Play yards in a tiny house

My grandsons are just starting to get mobile. When DD told me tonight that Preston crawled for the first time today (hooray!) and was caught with a DOG TOY in his mouth (WHAT?!?), I suggested she look into options to contain the boys when she has to step into the kitchen or bathroom, etc. For the time being, a PnP is an easy solution but she would like a longer term solution and one where the boys can play as they get bigger. I offered to get them a playpen or play yard. (And QUICK! No more dog toys in my guys' mouths! :angry

DD is unsure whether a standard playpen (Graco still makes a nice large square one, I actually have one at my house but want to keep it here) or a play yard with the plastic side pieces is the way to go. Their house has only one living area but it is very open so it's not an option to put up gates at the door openings. The floor space is pretty small (especially now with the jumperoo, exersaucer, bouncies, etc. ) but with some furniture moved around there would probably be enough space for a playpen or play area.

What has worked for you in terms of containing the kids to a safe space? Any suggestions? There are so many options available on the market. I don't want to take the plunge and spend unnecessary bucks on something that others haven't cared for.

Thanks in advance!!

 

I'm in a small condo townhouse and have an open floor plan for our kitchen, dining and living area and I recently purchased a superyard to contain my two It has 6 panels but the seller (purchased off Craigslist) was also selling 2 extra panels so it makes it a good size area for the both of them to safely play in. Definately a bit larger then just using a playpen. It's definately helped to keep my two in a safe spot now that my son is mobile.

 

I would suggest a play yard w/extension. My living room is completely baby proofed and gated, so I mainly used my play yard for outside, but it would have been a good option had I not been able to gate my LR off.

Another suggestion...I have a large opening in my LR, and found this gate which I absolutely LOVE! You can actually buy two and create a freestanding playyard, mount it in one corner creating a play area, or mount it like I did in that picture(that is my house). It is a great gate!

 

I also suggest the superyard with the extensions. This has been great for us. We also have a small house and the main area is open. The superyard is a lifesaver now that they're crawling and pulling up on things. It's plenty big for them now so they can still crawl around but we know they are safe when we step out of the room. We keep their toys in there. The exersaucer, jumperoo and swing are outside the superyard. yes, this all takes up our whole living room! They spend most of their waking hours in the superyard. We get in there with them when we play with them and read to them. I'm sure they'll outgrow it in a few months but then we'll probably use it as a big gate across one opening and get a small gate to block off the hallway.

 

We have a superyard that we have taken to Grandma's house. It folds up nice and is easy to carry. I think it's easier to deal with than the PNP, too. We have a wide opening to the playroom and we have it extended so that it also doubles as a gate. I just love this thing.

 

Another vote for the Superyard. We have the alphabet & numbers padded floor underneath it (along with a cheaper padding under that). Now that they are crawling and even tryng to walk, I don't know where I'd be without it. People say to me, "you must be going crazy with them crawling now." Nope, not at all.

We call it the baby boxing ring. And we also have a small place, but at least their toys are all contained in their yard.

 

We never had a playyard or anything like that. We just used gates to block off certain rooms. Even now they can only go in the family room, kitchen, and breakfast room. We just made sure it was all child proofed and there was nothing they could get into.

 

My sister has what pp Becky5 has and loves it.

I had a Little Playzone and bought 2 extra extensions: Click on this

I too am not in a big house and my livingroom is now the playarea. I didn't actually create a playpen for the girls with it. I put one peice between my couch and end table and then ran the peices across the room and the other end was between a chair and the ottoman that was next to it. This created a larger play area for the kids and also included the couch and chair so that DH and I could be in there with them but the dogs were blocked out.

 

Thanks everyone. Michele, I love your solution of not making a square (pen) from the sections and including your couch in the play yard area. I'll mention this particular one to DD and see if she thinks that would be a good solution.

Thanks to all, and any other suggestions welcome!

 

Yes, that's what I did as well! I used my couch as one whole side and built the play area around it

 

Kathy, I use the baby corral in my den. The superyard comes with six panels and it's slightly larger than an old fashioned playpen, but with the extender that can be purchased, you can shape an octagon and it will still fit in a fairly small space. I have an area that I can accomodate 12 panels so I have made mine fairly large and it sits in the middle of the den and allows them to play, crawl, roll, etc. It pretty much fills the den, but I have so much "stuff" it would be nearly impossible to baby proof. Even in a small space, I think the superyard is a good idea. The boys are moving around a lot now days and there are just so many things that could hurt them, especially at this age. I have baby proofed the typical things, but we have a dog and a long, raised hearth of bricks, etc. There's only so much you can do to make these things safe so the corral was our answer.

Kathy