My 11mo LO is crawling and pulling up and is always moving. She will not sit still. But I (and the nanny even more often) need to put her down sometimes to go the bathroom etc. We still use the exersaucer for this since she is tiny but she doesn’t really like it anymore and will eventually grow out of it. What are my options for places to put her?? Or do I not have any? She would hate a playpen but maybe that’s it. Are there any chairs that are safer than a high chair? I don’t want to leave her long in the high chair even strapped in. We are in an apt so we can’t create a whole room that is totally safe for her. I’m curious how other people deal with this. Any ideas are welcome! Thanks!
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This might be why I can't go to the bathroom by myself... But my son just came to the bathroom with me. I'm honestly not sure what the nanny does 🤦♀️ I'll ask
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I just took my daughter to the bathroom with me. And for showering we made the bathroom baby safe. You can also gate off an area to make baby safe that you can leave her in for a few minutes
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My 8 month old is the same way. I've put her in the empty bath tub while I shower. But I have to watch her carefully because she can turn on the hot water. Yikes.
Also, I drag this thing up and down the stairs all the time. I keep balls and toys in it. (I drag it around with all the stuff in it)
She is happy in it for a bit of time. Good luck! This is such a fun and totally challenging, exhausting age.
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@Sams Mom: ha yeah I was home alone with her and unsure what to do and realize the nanny must have a way! My LO would lick the bathroom floor and bang her head on the toilet if I brought her in there!
@MamaBear87: @agold: Yeah, thinking I just need a playpen or gate for a small area. She’ll hate it but will at least be safe!
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We use a pack n play most of the time for containment, sometimes E is really unhappy in it but I need her to be safe while I shower. Typically to use the bathroom I bring her with me.
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We used this : https://www.amazon.com/Superyard-Colorplay-8-Panel-North-States/dp/B00020L78M/ref=asc_df_B00020L78M/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198090943423&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8245485428728008424&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9002574&hvtargid=pla-394069409958&psc=1&th=1
It was in our apartment living room and we kept all her toys in there, so she didn’t mind being in there. It’s the only way I could pump before work, to have her corralled! -
We used a bumbo with a tray (and toys) until G was 2-3/4. As long as he could fit in it and could be kept busy with puzzles, cars, siperheros, coloring... etc, I would sit him in it by the powder room (by the door) with assorted toys and let him play. I could watch him and he couldn't move (prop his back to the door or wall) and I could do my lady business, take a bath, or even (on a good day) do my hair! It was BLISS! G is now 4. Needless to say, he is far more independent... but I have far LESS "me time" without a bumbo!
🙄
Bumbo Floor Seat, Cool Grey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAECQ1U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ujNqCb8QA8GFR
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Jolly jumper?
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I had the same exact thing as @jennlin821: We called it baby jail. But we kept lots of toys in there and it kept her safe. It worked well until she started pushing the whole thing around to get at stuff.
Or the crib sometimes, with a special toy. But this was for bathroom breaks or cooking where I couldn’t stop and tend to her. I always just showered while she napped or after bedtime. I generally preferred to wait and enjoy my shower than try and rush before she lost her mind (and stay at home moms with babies get a lot of leeway with how often we shower. That might be less acceptable in an office).
As the kids got older, sometimes my older daughter would request to go in the baby jail with a special toy so her sister couldn’t bother her.
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We use to have the baby jail but it was taking up a lot of real estate in our small apartment and LO utterly detested it despite the fact that his favorite toys were in there, so I broke it down. I shower after he's gone to bed, and otherwise he comes in the bathroom with me. I took everything out from under the sink that's not suitable for him to play with, now he entertains himself endlessly playing with the bandaid box and a hair brush
. If we have to contain him, we have .a pack n play set up. I prefer that to the real crib since he hates being contained but goes to bed well in his crib at night and I don't want him to have negative associations with it...
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I put my 11 month old in a pack n play with some toys. That usually buys me a few minutes before he starts crying. I also have a walker that’s contained to our kitchen and he loves shooting around our kitchen in that.
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@JJ2626: when we lived in an apartment we had this superyard by Northstate.
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We just got the summer infant play yard. Amazon is having 20% off warehouse sale too, so Open Box-Very Good ends up only being $25. The one I got is like new, there's nothing wrong with it and no marks at all that I could find.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00KBGTRAC/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all -
Like @LadyDi: I used to use this. Put some high interest toys. Note the red Solo cup in the pic. That was a favorite.
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My LO is fine for a few minutes crawling around in my baby proofed living room but if I need more time or my older ones are being wild I bring her with and put her in the (empty/dry) bathtub.
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Crib with some toys! Or we have the 4moms playard which is expensive but so easy to collapse that it’s worth it. Also apartment dwellers here! (We seem to have so much in common, lol). So it’s imporant to have something that doesn’t always have to be open.
We had the Northstate playard for our first which was nice but takes up sooooo much room and it’s not easy or small to fold up. 4moms one is NOTHING. So easy. Big when open and very small when closed. -
At 11 months, both my kids wouldn’t get into trouble when I went to the washroom. Everything was babyproofed enough. Showers I did when they were asleep.
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@snarkybiochemist: @jennlin821: @Foodnerd81: @periwinklebee: @PurplePumps: @Mrsbells: Thank you all! It seems like baby jail might be our best bet. My LO really moves and would be on top of the couch if I left her in the living room even though it’s pretty well babyproofed. Same with bathroom-she’d just start trying to climb up the cabinets. Tub could work in a pinch though! Though I doubt the nanny wants her in the bathroom with her. Lol
@SweetiePie: ha yes I feel like we are always in similar situations! You live in NYC, right? We lived there for many years before moving to SF and I still think like a New Yorker when it comes to space! We do have the guava lotus which looks similar to 4moms so I could set that up when I’m alone for awhile.
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We have a playard with a gate. It can also be attached to a wall. We used it that way to make a fence and block off one section of our L-shaped living room. So it did not feel like a playpen.
We have since converted our L into a third bedroom. So for my twins I plan to babyproof the entire living room area and gate it off. There will still be couches so it will not be totally perfect. But hopefully they won’t be climbers and it will suffice for a trip to the bathroom.
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@JJ2626: yeah my first would have knocked herself out falling into the toilet or cracking her head on the tile floor if I let her loose in our tiny bathroom while I showered. She was too curious. We set up the baby jail behind our couch near where we stored the toys, when we lived in our condo. So like @SweetiePie: said, it did take up a ton of space, but luckily we had a space where it wasn’t really in the way of anything else.
My kids are 5 and 3 and we still have the gate set up actually, only it’s open and protecting a huge bay window from my children now.
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@JJ2626: re: nyc and space...my 4.5yo has a play kitchen in his bedroom. He started being obsessed with putting real food in it. He asked for fig bars and the earths best cereal bars. So I gave them to him and my husband was like “why are you doing that?” And I shrugged and said “hey, we don’t have much cabinet space in our real kitchen. It actually helps me if he stores some stuff in there”
The sad part is, we are in what’s considered a “big” condo. And I still feel like the walls are caving in on me. We know families with 2 kids in a one bedroom. As in, all 4 of them share a room. I can’t even begin to imagine that.
We’re probably moving to the burbs this summer to try it out. I’ve been so resistant for years, but with 2 kids I’m finally starting to like the idea of space and a yard and a basement/playroom. -
We have this:
It collapses so it's not taking up half the room all the time. He's usually content in there with a snack/toy while I shower or whatever.
. If we have to contain him, we have .a pack n play set up. I prefer that to the real crib since he hates being contained but goes to bed well in his crib at night and I don't want him to have negative associations with it...
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