I have been looking into getting a playpen for our DD and thought I'd post here as I'm unsure about what we need. We've just today been given one as a present but I'm not sure it's right for us.
Our baby is 11 months old and can't crawl but is very wriggly and able to roll, with a little bit of commando crawling - she can get herself anywhere. So we need somewhere for her to roll about safely. There is space in our living room, but it's not very wide, and the floor is very hard slate (not our choice!), so we need to keep her off that. Also, since she's so active, I think that a lot of trying to stand, and so falling over, is imminent. I should emphasise that we aren't going to dump her in the playpen for long periods, but we want somewhere to put her down that's safe, where she can roll around without injuring herself. She's already escaped from a Bumbo twice (by nose-diving out of it).
I see the BabyDan BabyDen being recommended, but the fact that it's metal puts me off - she'll be hitting her head on that, and probably trying to chew it. Does anyone have a recommendation for a large (up to 2mx1m, roughly), sturdy, wood or plastic, playpen? I found this, but don't know the company (reviews are all good, and it looks nice too):
www.amazon.co.uk/Brand-Wooden-PLAYPEN-UNO-MJmark/dp/B006MQKWVI
and also (though we'd need to pad the floor in such a way that she can't pull the padding up):
www.amazon.co.uk/BABY-VIVO-4-SIDE-PLAYPEN-EXPANDABLE/dp/B005LUS7D6/
We've been bought a Jolly Kidz, which is like the Baby Vivo but has the disadvantages of being (1) smaller (114cmx114cm) and (2) has quite thick 'walls' with not so many bars - dunno how DD will react to not being able to see us very well. We may offend a grandparent if we return it, though...
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