Posted by
Wheelymate
18 yrs ago
I am keen to know how other mums with no help at home cope with this.
My 7 month old recently discovered the joys of crawling. In the past, when he wasn't too mobile and I need to go to the bathroom or heat up his food in the kitchen, he was ok to sit in his playpen with his toys.
But the past week has been a nightmare. He screams when I put him in the playpen, even for just 5 minutes. I put him in the highchair at the kitchen door so that he can look at me while I get his lunch ready but still no go. He will cry and cry and cry until I release him. And because he is usually in such a foul mood by then, he is too cross to eat, which leads to a frustrating lunch.
We just moved and his room has no other furniture except for the cot and a mattress on the floor (we use that to change him and sleep there if he's ill, etc). We are thinking of creating a huge playpen for him by laying carpet on the entire floor in his room and buying a safety gate for his room. This way, we hope he can roam happily and safely if we need to be away from him for abit. Is this a good idea and if not, any other ideas?
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@@
18 yrs ago
My kids just seemed to follow me about, if I was in the shower I'd take toys into the bathroom and the kids would play - I must admit it would be a pretty quick shower!
The kids also loved having their own draw/cupboard in the kitchen, lots of plastic containers to take out and play with. As they get older they start to help getting dinner ready.
Now that your baby is on the move it's probably wise to "babyproof" the entire house (as much as you can) and hope for the best! Good Luck.
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crj
18 yrs ago
We have a 'baby dan' and rather than keep it in the octagon shape, we have made a huge square by using the wall mount attachments - his toys are inside, as is a safe book shelf. He is quite happy to play inside and safe.
The funny thing is, he can play in his play area for an hour, with me or hubby just sitting outside of it, ignoring him and reading the paper or a book. (sorry, we are not perfect parents who entertain our baby every second!) But if we walk away he cries. If he is absorbed in his play, we can sneak away for a few minutes without him noticing ;)
I think your idea of having the room all baby proof and a safety gate is really good.
He might cry when you walk away to cook or shower, but at least you know he is safe.
While I agree with @@ that the whole house should be baby proof, it doesn't necessarily mean you want baby roaming the house at this age without you around (just in case).
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I got a couple of bags of those colourful plastic balls and put them in the play pen so that he had a game in there that he couldn't play outside the play pen. He seemed much happier in there after that.
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I created a mega play area for my son. He sleeps in my room so his own room is pretty much freed up for play. We also have a large hallway so we made the two areas into a connecting play area by fencing it off with a couple of baby dans fixed to the walls. We then got loads of square tiles from ToysRus and covered the floor with them. We then bought loads of cheapo cushions and covered the hard areas (door hinges/ corners) with them. My little guy is perfectly safe to potter around this area on his own and I usually just sit there and hang out on the phone to my pals or do some chores whilst he potters around the area. He loves it!!
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thanks to all for the great advice!
@@: mine is only 7 months so i think i will spend my time holding him instead of showering! your advice is great but i will probably try them when he can actually walk. the kitchen floor is really hard too!
sadly, they don't sell babydan in singapore! came across a valco play yard but honestly i think it was ridiculously overpriced.
bub's room is pretty big so what we plan to do it to spread out the mattress on the floor, buy another carpet and divide one half of the room with an extended safety gate...will need to do some shopping this weekend! oh yes, cushions too....
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hi wheelymate,
instead of buying carpet, why don't you buy some of those childrens squares which come in bright colours and can be put together like a jigsaw? it brightens the room up and it certainly provides a good cushioning for them when they fall. plus, they are waterproof so you can easily wash off any spills. you can also move these'mats' to different rooms and change the shape and size of them.
i bought mine in toysrus but i think you can get them in most big toy shops. as my LO is also using a walker to push whilst walking from behind, the flat surface of these mats is really good for things with wheels whereas i find carpets / rugs not so good.
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Hi Squiggles,
hope your LO is feeling better!
I checked out Toys r us yesterday and indeed they have those....wonder if i should get those instead.
and not to be paranoid or anything (mrs m please advise too as you seem to use them as well) but some people mention that squares emits vapours - are the vapours toxic?
at toys r us, they have some cheaper ones but in smaller sizes so need to buy more. and i saw this bigger sized one that apparently plays music when you press on it!
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Wheelymate,
Thanks for asking - my LO is feeling better. He never threw up again but today he's very tired and grumpy. However, my husband now has this vomiting bug....i'm going to have a great weekend ahead of me!
not sure about the squares and the vapour - you will have to ask an expert. however, much as i would like the best for my LO, if i start analysing everything that i put near him and all the possible exposures then i'd end up locking him in a dark room until he's 18!!!! i'm sure my LO has put stuff in his mouth which probably has more chemicals than you can count on!! and that's without even going near the mobile phone which he so loves to grab and worrying about the damage to the brain from the emissions....
anyway, i live in hk.....he breathes in worse air than the vapours everyday i bet!
i have found the squares very useful and they really do protect from the hard floor once they start falling about, which i'm sure your LO will do very very soon!
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C
18 yrs ago
You are referring to the term "off-gassing", most mass produced furniture items suffer from this, and some items more/worse than others. Basically my approach is if the smell is so bad it bothers you, better not let your baby in there either! Just letting it air out for a few days usually helps.
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Great Find,
That's the thing, some of the ones i saw actually say not for below 36 months...and then i realised you can detach some of the letters from the mats (for those with ABCs).
C: yes, that's what i was referring to. one of the squares package actually said there will be vaours, but is harmless...which tells me even if it's safe, it's going to smell pretty funky!
squiggles: i'm a bad mummy, bub has bumped his head twice this week, while i was right next to him...i'm just not quick enough when he lunges! maybe i should save on all these squares and what not and just buy a crash helmet instead, haha!
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crj
18 yrs ago
Wheelymate - I am convinced a stranger will think we are abusing our baby with the scratches and bruises he has! I think it is normal?? We aren't even sure where the recent red bruise on his face is from... maybe the crib bars?
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haha guys,
we're all bad mummies then!! the number of times my LO has bruises on his legs or has scratched his face doesn't bear counting...it's not my fault he's learnt to climb the coffee table!!!
fyi, i thought he was better this morning, but alas, he epxloded at both ends this morning so off to the docs again for me and him!
i have the plain mats not the alphabet ones, and so far, he hasn't tried to eat them....but as i said, so far....
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