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Original poster

Did you use a play pen?

83 replies

Lemondrop99 · 05/05/2018 11:58

My 7 month old has suddenly moved from inching to very whizzy commando crawling. I was thinking of getting a play pen so I had somewhere safe to pop him for a minute if I need to dash to the door/pop to the loo/make a bottle etc. Problem is play pens look huge and expensive.

Life saver or waste of money? Any tips for crawlers?!

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Mannix · 05/05/2018 13:08

Just my experience but this was the ONLY baby item that I bought and then didn't use at all! The problem was that he didn't want to be trapped in it (I had a very active baby too) so he would cry when I put him in there. Not much fun for either of us. Maybe I should have persevered, but I didn't so it became a very expensive place to store toys!

furryelephant · 05/05/2018 13:11

Waste of money in my experience too. I let her crawl round the floor of the bathroom or strapped her in the high chair in the kitchen, otherwise I carried her everywhere 😂

Fooferella · 05/05/2018 13:13

We had one of the lindam hexagonal pens with the door. I didn't close ds in there often but sometimes it was necessary. He liked being in there because that's where most of his toys were kept chucked at the end of the day. I kept the door open so he could crawl in and out and only closed it when I needed to run upstairs to the loo or answer the door. It was a very useful piece of kit for us.

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MrsW85 · 05/05/2018 13:15

I used a travel cot for my 2 boys. Filled it with a few toys and kept them safe and happy while I needed to do things.

AlpacaLypse · 05/05/2018 13:20

I had a playpen, an old fashioned wooden one that was a hand me down. It was handy to keep the girls from doing anything awful when I needed the loo, to answer the door, etc etc. It also worked quite well the other way round too - they were eleven months old and cruising at our first Christmas and we put the tree in the pen to save it from being pulled over!

A travel cot does the same job though and is also useful as a travel cot.

BarryTheKestrel · 05/05/2018 13:23

We had a travel cot set up downstairs to keep DD contained when I needed to answer the door/pop to the loo etc. I intend on doing the same when DS arrives. More to protect him from DD to start with, she loves babies but is a little heavy handed in typical 3 year old fashion.

GummyGoddess · 05/05/2018 13:26

I just took DC with me when I left the room and plonked him on the floor. If in the kitchen he got put in the highchair for a bit. A playpen would be useful for a toddler, but I don't think that's going to happen unfortunately.

DrEustaciaBenson · 05/05/2018 13:31

We had a wooden one when I was a child. I don't remember being in it myself, but I remember my younger siblings using it. The wooden rails were handy for standing and cruising. In the garden it kept the youngest safe from older children racing around. As we got older, it had other uses - covered with a blanket it made a den, for example.

Better than being strapped in a high chair or carried, imo - baby still has freedom to move around.

Ours was eventually passed on to relatives when we'd finally outgrown it, I think.

insancerre · 05/05/2018 13:32

Yes and it was a godsend

GemmaB78 · 05/05/2018 13:33

We used a travel cot for that purpose as didn't have the space for a playpen.

ImAGoofyGoober · 05/05/2018 13:34

Yes, don’t think I would have survived without it! It was a fold up hexagonal one so easy to store and whip out when needed.
Ds was always happy in it

ImAGoofyGoober · 05/05/2018 13:35

this is I used

DrWhy · 05/05/2018 13:35

Yep, massive wooden one, put foam tiles on the floor so it was softer than our wooden floor and had all his toys in it. Now it’s unfolded and across the wall protecting DS from the fire, a sharp hearth edge and several heavy bookcases.

frasier · 05/05/2018 13:39

We had one that clipped together in big (plastic unfortunately) pieces. It had toys built into it, spinning and sliding things things. You can make it as big or small as you like and when DS was sitting up I made it into s ball pit. Loved it.

NannyR · 05/05/2018 13:41

I think in some circumstances they can be very useful. The family I work for at the moment have one of the bigger ones with a gate and its great to have a safe space that's free of Lego, matchbox cars etc where I can put the baby and know she's safe while I'm sorting out laundry, go to the loo etc. Other families I've worked for haven't had them or needed them; for a first baby you don't have the problem of older siblings charging around or their choking hazard toys lying around.

Aprilmightbemynewname · 05/05/2018 13:42

Had one once and put the Christmas tree in it so the dc couldn't destroy it!!
Never used it for the dc.

littleprettylights · 05/05/2018 16:55

Can buy a travel cot not as expensive, handy if popping into kitchen ect and good if baby ever goes for an overnight stay

Pebblespony · 05/05/2018 16:59

Yep. We've a wooden one. We put yoga matting on the floor. We have a dog and a cat. We're very keen to keep the baby away from the dog especially. He's very quiet but you never know how he'd react to getting pulled around.

megletthesecond · 05/05/2018 17:01

Yes. It was great when ds was a toddler. I also put his baby sister in it when she was a newborn, meant I had a safe space to put her down she couldn't be squashed or bashed.

Smeddum · 05/05/2018 17:07

I used a travel cot (had 2 under 1 for a few weeks then 2 under 2) and it was a lifesaver for going to the loo, feeding newborn, nappy changing either, making a cup of tea. It was only about £25 I think.

neveradullmoment99 · 05/05/2018 18:10

Couldn't have lived without it tbh. Used to put my dd in there to keep her safe from older kids when toddlers!!! We were short of space but had a hexagonal one. Best thing ever.

redcaryellowcar · 05/05/2018 18:12

We had a lindam hexagonal one, didn't use it as much as planned but would def recommend. It was useful for safety (we bought it when we had our second) and at time the older one would take his toys in there to 'hide' and also the health visitor suggested it was a good buy because it is a really sturdy way of teaching them to stand up, so they can pull themselves up easily on the bars! So much potential.

MiddlingMum · 05/05/2018 18:53

We had a massive wooden one with a padded floor, given to us second or possibly third hand. It was brilliant, but I had two babies at once. I could pop one in the playpen while I dealt with the other one.

MonumentVal · 05/05/2018 19:01

Didn't need it for ds as he was a calm baby who would sit and play with toys, so could have him in the dining room separated by a gate while I was in the kitchen, or on the bathroom floor if I was in the shower.

Dd was very different, but learned how to climb over a Lindam gate so quickly that there was no point in a playpen - so just had to childproof the house as much as possible. Making her safe from it wasn't too bad, but getting the house safe from her...