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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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GinIsIn · 05/05/2018 19:02

We have one at my mum’s - she looks after DS a few days a week. Hes never in it with the door shut really, but she has a huge dog so it’s up to provide him with somewhere to hang out without getting affectionately sat on.

lovewatchingrainfall · 05/05/2018 19:06

Yes we used ours loads. It's was amazing and don't know how I got by without it. However this is my second and it was great for keeping the baby safe from the eldest while I nipped out the room

Petalflowers · 05/05/2018 19:09

I had one and used it loads.

I had a hexagonal,one like this.

playpen

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MiddleClassProblem · 05/05/2018 19:12

We had a plastic build it anyway you like one. It was useful as we had 2 dogs and one wasn’t sure of DD on the move. At first we built a pen using the sofa as one wall so DD and I were inside and the dogs could have their own space but still access me (sometimes low on the sofa if they liked) then we used it to fence off areas such as the tv stand/gaming devices. They didn’t last that long but they were useful for our circumstances.

BackforGood · 05/05/2018 19:17

Yes, we had an old fashined wooden one. It had been dh's then gone to cousins then came to us. I really regret giving it to a colleague now who then moved away and lost touch. It was brilliant. Incredibly useful. Used to mean I cold cut the grass with them playing on the lawn, as well as all the times we used it in the house.
My dc used to ask to go in "the prison" Grin

AveEldon · 05/05/2018 19:18

yes I used a wooden one for all of mine
they are cheap secondhand

Highhorse1981 · 05/05/2018 19:19

Yes yes and hell yes

soloula · 05/05/2018 19:25

We had a travel cot. Was a godsend for giving me a few minutes to do what I needed without having to worry about them getting into trouble, we sometimes used for naps if they dozed off on us and we didn't want to wake them trying to get upstairs and put them in their proper cot and also useful for weekends away.

whatsagoodusername · 05/05/2018 20:04

We had one of the hexagonal ones as well and it was one of our most useful purchases.

I left the gate open, stored toys in it (including a ball pond inside an ikea tent), and only closed the gate when necessary. The DC mostly didn't notice and when they did and objected, at least they were safe and I could do what I needed to do.

We bought it secondhand off eBay and resold it for the same price.

Pressuredrip · 05/05/2018 20:14

I'm a sucker for buying unnecessary baby items but this is one item I never saw the point of. When I need the toilet I open the gate and they speed over as soon as they head if as they love to crawl up from 6 months. In the bathroom I put them in the empty bath and they play with bath toys. If I need a shower I put them in their cot with toys, if I need to nip into another downstairs room I just close the gate of whatever room they are in or take them with and put them in their high chair.

passmetheloppers · 05/05/2018 20:18

I bought an old-fashioned second-hand wooden one, it was really handy.

Happygolucky009 · 05/05/2018 20:18

We had a play pen in the old house as big kitchen diner but no way to section off the cooker, so it was brilliant with toys to keep lo occupied as I did dinner. We also had a baby dan around tv as it was in 6 ft unit which could have toppled very easily!

qazxc · 05/05/2018 20:22

We used a travel cot.

serenmoon · 05/05/2018 20:29

I think I'm going to need one for my twins, does anyone have a recommendation for one that would be big enough for two babies?

Babdoc · 05/05/2018 20:56

Yes, I had a traditional wooden one. It was so useful, my childminder always asked me to bring it with the DDs each morning so she could use it! DH died when the kids were both babies, so it was an essential item for me, to have a safe place to put them when I had to answer the door or use the bathroom etc, as I was then a lone parent.

Branleuse · 05/05/2018 21:23

Yeah I used it a lot actually

Mathbat · 05/05/2018 21:30

I have twins and couldn’t survive without one. I’m not strong enough to lug two babies with me every time I need the loo! I have a big one I ordered from German Amazon (UK Amazon didn’t seem to have them as they don’t seem fashionable at the moment).

zzzzz · 05/05/2018 21:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Venetia11 · 05/05/2018 21:36

Yes. Safety and hygiene.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 05/05/2018 21:38

I had twins.

Total lifesaver !!!

TeaHeeHee · 05/05/2018 21:42

We have one and used it once.

Did you use a play pen?
4GreenApples · 05/05/2018 21:45

We got a Lindam hexagonal one when DS1 was a baby. It was pretty much unused for DS1 - we ended up babyproofing the whole living room instead.

But the playpen really came into its own when DS2 was born. DS2 went in it a lot, primarily to protect him from toddler DS1.
Same again with DS3, we’ve used the playpen as a safe space to prevent overactive older siblings accidentally trampling him.

Mybabystolemysanity · 05/05/2018 21:47

We've got one for DD like tea hee's.

It's her nest. She's got a king size feather duvet and a fleece blanket in there, so she chills out and plays in it during the day. Is currently asleep in it and we'll move her into bed when we go. Is absolutely the one piece of kit we couldn't do without because she's a bit wild and into everything if she's not contained.

niknac1 · 05/05/2018 21:50

We had one and used it every day.