UrbanBaby Asks...
Do you 'enjoy' spending time with your kids?
- Yes, most of the time we really have fun together
- Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's really dull and aggravating
- Honestly most of the time it's not fun at all, but it's not supposed to be fun
- I really don't enjoy it at all, and wish I could spend less time with them
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Do parents still use playpens? I don't seem to hear much about them, see them in the higher-end stores, etc. Are they considered un-PC now?
55 replies [ Reply | Watch | Morei was with you until "martyr moms who center their lives around their children" - I absolutely center my life around my children.
[ Reply | More ]np: I don't. I take great care of them. But I am also a wife, mother, business owner, sister, friend, voluntering member of my community... I balance my life.
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indeed they are. The ones I know who were raised by those moms with no life, no interest, who centered everything around the children are crippled in the world as young adults. Mom even tries to call employers to "help" negotiate salary.
[ Reply | More ]well, i do all the things you listed in your "life" (plus running) but my raison d'etre right now are my kids - that is all i meant. be careful you don't fall off that high horse madge.
[ Reply | More ]What high horse it that? What is the matter with you? I chimed in that my children are not the center of my life. I explained (in a nutshell) the roles I have - with none being more or less important than the other. Why did you decide to insult me?
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to the Mom that does all the things she listed, I'll tell you: IT'S IMPOSSIBLE. I don't see how it's possible to be an available mom to children AND have time to do all the other things. Sorry, I'm speaking from experience and I'm a very organized person. I don't BELIEVE YOU.
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np: i find this post very intriguing. i think i'm a balanced person but everything in my life is centered around my children. just b/c their needs require my actions. the time i wake up in the morning is based on what time my kids need to get to the bus. the job i have was chosen b/c of the hours i needed for dcs. our budget is centered around them. i don't think it's a bad thing.
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When I had my 4th, I vowed I was going to bring back the playpen concept so I didn't have to have gates on every doorway and toys all over the place all the time. The fact of the matter is before they can crawl, they're completely safe just sitting on the floor without a playpen. After they can crawl, they just want to move all the time. So they will stand up in the playpen and yell/scream/cry until you take them out. It's a great place to confine them if you have to do something in particular, but the baby is more content for longer if she has a babyproofed room to roam in.
[ Reply | More ]Theya re called pack n' plays. We sued one constantly from 7-9 months when we needed to get a break to eat or go the bathroom, and our son was into everything and falling over a lot if we weren't right there for him.
[ Reply | More ]Actually a pack n' play is different then a true play pen. Pack n' plays are for infants and they are generally crib alternatives usually used for travelling. A play pen is bigger and is good up through toddler age. They work great if you have a child who is walking or crawling and you need to do something (like cook a meal or answer the phone). You know they are safe and contained. Also, they usually have mesh sides, so the baby can see you depending on where it is placed. I love it.
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Thanks for bringing this up! I'm pregnant with my first, and I fully intend to get a playpen. Yes, they are un-PC, but I think my baby can live with spending twenty minutes a day with his blankie and toys in a playpen while I vacuum the dang apartment and pee.
[ Reply | More ]This is weird. You don't need a playpen for God's sake. We have never used one, three kids later, and I was always able to "pee". And vacuum, and make dinner... There is almost no reason at any time to confine your child to a netted square yard of space in a clean, child-proofed and safe home. And yes, with a baby gate here and there.
[ Reply | More ]You don't "need" any of the baby gear. Doesn't mean people who want and use playpens are weird.
[ Reply | More ]Perhaps not weird, but lazy. I equate it to plopping kids down in front of Baby Einstein on a regular basis. Just isn't a great idea.
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Well, I can say unequivocally I don't feel like a martyr, so while you may feel clever saying it, it isn't sticking or even remotely pushing a button. I just don't think they are particularly necessary, nor are they a good idea. Babies are much happier exploring and roaming safely than being confined to a small netted space. And time gets away from us easily.
[ Reply | More ]your babies and your experiences are not the end all and be all. Your post sounds as if you have interviewed every baby as to what they "prefer". MY baby was perfectly content to play in playpen. No scars. We all have different children and do things differently. NO ONE has the best way. No matter how much you want to believe you do.
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I sort of agree with this. It is a potential slippery slope, play pens. Why? What good are they in a safe home?
[ Reply | More ]My son fell a lot at a certain age. Also, we did not want to totally baby proof 100% of our house. Wanted to teach our baby to not touch things, etc (of course there were no life threatening situations). The pack-n-play just helped us to have 5-10 minutes to do something without having to follow the baby around. or to sit on the couch and eat a quick lunch without the baby coming around the plates, trying to pull them off the coffee table. I honestly was not really comfortable leaving my baby in a room I wasn't in until he was 10 months.
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NP: Then you had a DC who wasn't prone to putting him/herself in life-threatening situations. I had a DD that would have survived childhood if we had never babyproofed a thing, followed by a DS who walked at 10mos and spent every waking minute thereafter trying to kill himself, break something, or kill himself while breaking something.
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There seems to be a lot of 'judgmental-ism' in this thread. I have the same question (more or less) as the OP, and found this site thru a Goggle search. My wife and I are looking for just such a thing, for reasons others have stated: so we can cook, or clean... It seems to me that as long as one does not leave one's baby in it as the PRIMARY way of baby care it should be just fine. Many of us spent time in them and somehow managed to make it to adulthood w/o emotional scarring. "Build a bridge", people! They can be a life-saver, both figuratively and literally. GENERAL TOPICS [ REPLY | WATCH | OPTIONS ]
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There seems to be a lot of 'judgmental-ism' in this thread. I have the same question (more or less) as the OP, and found this site thru a Goggle search. My wife and I are looking for just such a thing, for reasons others have stated: so we can cook, or clean... It seems to me that as long as one does not leave one's baby in it as the PRIMARY way of baby care it should be just fine. Many of us spent time in them and somehow managed to make it to adulthood w/o emotional scarring. "Build a bridge", people! They can be a life-saver, both figuratively and literally. GENERAL TOPICS [ REPLY | WATCH | OPTIONS ]
[ Reply | More ]we used one with dd...didn't last very long, but it was so useful and she LOVED it. it was hers alone, clean, all her toys were in there and she could stay in there for 1/2 hour without even looking up at me when i walked by. when she got very mobile and wanted to walk around the house, we put it away.
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