Despite having eight-month-old twins, I haven’t really babyproofed the house. Instead, for now, I’ve houseproofed the babies. Besides, I’m not at all comfortable with letting my babies wander around the house.
So I picked up a Lil Playzone Lights and Sounds play yard with an extension kit (I found mine used on Craig’s List – it’s originally from One Step Ahead). Overall, I like this product. It’s been pretty handy and, compared to other play yards, is sturdier and more versatile in some ways. But, as you’ve probably guessed, it’s not a hands-down winner. In fact, my list of dislikes is much longer than my likes.
Likes
- Compared to other play yards with finer-meshed type walls, the Lil Playzone is way easier to clean
- Sturdy, thick plastic with bold colors
- One of the panels has fun toys and buttons that play music and light up
- Easy to assemble and take apart for storage
- Includes a gate so you don’t have to climb over it to get in and out
Dislikes
A Woman’s Rage move Timber Falls move
- Can’t be attached to the wall like other play yards. I have mine set up to take advantage of wall space to make the square footage bigger, but since the play yard isn’t attached to the walls, the girls have managed to escape a few times.
- Those cute buttons that play music? They don’t have an off button and the songs are pretty long. Who invents a noisy kid’s toy without an off button?!?
- The panels themselves are almost solid plastic instead of chain-link style. This means that baby can’t really see out. My girls got pretty freaked out the first few times I put them in.
- On the shorter side at 24” tall, so once your child is taller and pulling up, they might try to climb over
- If you don’t buy the extension kit, it’s awfully small, even for one baby. For twins, you can’t get away without buying the extension kit unless you’re trying to turn your baby into veal.
- Each panel is separate (connected by yellow plastic connecting pieces), so you can’t easily fold it up and throw it in the trunk if you’re traveling
- Pricey if you’re buying new. You’ll pay about $140 with the extension kit, never mind shipping, when you could pick up something like this new for $110. (Either way, over $100 for a baby cage play yard? WTF? Total scam.)
About the author: Idoia never intended to get married or have kids. So she got hitched and had twins. Wait….what? Read more from this author.
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I was just trying to figure out how I’m going to keep my little man out of the kitchen and in the living room so your post kind of hit home. I’ve always thought those would be kind of handy but I agree with most of your dislikes. Thanks for helping me rule this kind out! :) And I don’t like toys that don’t come with off buttons either…people who create those must not have kids!
I’ve been tempted by this many times, but keep changing my mind. I keep thinking one day my child will push on the side and it will fall over and fold up on him. Or, my older one will find it too fun to lock up his little brother…lol
I love mine, and although it is pricey, we have used sections to block off tables from my twin boys and make gates in other areas of the house. I used velcro ties to attach one of the yellow connector pieces to cover a banister with pointed wood trim. I wish I had purchased this product with my daughter!
I have one since my son was about 9 months, he is now 15 months and is in the 95 percentile for both weight and height, he has never ever been able to tip it over, the one I have has even suction cups on the bottom to adhere to tile, its awesome as far as the toy, don’t put batteries in it, if it bothers you so much. I have 8 panels and its huge, he loves it, this has taught him to stand up unlike regular playpen is all mesh.
Okay, gotta chime in here too… WE LOVE ours – and yes it was expensive, because we got the extensions. I bought mine in 2005 for our first child, a girl. In 2009, we had our second a boy – just last week (now 15 1/2 months old) he finally figured out how to climb over and we had to switch to our new taller metal gate – which is the same price on sale, and a much bigger pain in the hind end for all else in the house. Yes it also has a gate, but we all had gotten used to stepping over the shorter one… and the new one has a very narrow gate with a pain in butt latch. I just really wish my son had not figured out how to climb over the other one – my daughter didn’t start trying to climb over until she was about 2. I have used it stand alone – in a rectangle configuration – and it made an area about the size of and extra long twin sized bed – and I have also used it as a room barrier. No it does not come with a way to hook it up to the walls, but my super creative husband solved that with zip ties and eye hooks… worked perfect for us. The panel thing – does bug me, but the kids love it… and I have even taken out the batteries before (bad mommy!) when I just couldn’t handle it anymore.