Play yards/gates - how long did you use them?

I am just wondering how long you all used your play yards/gates with your kids? Max & Lily are 18 months and we weren't putting them in the superyard anymore, but we surrounded the Christmas tree with it this year. That turned out to be a good idea because Max decided he was going to attack it every chance he got by throwing toys at it or reach over the gate on his tip toes to yank on the garland.

I was going to sell the play yard this summer, but then someone said I may need it longer and maybe for the tree next Christmas too? So how long did you keep or use yours? TIA

 

We never really used gates. Our house is small and has no stairs, and when we needed to keep the kids out of a room we just closed the door. When we really needed to confine them we used the Superyard (which took up most of our dining room), but gave that up at about 18 months.

I got the Superyard back out when they had just turned 2, so we could put it around the tree, but it turned out not to be necessary. Haven't touched it since.

I think gates are sort of a different story if they are blocking off something really dangerous like stairs or a garage -- I wouldn't want to take those down until I was comfortable with my kids being in that area unattended.

 

We have LOTS of gates, but like the pp said, they are to keep my boys from getting hurt- gates at the top of the basement stairs, at the top of the stairs on my back deck, one that we use on occasion to keep them from going upstairs. I am using my play yard gate to keep them from touching the wood stove. I am actually picking up another gate I found on Craigslist to use to keep them away from the computer (because my computer is in danger of getting hurt by the 2 of them.) I can't imagine not having all of those gates at least for the next year or so. I would hold on to your gate for a bit longer! Good luck!

 

We never had a playyard/superyard. We took all our gates down when they were 1y10m.

With the Christmas tree the next year when they were 2y10m, we just told them they could not touch it or the ornaments. Yes, it took a few days for them to understand this and they did touch it at first, but they loved being able to walk by it and look at it. Funny thing is this year at 3y10m, they really don't pay any attention to the tree, other than looking at it.

 

We never had a Superyard. I'd say our gates stopped being used around age 2, maybe slightly before that. My girls really have never bothered the trees.

 

We never owned one and never had to block anything off.

My boys were one last xmas and we just told them not to touch it, and they obeyed.
This yr they are 2 and they haven't gone near it! They look but don't touch.

I think if you don't make a big deal out of it and just give them directions, you'll probably be okay. It's blocking it off that makes it seem interesting

GL! I know all kids are different

 

We only kept one gate up..it was one of those that you could open and close. We actually still have it up to keep the dog out of our living room. It worked on the girls when I needed to keep them in one room until they learned how to open it on their own, which was about a year ago and a half ago. Now they know to close it back when we want to keep the dog out of the room. So, I would say at about two the gates were no longer useful for us (they could climb over any others we used).

 

Could you open one side of the play yard ? I was thinking it would be a cute fence for a kids club house in the back yard. Add a little kids lawn mower and you have a complete house with yard.

Heather

 

We never had a playyard but had gates in front of both sets of stairs, we took them down when they could safely go up and down the stairs which was around 18 or so months.

 

We never owned a Superyard and we took down our gates just after they turned 2.

 

We never owned a Superyard, and took our gates down when the girls were 20 months and we moved to a new house with no stairs. They did fine last year at 18 months with the Christmas tree. It took about a day of saying "don't touch" every other minute, but then they figured it out.

 

My boys always hated the play yard, so we only ever really used it to corral toys and last year's X-mas tree. I sold mine when they were about 19 months old, I think. We got rid of all baby gates when we moved just after their 2nd birthday. We probably could have done it sooner!

 

We still use them. I have an open kitchen and I don't like for them to be able to wander in while I'm cooking. I'm too afraid of them reaching the cooktop, oven, or if I'm loading the dishwasher with knives, etc... so I use the gates for times like those. We also still use one for our "time out" corner.

 

We never had a play yard, but we did have gates between the living/dining room and the kitchen and the living/dining room and hall to the rest of the house. We took down the one to the hallway when they were about 2 1/2. We would have done it sooner, but I was babysitting a 1yo who loved to crawl off the second you looked away! The one to the kitchen stayed up until they were about 3. That was because I have no cabinets and everything is on open shelving. I didn't want them getting into the food and I was afraid they'd try to climb the shelving and pull it over.

We also moved one of the gates to their bedroom door when we switched to toddler beds to keep them from wandering the house at night. We kept it open during the day so they could go in and out. That probably came down when they were 3 1/2 and learned to open it. At that point it was there more because of habit than need anyway.