Joovy Playard or gated playard?

We bought the Summer Infant Secure Surround Play gate last week from walmart.com and just assembled it yesterday. Well its missing a knob and long story short they can't just mail me a knob, we'll have to return or exchange it. And that is a PAIN. Well tonight I came across a Joovy Playard, which is much bigger than normal playards. It is 39 inches square, whereas our current Graco playard is only 39 x 28. The Summer Infant gated playard is obviously a lot bigger, but its also pretty wobbly IMO. The Joovy has a steel frame and by all accounts it is VERY sturdy. I've even seen positive Joovy reviews that specifically mention 12 and 14 month old twins playing comfortably in it. So now I'm torn on whether to return the Summer Infant playard and replace it w/ same, or get a Joovy playard instead. I can't decide so I thought I would ask the experts for their opinion Even if you don't have a Joovy but just based on what you see, what would you get? We have 2 Graco playards (given as gifts) and they just don't seem very comfortable for them to sleep in. So I'm also thinking that the Joovy would be good for overnight visits too. If we go w/ the Joovy we could sell our 2 Graco playards. But I guess what is keeping me from just buying the Joovy is we have hardwood floors so we don't let the boys roll around on them without a mat, but they sometimes roll off the 4' x 6' mat now and the SI playard gate was to corral them on the mat...but maybe they could do most or all of their rolling, sitting up, and playing in the Joovy instead?? Oh what to do!

Sorry for the long ramble but I am curious what others would do if given the choice between the sturdy but smaller play pen versus the larger but flimsy gated plastic play pen. TIA for any replies!

 

Hmmmm tough choice, I would probably get an area rug for the babies to play on instead of either of the playards. If the summer infant one is flimsy will it stand up to them when they start using it to pull themselves to a stand? If the answer is no I would think the life of that product would be limited since they are almost 9 months old and maybe go for the playpen. My fav idea is still a larger area rug though. (but I am known in my house for covering up hardwood with area rugs so take my advice at your own risk hahahaha!)

 

I personally plan to get two Little Playzones as soon as we move. If you read the reviews (it's also sold on Amazon & I think that might be where I saw more reviews) there's parents of twins who have bought 2 because they are all interlocking so that would make a huge area if you have that much room, plus give them toys to play with as time goes by. We have carpet which may be fine, but I am considering some of those foam interlocking mats like this if I feel they need more padding. If you just want it a little bigger you can also get the extensions.

Here is the square footage you get with the extensions (got this info off of another website):

play zone with 0 extensions=13 sq ft
play zone with 1 extension=18 sq ft
play zone with 2 extensions=29 sq ft
play zone with 3 extensions=37 sq ft
play zone with 4 extensions (or 2 play yards)=53 sq ft

ETA: Also wanted to show this one since it's basically 2 of the other one put together, but at a much lower price. Other 8 panel

 

We have a Superyard & 1 extension with foam mats under the babies (we have hardwood throughout our first floor), and they LOVE it! We used the bumpers from their crib sets that we thought we would never have use for to put around the perimeter. So far they haven't tried pulling up on it but when they do we will change the configuration to an octagonal one... It's pretty strong that way, and I have seen photos on Amazon (where we purchased it) with three babies standing up, holding onto the sides!

Here is a picture of ours when we first set it up (before a bunch of toys were thrown into it)!:
"Baby Jail"

 

I have seen the Joovy in person and its nice, but I think its only going to work for a bit until they get tired of being contained in such a small area. At some point they are gonna want more space. But they might be very content in it. It's hard to say. We used Onestepahead.com and used their gates and made a play area. Ours werent very keen on it and we spent a lot of money on it. In fact I just ended up babyproofing the kitchen/family room and gating the entry ways. They were much happier. GL with your decision.

 

Well I have pretty much decided against the Joovy after I found a walmart.com review last night (which was very positive) and it showed a picture of her twins sleeping in one. It was nice and roomy for a nap, but not much room for romping around.

So now I'm trying to decide whether to exchange this defective Summer Infant playard, or go with something like what Jo is getting. And Chelle, we actually have a pretty big foam mat for the boys to play on. We have 2 sets of this mat and are currently using 6 of the 8 squares, but will probably add the other 2 squares soon. We decided against carpet early on because they are just cat hair magnets, ha. I swear there's not going to be any space to walk in our living room soon! And Jo I was all gung ho to buy a couple of those playzone yards, but then I read they are only about 24 inches high, whereas the SI Secure Playard is 30". But I would assume if lots of people had problems w/ their toddlers crawling over the walls there would be more negative reviews?? Anyway, I will probably just stick w/ the SI Secure Surround Playard because I just realized it is too late to cancel the extension I ordered from Amazon a couple of days ago, so I would have to pay to ship that back. Not to mention the hassle of boxing up the main gate and hauling it into Walmart. I'm still pissed at Summer Infant though for not keeping any of those knobs in stock! GRRR.

Anyway, I thank everybody for their replies!!

 

I think that the superyard will be fine... we have the one from Walmart that looks similar but isn't the Summer brand. I use it more when we go somewhere, and it keeps them contained. One thing I will mention is that what's nice is that when you have 8 pieces you can make 2 4-sided areas for separate naps or separate play times... ours started biting/pulling hair, hitting etc. recently... so if I have to leave the room, I cannot leave them together anymore... though that wasn't until closer to 20 months. but just bringing it up b/c yours might end up with those issue too. ours also would most likely never nap or sleep together... so not sure if the 1 larger one would have dual purposed like you thought.

good luck.