When my firstborn was little, we didn’t have enough space for a playpen unless we wanted to jettison the couch–which was actually a loveseat, because there wasn’t room for an actual couch, either. When my secondborn was little, I didn’t think of a playpen: I was on auto-pilot, using whatever equipment we already had.
As soon as the first twin started crawling, I knew we were in an entirely unfamiliar world. Here is a glimpse into the world of twins, free of charge: unless you can unhinge your eyes so that they’ll move independently of each other, it is very, very, very difficult to keep track of two babies at the same time. Childproofing helps, and we ramped that up to previously unachieved levels. But what really helped was something that goes beyond the word “playpen” and on to the word “corral.”
It is the North State Superyard XT Gate. Ohhhh, yeahhh. Eighteen-and-a-half square feet of toddler patrol. There’s enough room in there for two toddlers and a heap of toys, and if you have triplets or an extra-big living room you can get the extension kit that doubles the inside area. We bought the extension because my grasp of spacial relations is tenuous at best. We’ve never used it, because my grasp of spacial relations instantly improved when I saw how the original gate without the extension used up nearly all the floor space in our living room.
It is such a relief to have a safe place to put the babies down if I’m bringing in groceries or folding laundry. Or, you know, finishing just one more chapter. It’s big enough that they can crawl around, and they don’t have the pitiful look of a babies in a cramped prison cell. An adult can easily sit in the pen with the babies, if an adult feels like having babies crawling all over her.
The whole thing is plastic, so you can hose it down if the need arises. It folds down accordian-style to the size of one panel (but thicker, of course), and can be brought outdoors or to the beach if you’re ever feeling brave enough to attempt such a thing. My aunt says she has seen the same play yard advertised in her pet catalog, for use with dogs and puppies. It can also be used to keep children (or dogs) OUT of a place: I read online that one mother said she used hers to surround the Christmas tree, protecting it from all those little curious grabby hands. I’ll keep that in mind for next Christmas: this Christmas, it’s still more needed as a corral.
Yay for the Superyard XT! My kid never dug being in his since he was the hold-me-every-second-or-I’ll-shred-your-brain-with-my-screams type. (I only have the one, so the holding is bearable…usually.) But our cat thought it was an excellent pee-target, so it got the whole hose-down treatment a number of times.
I did see one at the beach when we went to the lake this past summer, and it seemed to be working ok for Grandma and Toddler Girl, except the girl kept tossing stuff out into the water where it would float away before Grandma could grab it from inside the gate.
Since North wouldn’t play in it, we split ours and used it to keep him away from the TV and recyclables and to keep him away from my bookshelves (and the Christmas tree, when applicable). We attached the pieces to the wall with lawn chair webbing. Classy, I know. This also allows enough flexibility that the gate makes a very satisfying (to a 2-year-old) bang when pulled and released. Yay.
My two singleton children always HATED playpens: all they’d do, if we tried one out, was hang on the side and scream. I think the difference is having more than one in there: it’s less pitiful to behold, and also I think the babies feel less like they’re isolated from everyone else.
I use a Superyard for my dog, Layla
Swistle,
I know that it’s been, like, TWO YEARS since you first posted this. But I’m up late, trying to get work done, and had to take a break. Found myself in your archives. And I just HAD to comment that this post made me laugh so hard I nearly peed my pants. Which would have been very unfortunate and would have made it impossible to return to my work. But it was an “almost” – so no such luck. I’m now going to do some more work.
Just had to say, I’m so glad you’re around.
Oh, Whimsy, how fun to revisit an old post!
Oh my, this is my life right now -except we call the big play yard “the trap.” Hmm, maybe that sounds bad! Reading this and knowing it’s NOT your life anymore (Right?!?) gives me a little hope… and also that same feeling of satisfaction I get at the end of a book when the author says “and here’s what happened for the rest of the lives of these characters you’ve come to know!” Blog archives are kind of like that in reverse for me…. a pleasant distraction right now while I’m trapped in my house with four small children! Thanks :)