Safety Tips for Your Baby Play Pen


While there has lately been some controversy about the importance of a baby play pen for a child’s development, they still come in very useful especially for busy caretakers who have their hands full. They are even more useful when there are kids who are just leaving the toddler stage, as well as your baby – the toddlers can be quite rough and you can’t watch them all the time. Baby is safe in the play pen and you can get one or two things done.

Safety measures are a must in a play pen though. You baby will probably spend a lot of time there and you want as secure an environment as possible.

Let’s have a look at some things you must ensure:

  1. The first rule of play pens is to never leave your baby unattended. It is don’t a place to keep baby while you go away and do something else. You must always keep it within vision. This does not mean that you cannot leave for a minute or two; you can go to the bathroom, but you cannot go off to fold the laundry or make dinner. If you have to, move with your play pen. There are play pens with wheels that are easily movable from room to room and you can get yourself one of these. If not, bring your work closer to the play pen.
  2. A play pen should have all the proper padding and rails. This will ensure that there are no accidents.
  3. Do not put 2 little children together in a baby play pen especially if they are toddlers. At this age, they treat other children as objects – they may end up hurting each other. That goes for a toddler and a smaller child too.
  4. Never leave any beddings or loose clothing lying around in the play pen. The floor should have nothing but toys. Beddings are a suffocation hazard. If baby lies down for a nap and they are cold, better to add a layer of clothing.
  5. Don’t put anything in the baby play pen that’s high enough for your toddler to step on and attempt to get out. They will either fall back in or fall out of the play pen.
  6. Check on your toys. They should not be so many as to cause risk of injury or crowd the child out. They should also be age appropriate – watch out for bits that they can swallow.
  7. Your toddler is active and likely getting destructive. You can probably hear him rattling away in the play pen railing sometimes. Check it often for damage. Look for lose rails or a torn padding. If there is damage, fix it if not too much.
  8. Don’t leave things right outside the play pen that could harm your child. You have seen them trying to reach for things on the surrounding floor and you know how far they can reach, so keep things out of range.
  9. You might want to do a DIY baby play pen. Make sure that you follow all recommended regulations. Furniture and generally most things for babies are made different from those for adults. There are different materials used, no sharp edges, paint or any coatings have to be special etc. Make sure that you are familiar with all this if you decide to build a play pen yourself.

A baby play pen is a great way to let baby become independent and also explore his environment a little. Remember the first rule of play pens though – never leave your baby unattended.