Play pen or no play pen?!

Question

Ive recently read about play pens being bad for baby and wanted some other opinions!
I use mine to stop my little boy hurting himself as he’s walking already at 9 months and was forever trying to get to our fireplace etc and he’d get upset at me dragging him away all the time from all the dangerous bits and bobs that couldn’t be safely ‘baby proofed’ 
Its quite big and I saw it as a safe place for him to explore and play. I’m always in there with him playing and hardly ever leave him alone in there but is it bad to have him in there for longer periods even if I’m with him?!
I also walk him round our house during the day so he can explore....
Thanks!

Answer

Never used a play pen, but we have a baby gate-thing around the fire place so they can't get to it. Always thought that they learn and build motoric skills by exploring, yes they might fall and hurt themselves there and there but never experienced anything major. And my oldest is/was a wild one.

Answer

If you keep your child in it all the time, I can see how that would be bad. We keep ours up in the living room and will put him in it quickly to do things such as mop the kitchen, go to the bathroom, vacuum the living room (we'll move it to the kitchen for that). Just basically any time we need to be sure he's out of the way or when he's not going to be supervised for more than a minute

Answer

We have a pack n play that we take on vacation for sleeping, the rest of the time it's in the corner with some toys in it. I stick him in there if I need him to be safely contained for a few minutes. I don't see how they're bad unless you're just sticking your baby in it for long periods of time.

Answer

I personally don’t use one. Our 9 month old has free range of the house. However, if I need a break from her exploring everywhere, I use a baby gate to keep her in the living room. ☺️

Answer

We have one in the living room with toys in it. J have a 3yr old so I put her in there if I have to run upstairs or be in the kitchen for a longer time-things like that. I don’t see the problem with that 🤷🏻‍♀️

Answer

We have a play pen but I only put him in there for 20min tops and that’s if he wants to. But it’s definitely a safe place for him if I have to do something and I can’t keep my eyes on him. He is at that stage were he crawls and pulls himself up on everything to walk around and we have hard wood floors so when he does fall it’s not good. His play pen has a nice play mat so he can play in there. But his is pretty big and I never heard of them being bad 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Answer

Idk what the stigma against a play pen is.  Weve used a pack n play from day one with our baby as his bed.    And u occasionally use it as a safe place if need be.  I dont use it often for keeping him in one play though.  I use a Walker for that reason.  They are a blessing to use for 5 or 10 min to keep baby out of stuff but mobile so they dont get mad lol.

Answer

I would say occasional use is fine. Like 15-20 minutes here and there but not hours a day. We do need a safe space out baby so we can watch them and fold laundry or cook a meal or whatever. I baby proofed my living rook and use gates. But definitely would use the play pen occasionally if she was getting into stuff and I needed a minute to do something.

Answer

I don’t have a playpen. Our fireplace (which we don’t use) has a glass door, so i used zip ties to keep it shut and then some painters tape to keep her fingers away from the cracks. The hearth has pool noodles around the edges and is covered in fluffy blankets. Definitely not pretty but safe! If we used our fireplace we would have definitely considered a play pen or those gates that go all the way around it

Answer

Thanks guys It’s good to get everyone’s opinions! I think you’re all right that as long as it not long periods of time the play pens are a great little place for baby to be safe while we make dinner or do the washing etc. My boy loves running round the living room and I’ve put a little gate up at the door so he’s safe and sound with loads of room to play where I can keep an eye and keeping the play pen for when I just need 5 mins to get bits done 💕

Play pen or no play pen?!

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