Do people use playpens in the UK?

[JonnyPocketRocket]

Just that really.
DS is 5.5 months and starting to think about crawling. PILs are from America (but live here now) and keep reminding me to get a playpen as apparently I need to start putting him in it before he becomes mobile so he gets used to it. But I don't think any of my friends or family in the UK has used one of these, they've all just babyproofed as much as possible and kept an eye on what the baby's up to. And the more I look at them, the more they look like little cages.
Is this a cultural/generational thing, and people here don't tend to use them, or am I being precious/naive?

We had a hexagon shaped one for DC1 but he wasn’t very happy in there. Mostly served as toy storage. Didn’t bother for DC2 but we Baby proofed the house. Ie had stair gates in the kitchen and at the bottom and top of the stairs, cleared surfaces etc.

I didn't and don't know anyone who has.

I vaguely remember I once needed to confine one of the DDs for whatever reason, so put them in the travel cot with some toys.

It is a probably correlated to larger houses. I knew one family where the older child would climb into the playpen and play with intricate Lego etc in the playpen. The younger child had the room outside the playpen. The non verbal younger child objected to the arrangement but only a little. The other way around was completely unacceptable!

I have one for my 6 months old.

I have 2 dogs so it's easier to pop her in there when I need to leave the room. If you're doing laundry, emptying dishwasher etc I can't just always bring her with me. Now she's soon to be mobile too it's not going to be just about the dogs but also where she might end up when I'm out the room lol

Yep best £75 I spent! I can leave her playing independent safely while I get jobs done.

I used to put baby ds2 in a travel cot to stop toddler ds1 'playing' with him when I was at the toilet or whatever. Used it regularly for that reason but didn't with ds1.
By the time of DS3 we were in a different house where the downstairs was open plan so he did go in a playpen quite a bit because it was hard to contain him otherwise. It was big though and he was quite happy entertaining himself with toys. He had certain toys that stayed in the playpen so he often wanted to go in just so he could play with those toys. He was never sad about being there.

They seem much more common in Australia too and can often be picked up at boot sales there cheap (generally larger more open plan houses though).

ALL my friends there use them, then once walking, use it to protect the Christmas tree, so gets a 2nd use! Or as a rabbit run!

Yes I used one. It was a big one with lots of fun things, he loved it! It’s not as if I plopped him in and didn’t see him again for another hour, I was always in the room with him and interacting but I kept him safe while I was cooking/working/having a shower etc.

This is so helpful - thanks! Quite a mixed bag of responses. We're in a 3-storey terrace with a couple rooms on each floor, so each room is quite small. No open fires, pets etc but obviously a couple of staircases, which we have bought gates for. Maybe it's better to have one just in case, to pop him in for short periods of time while I shower, cook etc, but also have his room babyproofed and gated off so he can move around freely in there.
We've tried to keep our baby purchases quite minimal and still ended up with a virtually unused moses basket and bouncy chair/ rocker thing as he just hates being confined - never liked swaddling either. So I was reluctant to get another thing that would just gather dust in the corner, but I see how they can be useful. Thanks for all the responses!

At that age I'd get a jumperoo instead. They are much more fun and it means you can have a wee in peace! I think they were just more popular with the previous generation

I used one. I’m meant I could wee etc. We also had a dog so was helpful for that.

Hi had one for my ds when he was a baby as he was an accomplished climber with no sense of danger from about 8 months old. I baby proofed the room as best I could but that didn’t stop him constantly climbing up the bookcase,tv unit and sofas etc and often falling off, so I had a small one in one corner that I could pop him in if I needed to nip to the loo or put some washing out etc. Haven’t needed one for DD as she didn’t start the climbing stage until much later and seems to have abit more sense!

I couldn’t have managed without it. DT’s got use to it from being tiny so no problems with them liking it or not. I don’t understand why they are unpopular in the UK and more people don’t use them.

We live in a 3 story and what we have is a room divider in the kitchen so the children can play safely and we can cook safely. We have a stair gate at the very top of the stairs allowing the landing to be used as a play space in addition to their bedrooms. In the living room we've done a kind of Lshaped room divider thing to make a safe space corner for our older DD to play without her little brother trashing her Lego models or whatever.
It totally depends on how you live and your home setup.

We ended up using a travel cot when dd1 was a baby as we didn’t have room for a playpen. We lived in a studio flat and it wasn’t easy baby proofing it as it was all open plan. Just put her in with her toys, got one of those light and sound mobile things we hung on the side and some interactive toys. She absolutely loved it and I could move it outside the bathroom and watch her while I had a quick shower, while I was cooking etc. She would happily stay in there for an hour or so

I did when I had two children, I could pop the baby in so the toddler couldn't squash him by giving over-enthusiastic cuddles while I went to the loo.
Another friend had one that her older child liked to go in so he could build Lego which wasn't smashed by her toddler. They have their uses!

I had one but really only used it when I went to the loo - the doorbell went - I wanted to make a cup of tea. For minutes at a time.

Yes, of course.
Good for 15 mins of cooking, using the toilet, answering the door etc.

The house can be baby proofed up to the eyeballs but you can't just leave them in a room for a few minutes without a playpen. They will find mischief to get into.

I had one, more to pop them in if I needed to leave them unattended/unsupervised at all - like open the door, go to the loo, cook...

I didn't with older DC (but did use baby gates and babyproofed diligently). Used a playpen with newborn youngest DC to keep them safe from oldest DC racing around and trying to pick up the baby unsupervised. Our house was so busy that it wasn't possible for me to never take my eyes off the baby for a few seconds. I put the baby in bouncer or Moses basket into the playpen until about 6 months. After that we used PP to corral things that we didn't want the kids to get their hands on. But it took a lot of room so got rid of it.

We are a terrace and there’s just not space - a playpen would take up most of living room. If I needed a shower I just popped DC in their cot for 5 minutes with some books.

Yes I used one, I had it in the kitchen whilst I cooked and could still chat to Ds1. Used it for Ds2 and Ds1 used to get in there with him. There is a 3 year age gap.

I did put him in there before he could crawl so that he was used to it and didn't see it as somewhere to restrict him. Great place for storing toys.

It was a BabyDan so could be used in different configurations to separate off area which I did when the children got older. So when Ds2 was toddling, I sectioned off part of the kitchen so I could cook and iron in there without worrying.

I had child gates on doorways but the playpen was a brilliant piece of kit. I didn't want a child clinging to my legs whilst I had a hot pan on the stove or the oven on.

@georgialondon Oh I hadn't considered a jumparoo! My nephew loved his at that age. Good shout. Maybe we'll start with one of those and see if it does the trick, and trade it for a playpen if needed.
I was raised in South Asia and - certainly 30 years ago - nobody used any of these things, so neither my own mum nor I really have any idea about them. I slept on a mat on the floor next to my mum, and during the day she wore me in a sort of makeshift sling or else I crawled / toddled about on the floor or, once I was about 2, "helped" her with whatever she was doing. But that was in a different society and a different time, and maybe doesn't work now in the UK. It's a bit overwhelming to me sometimes to try and figure out modern western parenting - what I need, what I don't, what is and isn't recommended... But I'm sure I don't have a monopoly on feeling that way!

We use a travel cot with toys in downstairs since DS became mobile. I don’t know how you could use the bathroom etc without one and it’s nice for him to sit and play now that he’s walking when he starts getting tired in the evening.

Pregnant with DS2 now and I think I’ll invest in a big enough playpen for them both to play in because we’re moving to a bigger house soon.

I did, kept baby safe if I had to go to loo/answer the door. I kept different toys in there to make it fun. When he was old enough he piled all his soft toys up so he could climb in to it!