Free to roam?
My apartment is small, not tiny, but pretty small. Especially when you add in all of my husband's guitars, our two dogs and two cats, two computer desks and a large dog kennel. That being said we shifted around our furniture and stuck a playpen right in the middle of our living room where our 8 month old is able to see into the kitchen, and if you leave the door open, the bathroom.
And he hates it. The moment I set him in the playpen unless he is laid down with a bottle, or handed a cracker he stands up waddles to the edge closest to you and just yells at you. He doesn't always cry, but he always yells, no matter what I do. If I give him his favorite toy in the world he just uses it as ammo and throws it.
So I let him down on the real floor, after the dogs have finished eating, and all of the doors to bedrooms and the pantry where we keep our garbage can are closed. He loves it, while I've been typing this he's crawled a full circle around the loop of kitchen floor, hallway, living room. I know that there is nothing unsafe that he can get to during his adventure time, and we've always made sure to give him alone time so if he crawls out of the room I don't always rush to check him and turn him back around.... but I feel like most people would have a panic attack if they heard that.
He isn't allowed to free crawl and follow me into the kitchen if I am cooking something, and he isn't allowed down when our dogs (who love him but you know) are eating, or receiving food treats. Half the time when he is allowed to crawl around on his own he ends up watching our front loading washer, or standing at my computer desk banging on my keyboard.
Even though I feel confident that he won't hurt himself on anything readily available to him do you think this is a good idea? I mean I obviously don't leave him free when I take a shower or leave the room and close a door between us, but he treats his playpen like a punishment. How did all of you handle playpen versus free range crawling?
Re: Free to roam?
I let my daughter roam. The area she is in is baby proof and I keep an eye on her. I don't leave her without supervision though. She's maybe out of my view for a second if I grab a drink from the fridge or drop clothes off on my bed. But like I said, the room she is in is baby proof. We are in an apartment so she is never too far away from me.
If I'm doing something where I feel I won't be paying enough attention to her, I put her in her jumper or in her packNplay with toys.
We've never used a playpen or safety gates. We allow our kids full range of the house.
That means having to chase after them when they go after stuff they shouldn't like computer cables, but to my mind that's life with a baby.
They are always in the kitchen with me when I'm cooking or baking. (I'm very careful about where they are if I'm dealing with something hot or heavy, and don't lift those kind of things over their heads) DD1 is excellent in the kitchen. She completely understand hot and sharp, and I can tell her to move away from the stove because it's hot, and she does without hesitation, and will give it a large berth.
I absolutely understand the point of safety gates, but I have a friend whose 2 3/4yr old has never been in the kitchen. Which to me means he's missing out on valuable learning about safety and just life in general.
So no I don't think there is anything odd about letting your baby roam the house. You're making a decision about his safety which is what you'll do until he's an adult.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old