy.

NeedToSleep - you can use it as a fireguard with the adaptors.

I used to covert one like this that a friend has. Basically the base is adjustable, so you start off with it as a downstairs Moses basket alternative, then as baby sits up you move the base down (but save your back) then down to floor level as a cage playpen when they can pull themselves up. Very good for second and subsequent children as keeps them away from older siblings!

ooh, pinktrees, thank you for that. would you believe that my mum has that one and i didn't know you could convert it to a fireguard? i think we'll have to swap

Brilliant! Thank you :-) We're gonna buy it at the end of the month I think. It's just the minefield of which one.

I was looking at the first two on kiddicare before, but the one weather suggested looks kinda cool

It does make a very good fireguard (it is quite large though, you use 5 of the panels and you have to screw the adaptors to the wall) and we still have it over our fireplace. DCs are 6 and 4 and we have no plans to take it down. We have got rid of almost all baby/toddler stuff but this fireguard will tolerate an older child running into it and save them from having an accident with the hard fire surround. I find that my 2 will wrestle and play fight so it is handy to know that no heads will be hitting the fire surround! The only thing to beware of with an older child is that both mine can definitely climb over it but they know they mustn't.

I had the babydan one simply because of the doorway as I was to short, too pregnant and too crippled with SPD to left huge for age toddler in and out of one

More here and here

This shows it at the different heights

Second hand one here - says it's from John Lewis originally.

I live in same sort of apartment and considered a playpen but decided against it. DS is now 13 months and I'm really glad I didn't get him one. He's a climber, and by now would have found a way out of it, but also he now already knows the things not to touch eg cooker, if I had put him in a playpen he wouldn't know these things and at some point he would have got too big for the playpen and I would have had to teach him it all then anyway! He knows how to get in the kitchen cupboards but doesn't go in them, all we have done is taken the dangerous things out of the lower cupboards like cleaning products, and put them in the bathroom on a high shelf.

I also feel like it would have been a lot of money to spend and would just have delayed me teaching him what he can mess with and what he can't.

Just to let you know if it's the babydan white one you like ASDA have a baby event starting on the 23rd April and it will be 60 quid as opposed to 70. I am looking at th3e same thing!
There's always quite alot of playpens on ebay where I live but always loads of bids loads of competition and they go for quite alot anyway which is why I may buy new as resale value is high :)

Thanks tiny I wouldn't be buying it until 26th anyway, I might just go there!