PlayPen - did you use it? was it worth it?

[mrcee]

Hi Everyone,

Our little one is on the move and we are thinking about a playpen but dont like the idea of keeping her caged so we dont think we will end up using it.

that said, there are times when it would be useful so did you buy one? if so, was it worth it? when did you use it?

[Lochie]

My brother in law spent loads on a lovely wooden play pen for us. It is the one thing we used least and became a pain as it took up so much space. Both my kids would make such a din if they were put in one as they wanted to get out! That is my experience anyway! IMO - Best thing to do is buy a travel cot and use it as a playpen so at least you have another use for it....

[Mrs TP]

We had one in the corner of the lounge. It did take up a fair bit of space but was a great place for storing toys and I would leave it open when I was around so our 3 could wander in and out. I would close it with child in when I nipped to the loo, answered the door etc. Depends on how much room you have or are prepared to give up to it. Useful but not necessary.

[scareyt]

I had a Leapfrog Learn & Groove DJ station instead - it was in a corner of the kitchen and my baby loved it and didn't feel like he'd been dumped there when I put him in it. It allowed me to cook safely which was the only time I ever felt like I needed to contain him. Eventually he got bored of it and realised it was a prison but it was brilliant for about 6 months. It's very big though. And quite noisy, but I didn't find it too annoying and I have a very low tolerance of noisy toys.

(Selling ours for ?25 if anyone would like it!)

[Convex]

Yes I second the activity centre / jumperoo idea.

WW had a playpen briefly for containment but he only liked it if he had company (ie us) which defeated the purpose!

[Strawbs]

We had one and it was huge but we used it for a period and it was really useful, that period can be quite short though so next time I will probably get a smaller one. Easy enough to sell on here on e finished with, I would just advise getting a used one rather than an expensive new one. X

[Yak]

Use it to put the telly in. Our cats took up residence in ours too

[BeccaL]

Used ours a lot when husband was working at home with daughter - filled with toys and books she was quite happy in there, in same room as him, but is quite a self-contained child which helps, I think...

[Bonfire2010]

Agree with Strawbs re. don't bother getting a new one. We got a second hand one and used it for a few months.

I never felt like I was caging my son in, I only shut the gate if I needed to leave him for a very short period. It was quite handy for keeping his toys in and giving him his own little space. As I say, we did only use it for a few months, so am glad we only got a used one as some of the new ones are quite expensive.

[Jo'sEnglish]

Agree with getting a second hand one as it really is something you will probably only use for a few months.

We had one as my little boy started crawling the week we were moving house and what with builders, painting, boxes everywhere it was a godsend as a safety device! Used it mostly for when I was having a shower or cooking dinner as I knew he was safe and he never seemed to mind being in there and was quite happy with his toys. I did have reservations about caging him in but weighing things up it was much safer for him.

[canela]

our son loved it in the shop - pulling himself up and creeping around the bars - but we couldn't decide and we were skint and so in the end opted out. i wished we had tho. i agree it is a short moment but i think it can really make cooking and a few other things easier for those 6 months or so. nowadays there is ebay etc so not even expensive.