play pens or travel cot

[mummytojames]

my ds is just starting to learn to crawl so im thinking play pen or travel cot for when i got to leave the room and the moment he keeps rolling towards and trying to get into the bin can anyone surgest a good place to get a play pen or travel and which you would preferbly buy yourself we was going to get those soft balls in to put in it for amusement or so he can throw them at us

We have a travel cot which DS1 used to play in quite a lot and DS2 has just started using as a play pen too. I think it's a Graco one and has mesh sides so he can see out and watch Mummy pretending to do housework (while really on Mumsnet!) We also use it as a cot when other babies come to stay or we go to Grandma's.

thanks tommy i have seen travel cots for about £30 and wasnt sure if they were any good for play pens we got one up my mothers house for when he stays there so i will have to look out for another one the one up my mothers got mesh sides as well just was a bit worried if they were strong enough because there not designed for constant you know like every day use

I've got a graco travelcot/playpen. It cost about £60 and is excellent. The construction is really sound and ds1 gave it some punishment. Ds2 has just started being put in there so ds1 doesn't try and pick him up.

The one I've got it square rather than rectangle and it's quite large. I got mine from a local baby shop. But Graco are really good and very easy to store.

thanks flip will talk to dp about that and see if i can convince him its worth spending £60 i just wont mention the price first i will soften him up then tell him the price i done a search on argos and index and they never came up with one

I found dd liked a playpen more than her travel cot, especially when she was learning to pull up to standing, and then she'd edge around it holding onto the bars. When she was more mobile she had great fun posting things through the bars too. Actually I'm about to get rid of mine if you're interested, bit big to post though so you'd need to be able to get to London.

thanks evita for the thought but london is a bit of a distance as i live in newport in wales we have managed to find a graco travel cot and plen in one which is only £25 secound hand and in brand new condition so aint bad was sitting there thinking well wouldnt a play pen be better but now my little devil has desided to try and pull himself up in his cot and try and head but the bar thinking its funny until he hurts himself so im thinking an normal play would be a bit dangerous with him as one day he's going to knock himself out i swear though he thinks his head is made of wood lol

someone please tell me im doing the right thing buying secound hand as it looks perfectly new

Evita... What's your playpen like, and how much did you want for it?