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Parenting

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Original poster

Shall I just buy a playpen ??

20 replies

mumtosp · 16/08/2013 16:25

Hi all,

DS is 10 mo and is moving around a lot - infact he's interested in everything apart from his toys !!
I haven't put up any safety gates as I live in a rented property and need to find out if drilling holes into the walls is allowed...
but in the meantime, can I get a playpen and put him in there for sometime while I get some work done? Or are they too bad as they restrict movement?

Also, any ideas for toys that your 10mo isn't yet bored of? what about a jumparoo ?

Thanks in advance :)

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LifeIsBetterInFlipFlops · 16/08/2013 16:30

Yes I had one for my DS, I was working from home and it was a godsend when I needed to be on the phone and know he was safe.

mrsmartin1984 · 16/08/2013 16:36

You can buy gates that you don't have to drill. I am in a same position and have a travel cot that I use as a playpen

ZebraZeebra · 16/08/2013 16:37

We rent too so we got pressure mounted gates. Worked a treat for no drilling :)

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TheFallenNinja · 16/08/2013 16:39

Our playpen allows me to have two cups of coffee a day and keep 10m DD safe.

Priceless

Thurlow · 16/08/2013 16:40

You can get safety gates you don't need to screw into the walls, the Lindam ones have these turny knob things (yes, highly technical me) that squash the gate firmly into the gap. My understanding is they're not recommended for the top of stairs as in theory a hefty push could make them come loose, but I can't imagine how much weight we'd need to shift ours!

We also have this travel stairgate which has been great. It's definitely not suitable for unwatched dangerous places, but as a quick and easy solution to keeping your child in one room it's very good. DD doesn't push at it now, she just sees it and knows it means we're staying in the living room. I used to use it sometimes to turn our 'safe' room into a mini-play plen - bizarrely our kitchen and bathroom (leads off the kitchen) are the safest as everything is child-proofed, so I would gate off the kitchen while I showered and she could roam around a bit.

However we did use a travel cot as a playpen for quite a few months at around your DS's age. At least that way you are getting more for your money! She was happy in it for a few months, as long as she had plenty of books and toys, though I think she only got really happy once she was able to manouevre herself around it.

Jumparoo or walker at 10 months I think would be a waste of money, if he's walking he probably won't be very interested. A V-tech walker or push along trolley would be perfect though.

Thurlow · 16/08/2013 16:41

Pressure mounted plates! That's the one!

bronya · 16/08/2013 16:42

Pressure mounted gates (we got ours from Lidl but they do them everywhere). Move furniture in front of plugs where possible in the living room, wires tucked away, unsuitable items moved upwards, low table/ heavy chair in front of bookcases (assume you can't bolt into the wall - we can't so put sofas in front then a low, heavy table for the last one so he can't reach them), a few toys on the floor and let them play! DS is currently emptying my box of breast pads (individually packed) with much joy. I shall scoop them back in later lol!

Moomintime · 16/08/2013 18:41

Dd had a playpen. Was very useful at that stage!

RhinestoneCowgirl · 16/08/2013 18:44

First child was free range, second child I had a travel cot in the corner of the living room that I could dump the baby in if I needed know she was safe while I left the room to attend to her brother.

mummy2benji · 17/08/2013 14:53

The jumperoo was the best purchase we ever made for ds1! We got a rainforest one from Mothercare with music and toys and it gave me some blessed time to get things done while he bounced happily. How big is your ds though? Dd2 is 9 1/2 months and still uses it, but it won't be too long before she has grown out of it. I would probably go for a playpen - we tried a couple but I love our Mothercare baby cage playpen (we call it the baby jail) which is a hexagon shape with bars and a door. I put some cushions and lots of toys in there and leave the door open so she can crawl in and out - because she thinks of it as somewhere fun to play and is always shut in it, she doesn't then mind when I close the door on her occasionally!

mummy2benji · 17/08/2013 14:53

isn't always shut in it...

kerry85 · 17/08/2013 16:24

I would definitely recommend a jumperoo!! Best thing we ever bought, my daughter loved it!
Great to put them in while you do some jobs and all the jumping and moving they do in them really tires them out

delasi · 18/08/2013 00:15

We have a jumperoo, agree it's great, but DS is now crawling and absolutely must be on the floor as far as he is concerned. We have bought a playpen for moments when we need to pop out of the room, but it's massive - nearly 2m long on each side, it has 8 panels (1 is a gate to get in and out, which can also be used as a regular stair gate) and you can use as many or as few panels as you like (4 being the recommended minimum of course ). It doesn't have a base so he is still on the floor and he doesn't seem to have noticed the change in perimeter when he is in there. We tried putting him in the travel cot and he screamed every time as he crawls all of on pace forward and meets the edge.

delasi · 18/08/2013 00:16

*one pace

Aworryingtrend · 18/08/2013 08:06

I have the lindam hexagonal playpen (can also be used as a room divider) and I don't use it every day but its brilliant for those times when you need to keep them in one place! ds has had a jumperoo since he was 5 months and loved it but now he's crawling he's not interested.

sleepis4rwimps · 18/08/2013 08:49

I second the travel cot - you can get them for £10 on ebay second hand and they will have a dual use. we got one but hardly used it for DS1 but now with DS2 arriving shortly I will be using it to stick the baby in for protection when I nip out the room!

Laptopgirl · 18/08/2013 08:53

Travel cot for us worked perfectly.

sleepis4rwimps · 18/08/2013 09:18

oh and my ds loved the leap frog music table where they sit and spin inside it and it lasts for an older age than the jumperoo x

Original poster

mumtosp · 19/08/2013 12:49

Thanks for all the responses ! :)

DS will be 11 mo soon - so I guess the jumparoo is out of question ?

Travel cot sounds like a good option, but Ds does love his space - so I'm thinking it'll be a bit restrictive?

delasi which playpen did you get? (it sounds big enough)

sleepis4rwimps will look up the leap frog music table...

OP posts:

delasi · 19/08/2013 14:39

mumtosp It was from a company on eBay (UK based, apparently there are some dodgier MDF type versions from overseas, one is sold on Amazon with bad reviews so tried to avoid that type. A friend also has one so I had plenty of info to work with!). It was £70, and there are actually about 3 companies doing them - I looked through all the details and they were all the same model, I think it's European (I'm thinking German but not sure why now) so I just went with the company with the earliest delivery time and we got it within 48h after ordering.

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