Play pens

[emma911030]

What are people's opinions on play pens? I have an 18month old and due twins in December. When the twins begin crawling I am well aware life will change even more and wondering the best thing to do to keep them safe when I need to go to the toilet or cook dinner etc. My partner suggested a play pen but I worry they seem a bit cruel but at the same time for he safety of them I can't think of anything more appropriate.

I think they are fine and very useful for a few minutes.

We have had to get one (the Venture) and it has been a godsend. We have a 5 year old and an 8 month old, and we only use it when both kids are at home, to stop the baby destroying the older one’s toys/games. Not cruel for brief periods!

We had one and it was a fab place to chuck toys into in the evenings when I was tidying up.
DS used to chose to go into it (with the gate open) quite a lot of the time as it had a comfy cushion & he put his toys in it. V useful as easy way to keep them safe.

Loved ours. Used it during lockdown to allow us to try and work without DS crawling into the fire/eating the dog/running out the door.

Play pens are amazing for keeping the little ones safe! You won’t regret it.

We use ours quite a lot (to keep 10mo DS away from dog and other potentially dangerous objects). However, he generally won't go in alone and howls or looks out from the bars pitifully until --someone old muggins here joins him

I like them. You can get large fence type ones (like what Tommy Pickles in Rugrats has) so the child has lots of space the play safely.

We had a Tik Tokk one as DS is tall - it's great helped keep him safe and used it as a mini ball pit . Sometimes he would ask to go in it. We could also clip it around things so a glass side table in our living room could be "coned off" to stop DS crashing into it etc.

Thank you all. I really appreciate your feedback. Obviously I don't intend to put them in there and leave them there for lots of time but would leave the door open when they're not in there for a specific reason for them to chose to go in or out. I feel so overwhelmed by the leap from 1 to 3 I'm trying to think of things ahead of time and try and prepare my brain a little and think of solutions to currently non existent problems lol z

I've only got 1 and used a playpen a fair bit - useful when needing to answer the door or when I needed to clean up the horrendous mess from meals.

Loved them. A safe place for them to be when your back is turned.

My only thought would be to get them used to it little by little from when they're under their baby gyms onwards. You can't just plonk them in there when they're already active.

Mine would be happily in there for ages while I made supper. I had eyes on them but they were happily in a safe space.

I kept some toys for just in the pen just to make it more appealing.

I didn’t have room for one but life would have been so much easier if I had! Go for it

The playpen was completely pointless for my DTs - once they were mobile they just wound each other up in it, worked together to climb out/knock it over and it just wasn’t big enough really!

We ended up using wicker baskets to divide a room so they had plenty of space and it took them longer to escape.

In what way are they 'cruel'?

They are really useful for keeping your dc safe when you need to turn your back for a second.
Why would it be cruel to keep your dc safe ?

My SIL's DC are very close in age. She used to put the baby in the play pen to keep her safe from her toddler older brother

I can't see what's cruel about them, tbh.

@DramaAlpaca

My SIL's DC are very close in age. She used to put the baby in the play pen to keep her safe from her toddler older brother

I can't see what's cruel about them, tbh.

My mum did the same with me.