Do parents still use playpens?

sir_monster

To reply to the OP I don't think a playpen is an essential buy, if you are getting a travel cot and have room use that otherwise I put DS in his cot while I wee (although he hates) but you have to go!! Someone mentioned a jumperoo or activity centre this to me was more of an essential as could keep him entertained while I at least made something to eat.


Congrats OP and all the best.

LilacPixie

I have one and use it. perfect for keeping cat safe from baby, baby safe from clod hopping big sisters and my sanity intact when i'm not retrieving her from getting jamed beside sofa, undertable and othe rplaces the LO seems to get herself in just as I go to load the washing machine or have a wee or something

teasleym

I got a playpen last month for my little one (nearly 10mths old now). I got it to protect her from her 4 year old sister! She can play in it quite happily and I know she is safe.

She also has a jumperoo which she loves, but can only tolerate so long (and as she has reflux she can't use for at least 1hr after feeding).

She has just started crawling and yesterday she crawled into the back room to her playpen as she wanted to play with the toys in there rather than
the ones we had out in the front room - it was very cute!

I'm glad I've got it as now she is crawling I can put her in there quite safely and I know she will stay there. She is a very different character to her older sister, as she is into everything, always pulling at leads, anything on chairs, trying to stand up and falling over, whereas her older sister was a lot calmer and I could put her in one place and she would stay there!

Fitzio

Plans_all_plans wrote: »

Not read any replies, but no I would never use a playpen. I think they're horrible things, akin to chaining a child up!

I think you must have read other replies (perhaps after you said this) as you thanked Rachbc's post!

I never used a playpen or a travel cot, but I know people who have and they think they are great. My friend had one and her son enjoyed playing in it for short periods, and she had somewhere to throw all of the little toys at the end of the day. I haven't needed one, but I honestly thought people who referred to them as "baby jails" said it in jest. Clearly there are some who seriously think that. Comparing it to chaining a child up is ridiculous. Using one in moderation where a baby is free to crawl around is not the same as having a metal cuff around your ankle restricting your movement. I haven't seen any kids whose development was hampered due to using a playpen occasionally!

jellyhead

I suppose people are assuming the child is going to be left in it for hours at a time?

For short periods I don't see the harm.

Opinion seems to be roughly half and half OP, so I'd see how you feel when baby starts to move.

When mine, who just turned 6 years old, was little I was surprised at how much people looked down on me for using reins, yet when my eldest was a baby almost everyone seemed to use them.

mikey72

Reins, I forgot them, epecially when you could put the wrist strap over a coat hook!

crutches

This thread title brought back memories! I used to sit in the playpen myself and read peacefully with a cup of tea whilst my littlies ran around like banshees in the living room!Far safer for them and for me:)

It was the old square type and often used for puppies,kittens,sick guinea pigs etc to isolate and protect them.

And at xmas it was lined with cardboard and the presents placed in it around the tree which was screwed to a box to raise it up so they could see but not touch it.

When I had my first child my best friend gave me £ to buy something for myself.I bought the playpen and never regretted it.

pigpen

I had DS3 on reins until he was about 6.. he ha aspergers and would run into the road and just knowing they were on stopped him.. I didnt even have to hold them.. just put them on.. we tried wrist straps and he hated them but walked fabulously on the reins.. you wouldnt believe the number of dodgy looks and a few comments we got but who cares so long as they are safe.

I just remembered.. on the odd occasion we have a nice day we put the playpen outside and Squeak can play in the fresh air.. and watch the others dash about.. though we have been known to end up with 5 children in the playpen!!! She sits out to watch the grass be cut too.. an she doesnt eat anything she shouldnt like.. presents from the cats or plants or soil or anything equally gross!

And.. I dont have ANY stairgates.. once mine learn to go UP the stairs I it and teach them to come DOWN again safely, inc Squeak who is just a year old.. That does give her access to the kitchen though and cat biscuits, though she usually just follows everyone else about chattering.. plus socketcovers have been linked to house fires as they create a live current whereas an empty socket is not unless you poke something in all the holes they are not a danger... in modern houses at any rate.

angchris

i have a 1 year old and a 2 year old and left to their own devices in the living room whilst i nipped to the loo they would be perched high up on a shelf like mountain goats or bellyflopping off the backs of the furniture by the time i got back :rotfl:i cant trust the little boogers as far as i could throw them the pc would be on off on off on off kaboooom and the telly prized off the wall
my children go in the playpen everytime i or visitors have a cuppa after seeing a family member toddler child pour boiling tea over their face neck and chest and to this day still having skin grafts it scares the bejesus out of me so better to be safe than sorry
I LOVE MY PLAYPEN! it buys my sanity...

Alibat

I am smiling at playpens being called baby cages or jails. I'd not heard that one before.

I don't mean to be flippant but does having a stair gate up at the kitchen doorway make a lounge a baby cage?

What about pushchairs and car seats? Are they baby straight jackets?

And of course when is a cot not a cot? If a child is awake in their cot are they in a baby cage? Or do some people bypass cots and go straight to beds?

A serious question out of curiosity to the parents who would not use a playpen - where do you draw the line between what you find acceptable to 'contain' (sorry, too early to think of a more appropriate word ) your child and what you don't?

To my mind a playpen is as much as an aid for parents to keep their precious little ones safe as all the other items we use to that end. Nothing more, nothing less.