more q's about play rooms

[cchavez]

Now that Diego is crawling we are spending less time in the living room and more in his play room.

I am interested in getting the bins from Target to organize his toys. Do they tip over easily? Even if they are bolted to the wall, will my little guy try to climb up them?


Also, I would like to put a TV w/ a dvd/vcr in his play room too. This would allow me to watch the news or oprah while keeping an eye on him. He currently sits in his swing to watch his videos (1 a day :)) but he is growing out of the swing and I don't think he can sit on the floor and watch them b/c the tv is too high up. What is the best/safest way to orgaize the tv and equipment.

Finally, we want to put a computer in his play room. Are there childsized computer desks????

Any advice/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[brigmaman]

We have the bins from Target. We got them when Brig started to pull up. They aren't tippy. Brig has never tried to climb up them, but he isn't really a climber. I like them because he can reach everything now, and we can even take the bins out to bring into another room, or even in the car.
I don't know neccesarily the best way to organize the tv situation, and not sure how practical this would be for you, but Brig sits in his high chair to watch his movies now. He has even fallen asleep like this, and I just recline the hc.
Now that he is older, I bought him a big lounge-a-round pillow and he sits on this or his little chair to watch tv, but our tv is up high, too, so I am curious as to what suggestions people have.
I have seen child-sized computer desks in both the One Step Ahead catalog, and in catalogs with educational supplies.
HTH
Edited to add the link to the computer desk at OSA
http://www.onestepahead.com/jump.jsp?lGen=detail&itemID=483&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=483&change=117

[cchavez]

I hadn't thought about using his high chair but we got the Baby Trend w/o the wheels and it would be a pain to lug it over to the TV area. My parents got him a little recliner for Xmas but he is still too young to sit in it...he would tumble out.

Thanks for you help!

[lukkykatt]

We have the bins from Target and they are not tippy. I am pretty safety conscious, and it never even occurred to me to try to bolt them - they are not that heavy, and even my "climber" has never tried to do anything but take toys out. The one thing I would say though, is that I don't think I would buy this again. Alot of the bins are on the small side, so unless you have alot of small toys, I don't think it is the most practical thing out there.

For the tv situation, I would look into either a tv/vcr or tv/dvd combo that you could suspend from the ceiling OR get a entertainment center.

We have a computer for DS in our playroom. I had looked at children's desks, but ended up getting a regular desk (for me) and getting a kinderzeat for DS for when he uses the computer. It seemed more practical to me that way... But there are alot of children's desks out there.

[twins r fun]

I don't like the Target toy shelf with the bins either!!! We have one sitting unused in the basement because it just wasn't what we needed. Actually it was good when they were infants and had little rattles and stuff and I would just take a bin out and put it on the floor for them. Once they were mobile, pulling up, and getting their own toys out, I found the shelf was too hard for them. They couldn't take a bin out and they couldn't easily get to the toys because of the bins above it, especially when there were larger toys in there. I eventually moved it out and got some cube type shelves from Ikea that you can configure with shelves, drawers, and doors to meet your needs. But I know a lot of peopl are happy so maybe you will be too!

[parkersmama]

I have a shelf set similar to the Target one except that it has two double-size bins and 4 regular size bins and 2 shelves. I like that setup since there are a lot of toys that just don't fit right in bins. I believe it came from Sensational Beginnings. This is the one we have: http://tinyurl.com/2glb6 It's held up really well...we've had it for about 5 1/2 years!

As for the TV, I was also worried about safety as well as floor space. We ended up getting a setup from Circuit City that mounts the TV & VCR to the wall. It is similar to what they have in hospitals. It is fairly high up but we have a futon that the kids sit on to watch TV and it's really not too bad. This is like what we have: http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=70994&catoid=-8760 It has another piece you buy that will hold a VCR or DVD player. Of course, if your tv is a DVD combo, just this will work. It's very safe since it gets it up off the ground and out of reach.

[cchavez]

Thanks for the ideas you guys! DH has two televisions sets mounted in our game room w/ those wall mounts. The only problem is that our play room is really meant to be a formal living room and the ceilings are very high!!! So I don't know how a wall mounted tv will look in there. Keep the ideas coming. Thanks.