Disadvantages of the playpen
A small or large playpen in a children's room limits the freedom of a small family member. Whether this is good or bad is for the parents to decide, but leaving the child alone in the pen for a long time is not recommended. And it won’t work: it’s rare that a child will calmly accept the news of temporary imprisonment.
The second disadvantage is the baby’s awareness of his own helplessness. Some psychologists claim that such a psychological state is permanently fixed in the consciousness or subconscious of a small person and negatively affects the rest of his life.
Types of playpens for children
Today, the choice of playpens is simply huge, and they all have their own purpose. Namely:
- Gaming;
- Beds;
- Screens;
- Inflatable.
It’s worth taking a closer look at each proposed option to understand which playpen to choose for your child.
Pros and cons of playpens
You should immediately take note that playpen models are designed for children to stay in for a short time. They come in round, oval, square, polygonal and angular. Materials for production: mesh, wood, plastic.
Mesh playpens have been recognized as the most popular for many years and have a number of advantages:
- Mobility.
- Safety. Taking into account soft walls that you can’t hit.
- Compactness. You can simply fold it and put it away temporarily for storage, or take it with you in the car.
But there are also disadvantages:
- Difficulty in neat maintenance and care. If the bottom, lined with oilcloth, can be easily cleaned and washed if necessary, then with a mesh it will be more difficult to do this.
- The mesh strains the baby’s vision, as the gaze involuntarily constantly rests on it. “Contemplation of the surrounding world” occurs constantly through the mesh fabric. It is harmful. Therefore, it is not advisable to leave your child to play for more than 30 minutes. We need to alternate classes.
- Possible risk of injury. Children love to stick their fingers into holes; this can cause injury. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully select a mesh with a minimum window diameter to avoid such situations.
Features of playpen beds
A playpen bed is an irreplaceable thing if the apartment is cramped and it is simply impossible to place everything separately. In addition, the two-in-one set provides good savings for the family budget. Moreover, the service life of such models is approximately 3 years, and for infants it is also supplemented with a changing table.
Main features:
- Easy to care for.
- Light in weight - the structures are not heavy at all.
- Compactness.
- There is no danger.
- Additional accessories.
Alleged shortcomings:
- Book models often suffer from an uneven bottom surface, which negatively affects the baby’s quality of sleep. It further affects your posture.
- The bottom itself is quite low, which causes some inconvenience (today modern models appear that allow you to adjust the height).
Advantages and disadvantages of screens
Most likely, this type of playpen can be considered the most universal. You can place the screen in absolutely any place where it would be convenient for mother and child to be at the moment. Children's screens perform two important functions at the same time: the play space turns out to be closed and comfortable, and at the same time, they serve as a fence from an area that poses even the slightest danger. This is, for example, a fireplace or a staircase.
Also, the child will not feel fear and loneliness while watching adults through transparent panels. Mattresses are included with the screens.
The advantages of these designs:
- Easy to maintain.
- Sustainability.
- Compactness.
- Multifunctionality.
Available disadvantages:
- Heavy. Heavy weight - almost 20 kg.
- Injury hazard. There is a possibility of hitting the fence (to get rid of such troubles, it is better to immediately purchase protective sides).
- Age limit. The partition is suitable only for very young children; those who are older will not see it as an obstacle to freedom.
Inflatable playpens
Inflatable playpens are intended for use mainly in the summer - for babies up to one year old. It won’t be difficult to take this model outside, take it to the dacha and use it for swimming.
Main advantages:
- Compactness.
- No danger.
- Ease of maintenance.
- Low affordable cost.
One significant minus:
- The service life is short (may puncture).
Benefits of the playpen
A plastic or wooden playpen will allow you to leave the child alone if the parents urgently need to leave or do a rather dangerous task, which, if there is a small inhabitant of the apartment, will be the usual sewing on a button or cooking pasta. In this case, the playpen will help ensure the safety of the young creature and its environment.
A children's pen would be an excellent option when traveling to the country or visiting. In the first case, it will protect the baby from street dirt, in the second - from potentially dangerous objects that the apartment’s inhabitants did not even pay attention to.
A similar product will also be useful for helping a child quickly get on his feet and learn to walk. Mesh cells will perfectly help tenacious fingers to pull the body up and support it in an upright position.
And dissatisfaction with temporary confinement will be relieved by favorite toys placed in the playpen along with their owner. They will also help develop a sense of self-sufficiency.
But being in the arena should be an exceptional and temporary measure.
Plastic playpens
The name speaks for itself: the sides of this playpen are plastic. They consist of modules that are connected to each other like parts of a children's construction set.
Multi-colored elements together form a bright, colorful design. Some models are equipped with a door module with a lock and a soft bottom. You can make any shape.
Plastic playpens are very light, easy to assemble and disassemble, they are convenient to transport in the trunk of a car and even take them outside.
Plastic is also easy to clean. Manufacturers are interested in selling their products and complement the playpens with various functions, for example, they build in music, images of letters, numbers, animals, vehicles and other pictures are placed on the sides.
The playpen is very stable, and it will be difficult for the baby to roll it over on its side. But the service life of plastic is very short.
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Clearance sizes
A plastic or wooden playpen should have a distance between slats of no more than 5-7 centimeters. In this case, the baby has virtually no chance of getting stuck in the bars, and his hand will be free to reach the toys that have fallen on the floor.
For mesh fences, you should not select too small cells. It is believed that this option will negatively affect the vision of a small person. But overly large cells can lead to injury. Therefore, the optimal choice would be a medium mesh size.
Foldable
Folding playpens such as “umbrella” or “book” are perfect for transportation if it is difficult for a young family to sit still. Their fairly compact size will allow you to move the pen to a new location almost painlessly.
Horizontal folding playpens will not provide such ease of transformation, so it is better to use them as a stationary element.
Guarantee
The warranty period is indicated in the documents accompanying the playpen or packaging. If the deadlines are not specified, they are set automatically: two years from the date of transfer of the goods to the buyer.
Before purchasing, the documentation is studied separately: unscrupulous manufacturers indicate shortened deadlines in small print in the documentation.
Features of returning goods:
- Outdoor playpen stores are included in the category of seasonal goods. In this case, the warranty period begins on the day the specified season begins.
- Technically complex goods marked accordingly are returned according to a separate scheme.
- Large items require special shipping.
What do they do when returning under warranty?
If, as a result of purchasing a defective playpen, losses are incurred (for treatment, transportation, etc.), they will be compensated - voluntarily or through the court.
The credit item is accepted as purchased for cash, reimbursing the amount paid to the bank, plus the costs associated with obtaining the loan.
Documentation
To apply for a warranty, bring a warranty card, the buyer's passport and a receipt. If there is no check, they refer to the testimony of witnesses.
Material of manufacture
The wooden structure is environmentally friendly and sustainable. But this is perhaps all its merits. The structure itself is heavy and bulky, it is inconvenient to carry and transport, and you can hit hard on the hard slats.
Inflatable playpens are a great way to entertain your baby. Most often they have the form of houses, castles, pools, but are not particularly stable. Therefore, an overly active baby can knock over the structure.Plastic has no such disadvantages. It is easy to care for without fear of damaging the rather sensitive wood. The playpen can be painted in various colors, it is easy to fold/unfold and carry/transport.
Fencing
Such a playpen is suitable only for very calm children. The structure is mounted directly on the floor, and the fence can be given any shape and enclose a fairly large area. But the instability of the structure will not allow you to keep the baby in a given area for a long time.
Photos of the playpen will provide an opportunity to admire these items to keep the child from being too active in research activities.
Three important criteria
You should not buy a product based only on practicality issues. Three important characteristics that a high-quality playpen and any other children's furniture should have:
- Environmentally friendly. Materials must not cause allergies or release harmful substances.
- Safety. A high-quality playpen should be comfortable and reliable even for the most active child.
- Functionality. In the playpen, children are isolated from external dangers, so parents do not have to worry about their child. Restrictions in movement and cognition lead to undesirable consequences in the development of a child, but playpens are good because children can develop in them in the same way as in an apartment, house and yard.
