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Home › Articles › General Safety Issues › Playpen Paradise

Playpen Paradise

Selecting the Right Play Yard for Baby

By Laura Cone

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Some parents may feel a little guilty putting their baby in a playpen with wooden bars and a vinyl-covered, padded bottom. It may seem too much like a padded 40-by-40-inch prison cell. But these days, your child's playpen, sometimes called play yards, is more likely to have features such as toy bars with removable soft toys. It may play classical tunes, lullabies and nature sounds to entertain and soothe your baby.

Multifunctional Playpens
Many playpens may also be used as bassinets or changing tables. But Nychelle Fleming, the public affairs specialist for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in Bethesda, Md., says consumers need to use extra caution when it comes to multiple-use playpens.

"The thing for consumers to keep in mind with multiple-use ones [is that] a lot of them have warning labels and instruction use labels on when to use, how to use, age, [etc.]," says Fleming, who used a multiple-use playpen when she had her daughter. "Each one will differ from one manufacturer to the next. For instance, I know they have the new built-in changing table on one side and then the other side may be a bassinet for a younger age, and when you reach a certain age they tell you to remove that completely."

Check Recall Lists
When buying a used playpen, it's important to check the iParenting Recalls Database to find out if it has been recalled. Also check the CPSC's Web site. The CPSC has recalled several portable playpens with rotating top rails that can collapse and entrap a child in the folded top rails.

When buying a new or used playpen, Fleming says to make sure the product follows a new safety standard that requires the top rails to automatically lock into place when the unit is fully set up. She says you should hear a clicking sound or be able to clearly see that the unit's rails are locked into place.


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