Playpen VS Portacot?

Hi I have a newly mobile baby and need a quick, safe "drop zone" for her, for when I'm showering, getting hot food out of oven, etc. I never thought I'd hear myself contemplating a playpen but I have an older DD with a tendency to leave unsafe things around, and DH works away frequently so I'm going to have to do something or I'll be a ball of nerves.

So just wondering - do I need a playpen or is a portacot just as good? Interested in hearing from people who have used either and how useful was it, really?

*bumpo*

It depends on how much room you wnat her to have. I have used the portacot but she finds it too small and wants to explore and find things. I would get a playpen and just erect it around her so she doesn't feel like she has to stop plaing with what she is playing with iykwim.

I guess the flipside of that is how much room the thing takes up in the room we want to use it in...hmmm. Anyone else?

We got a play pen that could be used indoors and outdoors. It barely got used as a playpen, more for a toy dumping ground when I needed to do a quick tidy.

I just saw an excellent tip in a book today which was to get a stair gate and put it on the baby's room (assuming they have their own room) so they can't get out of the door or get trapped behind the door while you're trying to open it. That way, they have the whole room to explore safely. Not sure if that would suit your situation but it's another alternative.

safety gate idea on babies room sounds like a FANTASTIC idea! We have a playpen and a portcot, portacot has never been used a play area though and I cant imagine any of my kids ever being happy in there as its so confined! Playpen was great, we have a big hexagonal veebee playpen with a big soft mat that goes underneath it, pefect for tiled areas or even outdoors! The downside is it takes up a LOT of space but it is great at keeping thme in one spot and they stayed in there fairly happily untill DD aged about 18 months at the time learnt to lift up the side of it and crawl under :S

I had a playpen and it was wonderful! It was sooooo handy - my DD used to have some of her naps in there too, as she liked to sleep in the loungeroom near me :)

I used a portacot for my first DS, I liked that he was off the floor (I used it in our kitchen and we have tiles). We have a wooden playpen too, but it barely got used. I'm not sure what I will do with DS2 yet!

Play pens are also handy for putting around the Christmas tree!

Well I've decided to go with an el cheapo play pen to pen around the computer/desk area, and we might play around with it when it arrives to see how useful another one would be in the main family room.

Good choice - the portacot works well as a quick dumping station (like if you're off to the loo and just have to put bub down somewhere safely) but we never used ours for that as we didn't like to have it up all the time. Instead we bought a modular playpen (plastic squares that hook together to make a hexagonal playpen) and it was fantastic. We only ever penned him in if we were outside at a BBQ or somewhere wehre there were lots of people. At home we penned OFF the things we didn't want him to touch so penned around the TV cabinet, or the computer etc. and gave him free run of the room knowing he couldn't touch the things we didn't want him to. This time I think we may use it more as a pen as I can't pen off DS who would be the hazard if I were to leave the room! We'd be worried he might step on the baby as he runs around, or leave little toys for bub to pick up anbd it's a bit harder to confine those hazards, so we will instead have to confine the baby. The pen is good though as we can change the shape and size to suit and it packs up into a box to take out to other people's houses.

was just talking to my SIL on the phone when I read this - so I asked her what she did with her 4 kids.

She had gates into rooms they couldn't go into. The portacot was only good for when they went out places. The playpen got used a lot to just put the kids in. If she had to go have a shower etc then the munchkin would get put in their cot.

In our household the playpen got put around things that I wasn't allowed to touch - like the xmas tree :lol: