when did you stop using the playard?

I have a playard in my living room that are two gates connected. I like it because it has a door that they can go in and out
and I can lock them in in case I need to, but I rearly do...
It is also a way the tv/dvc, etc are being blocked..
just wondering how low you used yours... I really like that most of the little toys stay inside and is easy to clean up!

 

At around 18 months they were able to tip it over when they were in it so that's when I stopped using it. For awhile I used portions of it to block off an area, but again, once they were able to move the panels, I took it down.

 

My 2 girls are just over a year old & I stopped using it about a month ago - even with all of their toys in it, they just stood up against the sides and screamed. I took it down & did a little more baby-proofing in the living room, & they will play for nearly 30-40 mins at a time on their little soft mats with all of their toys. I'm sure it will all end soon & they'll start tearing the place up again, but for now it is great. Maybe if they start misbehaving I'll bring out the play yard again! (We called it "the pen" - I still use it in the yard when I am tying to get some gardening done. They don't seem to mind it as much outdoors).

 

We've never used ours as a play area, but rather to keep little hands out and away from the tv, gaming systems, cable box and a Lot of cords. Up until a couple weeks ago it worked out great. My little monsters have figured out how to move it..

 

Mine have learned to escape theirs. Though they seem to be doing ok as long as I just use it to block of small areas and they get the big area. They now have run of the majority of the second floor. They have the loft, the hallways and their two rooms. The play yard only blocks off access to the computers where their daddy works. He gets to see them all day! Lately, I've had to close their rooms off. We can't watch them all the time like a hawk and Kiefer has learned to climb up on his really tall twin beds that are in their rooms. He's learning how to get down from them on his own. Until both he and Cameron learn to get both on and off those beds, I can't let them have free play in there. I wasn't happy about this, but Kiefer is very physical and loves to tackle anything that either looks impossible to accomplish, or just a fun challenge. They've taken over the office chair, but I have surrounded it with pillows. They've had some spills, but thankfully the pillows have stopped the booboos from happening. They don't mind the tumbles as long as it's soft. ...Same here. That area used to be blocked by the gate, but they wanted more room. They don't escape as long as they are happy. So far, so good! They have tried to get through the permanent gate at the top of the stairs, but they've been pretty good about not pushing too hard on it anymore. Before, when the gate was just a pressure gate, you can bet they did whatever they could to try to open it. Mostly, they did it cause we got upset about it. Now it's not so much fun now that they can't get Mommy or Daddy to respond to their gate shaking. Now it's a question of tossing stuff over the banisters and down the stairs. Ahh well. When the play yard was up in that area, it was nice not having to worry about flying toys when on the first floor. Now we basically have to look up or wear a helmet when walking in the foyer!

 

We never used ours as a play yard, we just stretched it out wide to block off the upstairs steps and the steps leading to the door. We are still doing that now but I think after the holidays we might take it down and see how the kids do without it. They are doing really well on the steps, so it might be a good time to give it a try.

 

At 10 months when Aurora climbed over it. :headbang: