baby cage compromise

[malakoa]

so we're using a play pen. i was against it adamantly. i wanted to have a little shirt for her that said "cage free kid" (we have no crib)

the compromise was outside only, so it's set up in our back yard.

we have a high spirited almost one year old (non-walker). i feel not so great about it.

she of course, is fine with it.

[Iarwain]

And you feel bad about this because?

Playpens are just objects. They are not inherently evil. I am sure you are not going to use it as a means of quenching your child's desire to explore and you're not going to put her in it for long periods of time and ignore her. If it is a needed safety tool for the time being that's OK. Don't beat yourself up about it!

[Lady TS]

I can understand that you might be against the playpen. Before I had kids I was adamant that they would NOT sleep with me! (And now they do, but they also have their own beds that they sleep in all the time).

Like larwain said, most options we have as parents in raising our children can be used for good or bad, depending on your own situation with your child.


There's nothing wrong with using a crib or playpen. I personally use ours a lot to protect dd from her big brothers running all through the house. Though it would be ideal to hold her all the time, it's not practical, especially when you've got a family to raise, ya know? At least this way I know she is not going to get trampled.

[Iarwain]

Oh yeah, I remembered that I wanted to say something else.

Ya know how AP is all about listening to your child and responding appropriately? If your daughter is saying "this really isn't that big a deal, Mom" I think you can take her word for it. ;)

You're a good mama. Idealism is a great thing because it encourages us to be the best mamas we can be. But it can be easy to let it get out of hand when we put mental limitations on ourselves that make our lives more complicated unnecessarily.

[catholicapmom]

My dh and I got into a fight about this about a month ago. My then 8mo dd was crawling and getting into everything. And he's uber-protective of her. I was doing the dishes one night after dinner and they were all in the living room and he was totally freaking out because she was getting into stuff (exploring). He asked why we don't use a playpen and I told him because I didn't want to put her in a cage. I said "She'll scream the minute I put her in it anyway." So I drag it out and set it up just to prove a point, put her in it and she loved it! :rolleyes Thanks a lot, Bethany. :lol Now she only goes in it for a few minutes at a time when I have to do something like go to the bathroom or bring a load of laundry downstairs. And the minute she cries I get her out.

[Havilah]

Idealism is a great thing because it encourages us to be the best mamas we can be. But it can be easy to let it get out of hand when we put mental limitations on ourselves that make our lives more complicated unnecessarily.

I really like the way you said this. I've been thinking about this a lot recently, but couldn't articulate it this well :tu

[OnlyBelieve]

I looove my crib.....it is the most awesome laundry hamper ever invented. :mrgreen
I looove my play pen ..... it is an awesome extra laundry hamper. :mrgreen
Okay, aside from that, I do not see anything wrong with using these when you need them to provide a safe place for your baby.
If you were going to leave the baby in it all day then that would be different.