Do parents still use playpens?

Icey77

I may be getting a little ahead of myself here - I'm only 12 weeks pregnant - but I was discussing playpens with DH yesterday.

My mum used to use one for my sister and I (late 70s) so that she could get some things done whilst we were contained and couldn't come to any harm.

My question is that do parents still use them or do they constantly supervise/play with their toddlers and do the housework when they are asleep?

Thanks!
Icey aka the soon to be new mum that doesn't have a scooby

escortg3

Alot of people i know use travel cots as somewhere to put a child safe.

My Daughter used nothing for my grandaughter. We just made sure there were appropriate measures taken to ensure childs safety.

Stair Gates. Fire guard, plug covers. no sharp edges etc.

My daughter did her downstairs jobs whilst little one was crawling, wondering around and then did upstairs jobs when little one was either in cot or wandering around upstairs with stair gate at top of stairs.

newcook

I dont have any kids myself but most of my friends do and they have said they couldnt be without their playpen when the children were toddlers or younger!

one of my friends had one with a really heavy base so it couldnt be tipped over and when nature called she popped her littlun into the pen! she has said even if they screamed because they were being cooped up it was fine as there was nothing in there that could hurt them, they couldnt tip it over and natures call could be attended to without being worried where the little folk were!!

kingfisherblue

My kids are 20, 13 (disabled from birth) and 11. I didn't use a playpen for any of them. They all had to get used to the running of the house, so I still cooked and cleaned when they were awake. They were taught from an early age that they weren't allowed near the cooker etc. I supervised whilst I worked. I sang to them, talked to them, and always made sure that they had a box of toys to play with when I was busy.

I also don't like the look of playpens or the amount of space that they take up.

I did use stair gates, socket covers, etc, but would expect most parents to use these.

Playpens weren't available until around the 50s, and mums had to manage before then - often with several children, and without labour saving devices such as washing machines.

pinkmami

I used a travel cot. Handy wen I was hoovering etc...then got used as a dumping ground so I got rid!

Spendless

I used a travel cot for DS (he's 11.5yo) but once he could crawl, (at 5 months!) he screamed like mad each time he was put in it. When I looked into why, it was because he had realised there was a world to discover that he could explore and didn't want to be restricted, so it was pointless putting him in there because before he could crawl, he wasn't going anywhere and after unless I wanted to listen to him scream till the point he threw up I wasn't able to put him in anyway.

Naf

We used one for a while, but in the end it just filled up with toys etc. so using it meant finding homes for all the stuff in it every time. We just got rid.

QueenieB

I bought one, but never used it. With a lot of baby equipment the best rule is to only buy it if you find that you need one, rather than buying before the baby is born. That way you don't end up with a lot of stuff you don't ever use.

onlyroz

I never really used a playpen, but I did use a stair-gate, so at least I could confine the kids to one floor of the house. Kids will quickly learn the meaning of "No" and will learn which cupboards not to open, or to stay away from the oven/tv/hi-fi/precious ornaments etc.

Hanky_Panky

I would if I could - can you get them for a 16 year old ?

Gorgeestwo

kingfisherblue wrote: »

They all had to get used to the running of the house, so I still cooked and cleaned when they were awake. They were taught from an early age that they weren't allowed near the cooker etc. I supervised whilst I worked. I sang to them, talked to them, and always made sure that they had a box of toys to play with when I was busy.

I did use stair gates, socket covers, etc, but would expect most parents to use these.

This is what I did, my two are now 4 and 6, we never bothered with a playpen at all, if we had of got one it just would have ended up as a large toy box