Did you use a play pen?

[Lemondrop99]

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?!

I wonder if I just strapped the tv unit to the wall and the tv to the unit, whether the room would be essentially baby proof and I could just put a baby gate up/shut the door to contain him safely for a few minutes 🤔

That’s pretty much what we did with DS1. Baby proofed the living room and put baby gates on the doors.

I was dubious about buying one too but glad I did. Second the PP suggestion of foam tiles under it and loads of toys. Both DC have been happy in them from around 7 months to around a year when they started walking. Also agree with PP that they are good for pulling themselves up with the bars. Maybe look for second hand as they can be a bit pricy for 5 months of usage but if you are planning more DC Id say worth the investment.

I can’t believe how many people don’t use them - I couldn’t live without mine. I bought a big one that is plastic and looks like a white picket fence, I can add and remove panels, use it in a straight line or square and use it inside and out. I don’t know what I would do without it, especially once mine started climbing, but I have twins and I couldn’t just leave them in a room without me while I make food / bottles / dare to have a wee!

There’s loads of room for them to play in there and is somewhere safe while I get chores done. Maybe if I only had one i would stick them in a travel cot.

They’re 19 months now and we still use it daily.

We also have baby gates, a table blocking the TV etc... but you can’t stop them climbing on the sofa and falling off! My climber likes to experiment with sofa dismounts, I’m amazed he hasn’t broken a limb at least yet.

I had a baby walker that you sit the child in when my dd was little. I just left her sat in that if I needed to do something as she couldn't get out and when it was in the living room on carpet she couldn't move in it. So if the door bell went I could pop her in there. We also had a jumperoo which can be used in the same way. Maybe something like that would be more useful??
My living room was also pretty safe so I could leave her on the floor for a bit when I was in the kitchen etc. You can usually hear what they are doing and know what they are up to. I mean like playing with certain toys. So I wouldn't have needed a playpen but really wouldn't have had room for one.

We had a jumperoo for DS1. Got rid of it because DS1’s overly vigorous bouncing scared me silly.

The playpen we have really isn’t all that much bigger, and it’s a lot easier to fold the playpen away if we need more floor space.

We have one for DD2. Mainly use it in the mornings while getting DD1 ready for school, making breakfast, etc.

We got ours from ebay for about £20 when DD was 6 or 7 months. She's now almost 18 months, and I can't see us stopping using it any time soon.

I had an old wooden one and a travel cot and used both a lot.
They kept babies safe.
They were great in the garden.
I also used it for the toddler to play in with the small fiddly toys (lego Playmobile etc) so that the baby couldn't get at him or the little bits.
I also used the travel cot as a ball pit for a while too.
I think the real advantage is that the baby is still free to move around - mine didn't like being constrained in baby bouncer or high chair for long.