Do you have a gated play area for your kiddos?

I have been debating how to handle this now that the kids are just starting to crawl, I probably only have a few more weeks at the most before I need to make a decision. Our house is an open concept and so it is hard to gate off an area, I think I could do it but it might not be easy, as one of the walls we have is fancy stone and I am not sure I could mount a gate to that (and it is an extra large space and I would want a walk-thro gate, so pressure mounted gate is unlikely for this large space, plus I live overseas so would need to get it shipped here as they don't have much for baby gates here).

Anyway, long story short - do you have a gated area for your kiddos? If so did you gate off an area in your house or did you buy one of those large self-enclosed gates? If you did buy a self-enclosed gate, do your kids knock it over or push it around the floor?
Help!

 

I never bought a play yard, because I figured they wouldn't be content in there for long anyway. (My mom says I HATED the playpen as a baby.) I think your best bet by far is just to go whole hog with some heavy-duty childproofing. Secure all the cabinets, drawers, toilet lids; move things out of reach, etc... Then the whole house is your play yard!

 

We did, it was such a great concept. We used 2 of the wall in our formal dining room that never gets used and bought gates from One Step Ahead to make the other 2 wall and added on a door. We used the soft foam matting and put lots of fun toys in there. They loved it, except for one thing...me or DH had to be in there the whole time

So I basically did what Holly suggested except on a smaller level. I bought a couple of baby gates and gated in our kitchen and family room to form one big room and babyproofed all of it so that if I needed to go to the bathroom or leave the room for a second, I knew they were safe. And as they got more mobile, I babyproofed the rest of the house so that we can take the gates down at some point and the house entire house will be safe.

ETA: spelling.

 

I had the superyard for my girls. I kept the yard set up with the girls toys. Before they were very mobile I would put the in for tummy time when I didn't want the dog to bother them. As they got older the type of toys in the superyard changed to toys I knew the dog would bother them when playing. It also in my house gave a safe dog free place for my girls and their friends who didn't like dogs to play.
I got rid of the superyard after my girls turned 2, gave it to a friend who was expecting and wanted a place for her older son to be able to play with small toys without the worry about her new daughter getting them.

 

We've had an area gated off since we brought the boys home from the hospital. It's more to keep the dogs and the babies separate, but now that they are crawling and R is standing, it's nice to have a safe-ish area for them to work on those skills.

I do stick R in the pack and play if I am going to get up and go to the bathroom. He's not to be trusted, even in the safe-ish area.

 

We started gating them in around your babies age then at around 10-11 months they needed more space to cruise around and were pushing the gates over so we opened up the livingroom & the den baby proofed it now the only thing that has a gate is into the kitchen and that gate is mounted to the wall.
Good Luck!

 

Yes we have a gated area.. and we have a large opening that we have gated off too.. Its screwed into the wall with a gate to go thru. I love havingthe gated area because i know they can not do anything to harm themselves in the gated area and I know where they are.. The rest of my house is not as child proof.

 

We have the Superyard fence which encloses about an 8' x 10' area in our family room (we bought two of them). We have it on a large rug, and as long as each panel is at an angle to the one next to it, it is very stable and the girls can't push it over. The only annoying thing is that there is no gate to open, we just have to step over it. I have seen another brand that makes one with a gate. We love it, it gives the girls a large area to play in and I know they are safe in there. Also the dog can't get in so her hair isn't all over and she won't accidentally step on them. We do take the girls out every night and let them crawl around the living room but that requires constant supervision since there are steps and other things that could get them into trouble, so not good when I am trying to make some lunch or clean the kitchen or whatever. The girls spent two days at my in-laws house and they asked us to bring the play yard. They really appreciated it.

Jen

 

Yup, we too have the play yard, with the extension so it's an octagon shape, not the hexagon. We call it "babyjail" or say "Ultimate baby fighting in the octagon!"

When they're playing with toys, they're perfectly content. Sometimes we're in there with them, sometimes they're "on the prowl" (running free in the house). I wish it had a gate though, I've tripped over it twice already (and I'm 6 foot tall with long legs) and actually have a 16 inch bruise from my knee to my ankle, covering part of my foot from last week's trip.

 

I had a Superyard with extra attachment and used it to close off the living room from the kitchen/dining room/hallway. It was held in place by moving some furniture in front of the ends of it.

 

We too have the SuperYard with an extra extension and love it. My boys are not cooped up in there all day. For the most part-they crawl around the entire house. There are plenty of toys for them in the gated area and they are good in there for a good 30 minutes-or longer-as long as they don't see us. Once they do-that's all over!

We have a little nook in our kitchen area where the gate is. We did have the foam mats in our living room and they roamed in there-but dh wanted the living room back, so we moved them to under the gate. Works great!

Oh-and we call it Alcatraz!

 

We gated the stairs and left the rest open. I have a pretty small first floor with an open kitchen, dining room, living room. I just was sure to babyproof EVERYTHING and it works well. They like the freedom to roam but it is a small enough space that I always know where they are.

 

Super Playyard plus extension kit!! love it!! Boys pay in there so I get a little break for bits of time through the day. Now one took his first few steps, so I imagine he will want to expand his horizons soon!

 

For my other kids, i did the baby gate thing.

My girls are not crawling yet, but when they do, they are getting a big supersized play yard. My house is very kid proof (i have 4 under 5 at home) but my older boys are very active and always in and out of doors to go outside, sometimes leaving them open. The girls could crawl outside and off the egde of the veranda..ouch. And i think i would feel alot happier if they had there own space, where i knew i could keep an eye on them and also keep them away from the boys bigger toys that could pose a choking hazard.

 

I also have an open floor plan in my home so there isn't an area I can gate off. I bought 2 playyards and made them free standing. It's in between my living room and dinning room. Not the most attractive thing but it keeps them safe. They are actually pretty good in there. It's nice to put them somewhere when I have to wash bottles, get food ready... I bought one that the pools can expand so I can make it as small or large as I like.

 

We baby proofed the living room. We all love it. We put all their toys in here and put up 3 baby gates and everything in this room is something they can play with.

 

I have a playyard set up in our living room. The babies absolutely hate it unless someone is in there with them. I don't have a lot of options, as our living room has a railing that I know a baby could fit through, and there are just way too many things to try and child proof. I also have a 5 year old son that has a tendency to miss a few things when he picks up his toys. I'm hoping one of these days, when I put them in there, they will play instead of cry.

 

yeah we got a play yard for them, we set it up in our living room. but we don't close it up in a circle, we put the open ends towards the couch. Jr likes to pull himself up so he can use the couch for that. He is getting around so fast so this way we can leave the room without worrying he's getting into something.

Plus it keeps the two close by so they have to interact.

 

We have two of these gates ...

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2963260

They can be combined to create a play yard, but they can also be wall mounted, which is how we set it up. We have a large family room, so we use 2 walls in the back, and then have the gate to close in the area. It's really big. And we put foam mats on the floor, and all their toys are in there. It's actually wonderful right now ... as they are in into EVERYTHING! And when I have 2 kids that climb on the coffee table, touch the tv, turn the cable box on and off, and generally just don't listen, they get stuck in "the pit" as well call it, before mom and dad lose their minds! I can't imagine not having a "safe place" like that. Especially if something happens where I need to run out of the room. I know they can't get into trouble in there.

The gate is great. There is a gated extrance ... it's a little pricey, but it's taller than most, metal, and even when they shake it, it doesn't move much. We couldn't be happier.