I had to buy a playpen......

[Liz R]

hello,
AM feeling a bit guilty, bought a playpen for Jake :-[he is so fast at crawling, and refuses to sit in a chair by bucking his back,which looks really dangerous,that there was no way to let him have some free play unless I guarded him every second.He was getting annoyed too as every time he made a break for the cat/radiator pipe/ potplant/curtains I interupted!
I baby proofed, but in order for our house to be safe, I would have to raise eveything off the floor funiture included!
He seems happy in it, and I am limiting the times to necessity only.
Just read this back, and it so sounds like I'm justifying it to myself... but hey.
Any one else in same position?

[GabrielleD]

I am thinking of getting a playpen for DS as well. Which one did you end up buying? It's good to hear that your LO seems to be enjoying himself in it.

[vmcdonald28]

yes, i used a playpen for a while. my ds was happy in it too.
Dont let yourself feel guilty. If he's happy, there's nothing to feel guilty about. I guess the key things are that he isnt always in it   , and that you make sure he has plenty of stimulation while he IS in it.

I found that putting him in the playpen at certain times, and making it part of his routine, helped too. if you only use it, say, when you are going out of the room for a little while, or if you need ten minutes with your feet up.

Your wee one knows you love him with all your heart, and won't hate you for it! If your ds is anything like mine, in a few months he'll be breaking his heart every time you change his nappy or wipe his face - THEN you'll feel bad!  

[Liz R]

GabrilleD,
I ended up with a lightweight travelcot/playpenBy Graco. I thought it would be a good mutli-function type thing. What drew me to it is it folds down really small, if I don't need it.Traditional playpens look a bit too much like jails to me!

Vmcdonald,
thanks for your reassurance, He does have lots to do in there, and I have found he actually seems to take more notice of the toys I've given him, less distractions I suppose!
Liz x

[Grace's Mom]

I definitely plan on using a playpen when my dd starts to crawl.  I was in one when I was younger and so my brother and it didn't bother us one bit.  Mom's need to have a break once in awhile too and our lo's love being to play where ever they are.  I think it is fine as long as they are not in there for way too long. You have be able to get things done too and have a few moments of alone time where you aren't having to watch every second.  Don't feel guilty 
Enjoy those moments.

-Melissa

[Tonya]

We had one, but really never used it, unless we were doing laundry.  Our basement is only finished on one half, and the location of the washing machines is pretty dangerous still - hot water heater, sump pump, etc...so we'd stick him in there and get the laundry done!

[notenoughshelfspace]

I have one too;it was the biggest one I could find  (BABY DAN) and I use it for short periods of time during the day. I tend to use it in the mornings after she has had her breakfast. I tend to do my preparation for dinner in the mornings so she stays in there while I cook, clear up the kitchen etc... I also sometimes need it when I need to go to the toilet, open the door etc... short and sweet. It is so much a part of her day she never complains about being in it. But if I put her in there when she does not expect it, she is not a fan.

[elsa and jethro's mum]

I love my playpen: I've been putting DD in it since she was about 6months old (now 10.5months old), and I'm not the only one who loves it, she has all her favoritetoys in there too, so it's a special play alone time for her. I put her in it after breakfast while I get organised (if she's not tired she'll do an hour in there happily chatting away!!) and then usually once later in the day for maybe a half hour. Before dinner there's no chance, usually we put her in the door bouncer while I make food.
Honestly I think it's great: it's taught her to play safely on her own, everythings within reach, and if she falls it's soft. We have a Babydan playden which folds away easily, and we put it outside in the good weather (or at least use the mat and the same toys) and because it has bars not mesh on the side I don't think she realises its a constraint: she loves pulling herself up on them! So all in all if you're considering it I'd say go for it it's been great for us!
but not just for us as I said so I don't think you should feel guilty.
One tip someone gave me (which does't matter for my LO but yours is a bit older so it migh help) is if they are a bit fussy with it have some toys that are only in there, and make it a big treat. Elsa sometimes does better if we spend 3 minutes getting her started on something and then leave.
Even if she gets tired of it as she grows I'm expecting anotherLO so it'll come in useful for the next one!
HTH
L

[Wife and Mummy.]

hi there girls i never had one with dd1 but as my dd2 was born when dd1 only 11 months old,when she hit the 4 month mark and wanted to play a little dd1 kept taking her toys .i was given mine as well so it was an extra bonus.some things are brought into the world to make our lives a bit easier{ie,microwaves,slow cookers,and best of all BREASTS FOR ON TAP MILK,those who bf anyway}

[Marisa's Mom]

It took us a while before we decided to get a playpen. Like many of our "delayed" purchases, they turned out to be indispensible. It's not like we put DD in there for any great lengths of time, but it did come in handy for naps. We put her in the "basinet" portion for naps, and later when she outgrew that, we just placed her on the main floor of the playpen. She still naps in there at times. And the playpen was a convenient safe place for me to put her in when I needed to get the door for a package delivery, and stuff like that.

Oh, I just remembered one time after changing DD's poopy, I placed her in her crib while I went to wash my hands. When I had returned, she pooped AGAIN! This was back when she still had the "watery" poop, so it leaked and got onto the crib bedding. So I had to change her diaper a second time, and thank goodness I had the playpen to put her in afterwards so I could take care of getting the crib bedding into the washing machine.

DH puts DD in the playpen in the mornings for some independent playtime. She has some soft toys in there, and we even hung a musical toy off on one side.

The playpen was also indispensible when we travelled, it gave DD a safe place to sleep at night.

[MamaC]

Reading these posts has encouraged me to use our playpen more.  We've mainly been using it for my ds to sleep in when we have company, travel, etc.  I have been noticiing lately that I've been more frazzled and getting snippy with dh when I'm trying to make dinner, clean up, etc and the baby is going all over the place.  Thanks for the words of encouragement!