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Original poster

Is a playpen useful?

31 replies

Mimba1 · 05/02/2022 08:29

DS is 10 months and a force of nature. He's not walking yet but crawling and climbing on everything. Our downstairs is open plan and hard floors - the kitchen bit is OK but the dining table, sofa, TV unit are all potential dangers and there's only so much distracting I can do before he realises! He's too little to reliably understand "no" - and to be fair the place probably looks like a baby theme park from his height! I'd be saying no all day which kind of undermines it! At the moment whenever I'm cooking/ cleaning/ going to the loo he has to sit in his travel cot or high chair and it's full on death avoidance the rest of the time!

Right now a playpen would be a godsend but they're really pricey and don't seem to come up often on FB marketplace around here. I don't want to spend the money if I'm only going to use it for a few weeks.

Those of you with older kids - is this a short phase I should just get through or do you think it's something that will be useful for a long time and worth the investment?

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Twizbe · 05/02/2022 08:32

Playpens are great, my eldest loved his and would happily play for ages in there. He wasn't a climber or anything like that. He also didn't crawl until 11 months.

My youngest wasn't as keen but mostly because she could see her brother playing outside and wanted to be with him.

The key is to get them used to it early and play with them in it several times before you use it to contain them.

NannyR · 05/02/2022 08:39

As a nanny, I find they can be useful as a safe spot to leave the baby when I go to the loo or if there are older siblings and you need a space that's definitely clear of lego, marbles etc. I would work on babyproofing and making safe your living space first though rather than confining them to a playpen.
The babydan hexagonal playpens are often on sale on FB marketplace and they are great because you can use them as a traditional playpen or use it to section off an area of the room.

cliffdiver · 05/02/2022 08:41

I just used a travel cot if a situation arose where DDs needed to be contained.

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pilates · 05/02/2022 08:41

Yes, I found it very useful and would recommend.

Iloveacurry · 05/02/2022 08:41

My two are now 11 and 13 so it’s been awhile! But I found the playpen very useful. I think I had it up permanently for 5 years, using it one after the other.

riverpebbles · 05/02/2022 08:42

I didn't have a playpen and I would recommend getting one. What was I thinking? They need to be somewhere safe while you cook. I must have been mad.

SpikeySmooth · 05/02/2022 08:44

We had a second had travel cot too. It contains them whilst you do the cooking or answer the door, for example.

TheFutureIs · 05/02/2022 08:50

Very useful, especially at Christmas where our tree was put for a few years

bruffin · 05/02/2022 08:55

we had one like this , went through 2 babies then sold it on. Great as a playpen and a travel cot

Original poster

Mimba1 · 05/02/2022 09:07

Thanks this is really helpful! I'd definitely prefer to section off part of the room as I'd like to be able to sit in the pen with him to play - he just darts off so quickly and there are dangers in all directions. I can't properly babyproof the room as the furniture is the issue and it's all stuff we need and use.

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Sausagesausagesausage · 05/02/2022 11:06

Used one for both of mine - godsend for when you need the loo or need to go to the door. Useful with a second as well as you can stick them in there if they're knocking down your eldest's beautiful Duplo creation.

seaborgium · 05/02/2022 14:28

I bought a really big playpen from Costway. Definitely worth it.

RedWingBoots · 05/02/2022 14:35

The reason you won't find second hand ones as they get really manky.

I still have my playpen/travel cot and it's manky so now that my DD doesn't fit in it, it's going to the tip.

They are worth it until your child can climb out of them and refuses to stay in them.

They are also good to use where there is an older child. As the older child can play in them with lego or small stuff that the younger child will destroy/swallow.

fighoney · 05/02/2022 17:16

I'm going to go against the grain and say I didn't find it useful as baby hated being trapped. We just got baby locks on the cupboards and a gate for the door

Chely · 05/02/2022 20:12

Yes they are fantastic until they can climb out of them, baby gates on the living room & bedroom doors once the cots can not contain them.

Hopitihop · 05/02/2022 21:25

Yes playpens are great. They give you time to cook, to hoover, to go quickly to the loo, to open the door to a delivery, to separate kids and to separate dogs/cats from kids. Go for it! We had two, one in the living room and one in the kitchen.

LostMySocks · 05/02/2022 21:48

As others have said we found the playpen great as a safe place for leaving the baby for a few minutes or while cooking. Also used to pop the older one inside it when he wanted to play without the baby destroying or swallowing his special toys.
We had the hexagonal babydan one and used to leave it up with the door open a bit like a playhouse when they didn't need containing.

TulipsGarden · 05/02/2022 22:06

Essential, in my book. We used a travel cot and considering he was also a force of nature, climber etc, he was really happy in there. We used it from six months to around two years (though definitely less towards the end as he could have got out if he'd wanted to).

You do need to get them used to it. I put it in view of the kitchen so he could see me but had favourite toys to distract him.

MrsTophamHat · 05/02/2022 22:42

Yes very useful.

As my daughter is nearly 2 now and not quite so set on engineering her own demise, we've swapped to a double width baby gate on the playroom so she can't get into the kitchen

KatherineofGaunt · 05/02/2022 22:46

We had a BabyDan one that cut off a corner of the kitchen. Absolute godsend, until he was about 2.5 and then he just screamed to get out all the time! But for a good 18 months it gave us somewhere we could safely put him while cooking/dashing to the loo/just needing a sit down for 5 mins.

Sablemablelable · 05/02/2022 22:49

We managed without one. But we did use stairgates. And my DC were both late movers and never really went through a climbing stage. I managed with a travel cot that doubled up as baby jail upstairs.

Lampshading · 05/02/2022 22:51

Tbh we used a pop up one in the living room occasionally and it was so so so useful in summer outdoors too that it was totally worth it. Personally I wouldn't buy an expensive fixed one as probably wouldn't be used for too long.

Opalfeet · 05/02/2022 22:51

I had one for my first and I found it really useful. But I didn't use it with my second.

GalactatingGoddess · 05/02/2022 22:57

Playpen was great for us months 7-12/13 m when she had learned to crawl 7/8 months then learned to walk 11 months. Kept her safe while she was learning to be really steady and also when I was doing stuff but couldn't trust her I'm the room pottering about next to me. Now she is 17m and she potters safely, with me able to get on with a task in the same room. Or leave her watching a TV show if necessary while I get her lunch/snack ready!

Gregsprinkles · 05/02/2022 22:58

We found it very useful - the metal one that you can also use for odd shaped spaces or as a room divider. Great for so many scenarios. Starts off as a little hexagon but you can open it out for different uses.

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