I saw a mom asking if playpens were a good or bad idea and this got me thinking, I used a travel cot as a play pen and it was great at the time. I was often in a whirl when I was home alone with the younger three, I had 3 of them under 3 and it was a walking disaster at times. With a newborn baby, a year old and a 2 year old trust me you need some safe place to put them.
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The travel cot was used to place the two eldest in with toys and books and sometimes a snack, just so I could feed or change the baby. Going to the toilet was a battle, unless I carried 2 with me as I could not leave them unattended in the living room with the new baby.
The travel cot was placed in the living room and was rather cosy with a cot quilt and soft toys, the 2 babies would often start nodding off for an afternoon nap in it too.
I do not feel for one minute that it was wrong or did them any harm at all, it kept them safe and secure when I needed to do something else. It was a god send for me to have somewhere to quickly put them if need be.
The travel cot became a much loved item of the two eldest babies, so much so that we then began having problems putting them to bed in proper cots, as they much preferred the travel cot. We found they would both nap and sleep better when in the travel cot than in a real cot. We did buy 2 larger travel cots and transferred the cot mattresses into them at one point, we were desperate but it worked wonders.
If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely use a playpen or travel cot.
What are your feelings on using a playpen or travel cot? Let us know …