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melanie
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I know play pens are not very PC right now...in fact, I don't know if you can even actually buy them anymore, and I've never had one before. But I'm trying to decide what to do in a few months when our new baby is mobile...we spend the morning in our school/playroom doing lessons and such, and I'm thinking a large playpen might be good for a safe place to let the baby play...I'm not at all opposed to childproofing and letting them go, that's what we've always done before and that's what we would do the rest of the time, but I have a 3yo that sets up all kinds of trains and cars and such while I am working with the older two. Not only would it be unsafe for the baby in there, but the 3yo would have a cow if the baby started chewing on his trains.  ....any thoughts, or different ideas?
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Melanie
homeschooling Maria (13yo), Kain (10yo), Jack (5yo), Tess (2yo), and our newest blessing, Henry Robert, born 4/23!
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MacBeth
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| Posted: June 10 2008 at 2:17pm | IP Logged
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Only if you use them for evil  . I found one great for:
+A place to keep toys.
+A place to keep baby for a second when I answer the phone/door or take something hot out of the oven.
+A place to put baby to help baby learn how to escape from places (an important skill).
+A place to amuse toddlers who like to play "dog".
+A place to find things you have misplaced that have been missing for a long time and you have given up finding.
So, yeah. I had a playpen.
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JodieLyn
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I think that you can find "play yards" now more easily.. it's like a mobile fence that you set up rather than something with a floor.. the pak n plays have the "floor" but they're rather small for any real playing.
Like anything they can be a useful tool.. and like most tools can be abused.. but it doesn't stand to reason that using it is abusing it. 
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teachingmyown
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If you can get the baby to stay in one, I say go for it! I have used one. Some babies just have a fit and I end up wearing them or sticking them in a highchair close to me.
Another option is a playyard, the type that is really just a circle of babygates connected, some of them have toys and such. Your 3 yr old will probably jump in with the baby! On the other hand, you can put the three yr old in the play yard with his trains and baby won't be able to get to him. I have done it both ways.
I need to start thinking about this, too!
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folklaur
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| Posted: June 10 2008 at 3:22pm | IP Logged
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Evil? Um....IMO, no.
I had playpens for all of mine. Why in the world would it be evil to have a safe place to put baby if you need to?
We never had the small, rectangle type though. We had the big square ones that are more difficult to find. We also had the gates, that you can add panels too (octagon shaped ones?)
IMO - something that is WAY worse is those baby carriers where you don't ever have to take baby out - go from car, to house, feed them, etc, and never have to get them out of the seat.  Yes, convenient, but - all those babies with bald spots on the back of their heads? I think that is horrible.
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Fuzzy
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| Posted: June 10 2008 at 3:33pm | IP Logged
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You would also be able to use a pac-n-play for some of those options as well: putting the baby in there for a brief period, storing toys, etc.
Here is an example of a play yard which I have, and have used with my children.
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Maryan
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Macbeth wrote:
+A place to keep toys.
+A place to keep baby for a second when I answer the phone/door or take something hot out of the oven.
+A place to put baby to help baby learn how to escape from places (an important skill).
+A place to amuse toddlers who like to play "dog".
+A place to find things you have misplaced that have been missing for a long time and you have given up finding. |
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 Everything she said... but truly none of our babies has liked it for long... at all. So if you're counting on this working, you might need Plan B.
I have gated the TODDLERS into the hallway off the kitchen to keep the baby out... so the toddler can do cars and trains while baby crawls on the floor with me and math boy. I don't know if you have a house set-up where you can do that and still see everybody...
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LisaD
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teachingmyown wrote:
Another option is a playyard, the type that is really just a circle of babygates connected, some of them have toys and such. Your 3 yr old will probably jump in with the baby! On the other hand, you can put the three yr old in the play yard with his trains and baby won't be able to get to him. I have done it both ways.
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When we used our playyard, the older kids were the ones to play inside it, with Polly Pockets or Lego, anything not-baby friendly, and the baby stayed on the outside. We also used it around our Christmas tree to keep little hands from pulling all the ornaments and lights off and ripping holes in the packages.
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folklaur
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LisaD wrote:
| We also used it around our Christmas tree |
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this reminded me....when my ds was little, he saw someone use it like this, and later he asked me, "why was their christmas tree in timeout?"
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Mackfam
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We have the plastic snap together play yard (the baby gates all hooked together). It's nice, but I confess, I use the baby gates and lock down a room (or the hall) more often than I break out the play yard.
But, yeah, I'd use a playpen if the baby stayed in it. 
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mom2mpr
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I used 2 SuperYard's with my dd. They have them at ToysRUs. The 2 gave her a pretty huge area to play(her kitchen fit in there )and she didn't know she was confined for many months-hee hee.
My purpose was to have her confined so I could exercise without worrying about her getting into trouble in my basement. So, there was a lot of room to set it up.
We have used these "gates"that make up the SuperYard for the puppy, to make gates around the house and now to bring the bunny outside for airing. It was a really good investment.
Not sure if they would work in your situation but thought I would mention it.
Anne
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Mare
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Melanie,
I'm currently using a Pack-n-Play with my 13 month old when we do read alouds - 15 to 20 minutes. She has board books to look at while we read. We've used it that way since she was about 6 months old. She's use to it and doesn't mind it so far. I also use it for a bit in the late afternoon when I'm trying to get dinner going. I give her some child safe kitchen toys to use. Again, she's use to it and it is a short time.
We also have two play yards attached together in another part of the house which gets used daily. We each take turns spending some play time in there.
Another thing we use indoors almost daily is the stroller. This enables me to play a few games on the floor while our 13 month old watches what we are doing but not interfer with the game itself. I think they key to this succeeding is that she is only confined for a short amount of time.
HTH,
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LucyP
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We used one for our first child, who came to us at 18mo, and it had its uses, but with our second who came to us at 6 mo we didn't use one. Largely not for avoiding the evil but more because of lack of space. It's worked fine for us.
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sarahb
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I loved it for my toddlers because it ensured I could have a shower and know they were penned and safe. That was pretty much the only time we used it but it was a blessing for that!
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DominaCaeli
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mom2mpr wrote:
| I used 2 SuperYard's with my dd. They have them at ToysRUs. The 2 gave her a pretty huge area to play(her kitchen fit in there ) |
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We use two Superyards put together too--it basically gates off our whole living room area! The kids don't mind playing in there at all, and usually my husband and I are sitting in there too. It allows them to run around without my having to chase them from room to room. Works for us!
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chrisv664
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I was the fifth of seven children. Twins came along when I was 23 months old. My mom said the playpen was my refuge! I was the quiet one and would climb in and out of the playpen until I was definitely too big for a playpen.
I loved using the playpen for my first and second children, but by the third, the older ones kept climbing into it and the side of it was permanently in the down position. I thought that big play yard was a good idea for my fifth. But once he began walking, he would hold the side of it and walk around the place dragging the entire play yard with him! It was pretty funny.
To answer your question.. I definitely do not think playpens are evil! They can really come in handy as long as you don't overuse them!
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Bridget
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They are only evil if the sides are too low to keep wild child safe while mom takes a shower, mops the floor, or whatever HAS to be done.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: play pens- are they evil?
