Playpen advice needed

[verds]

My six month old is rolling all over the place. Which means I can't get a shower, as she can escape from her baby gym - and go quite a distance in a short amount of time! Is a playpen a good option, or is it a bit prisony? What does everyone else do with babies on the loose? She screams in her bouncy chair now, so I can't take that in the bathroom with me. Thanks!

[Fuschia]

Make the bathroom floor safe and let her roll there? Have a bath together instead?

[helena handbasket]

I could not have lived without our playpen for that exact reason. I found it handy about a hundred times a day, like when you need a trip to the toilet, answer the door, check the mail, cook in the kitchen without a little one underfoot. I would have never showered either. If it was too much like a prison my very vocal son would have let me know, just throw a few toys and books in in and (shame!) put it in front of the t.v. and presto! A nice peaceful shower. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Plus..... we have travelled a lot with our son and it made life so much easier to have a portable bed. Not sure I'd splurge on anything fancy, friends gave us one that they were no longer using.

[The Nappy Lady]

Hmmm, we had a BabyDan (I know I'm always going on about it on here!). Tried to use it as a playpen and DD1 screamed - think I left it too late to get her used to it (though never thought of parking it in front of the TV). But we've used

it MASSIVELY opened up as a fire guard / room divider / around the pond in the garden in the summer, so despite being pricey

it has been worth its weight in gold.

In terms of showers I've always just taken baby into the bathroom with me. Have to put the loo seat down, lift the bin off the floor and let her get all the bath toys out of the little box we keep them in, but it keeps her happy. Actually now she is walking/crawling the stair gate is placed so it allows her to go from the bathroom to play with her big sister (5) in her bedroom too - I just make sure there are no tiny Barbie type bits on the floor, and thankfully O is old enough to understand, and they seem to rub along pretty well.

I was amazed at first that she didn't complain when I got in the shower but she seems very happy to play and in fact I think she knows that when I am in the shower there is no point complaining because I can't / am not going to be able to pick her up. She does like to play pee po with me around the shower curtain though, and quite often when I get out and start to do my make up she's there trying to raid my make up back...sigh....can see it will not be long before I'll have BOTH of them asking to use my lip gloss.

Molly

[Gubodge]

I used to just stick mine in their cots with plenty to play with if I needed to corral them. Playpens can come in handy though as even if the baby objects to being in it, you can place whatever you need to protect from them (and them from) inside instead. They come into their own for putting the Christmas tree in; vital when curious 9 month olds are wanting to pull themselves up on whatever is closest to hand, particularly if it is dripping with sparkly ornaments.

[fmay]

When showering I lay towels on the bathroom floor, put a stack of toys down and let my son roll around and play (with the door shut so he can't escape). A friend suggested I put our travel cot up in the kitchen too for when I'm cooking/cleaning etc and that's been really helpful. I hang things off it, fill it with toys and a couple of soft blankets, put the radio on for us and he seems very happy to watch me dancing around and cooking and so on.

Hadn't thought about the tree this Christmas (his first!)...yes, I can see that could be interesting:))

[Mrs TP]

Used a playpen for my eldest two and about to re-assemble it for nos 3 who is almost 8mths old and rolling all over the place. Playpens do have a door / gate, which you shut when you have to leave the room and open again when you are around, so the wee one can roam in and out.

Great also for chucking tons of toys in when doing a quick tidy up.

We have a Baby Dan metal one but noticed they now also do a wooden one, which looks fab.