Hard Floors and Newly Mobile Babies?

[chely7425]

We are moving in about 2 weeks and our new apartment has pergo/laminate in the main areas of the house, the bedrooms have carpet.  Our youngest is 6.5 months and just starting to crawl and stuff.  Should we get a rug for the main living area?  Does it even matter?  We have always had carpet everywhere...

[LaughingHyena]

We had laminate in most of our downstairs rooms when the kids were leaning to crawl. It took them a couple of weeks after mastering crawling on carpet to get the hang of the slippery laminate, after that they were fine.

I was a bit worried when they started walking, feeling that they might slip more and it would hurt more on a hard floor, but providing we kept them either in bare feet or with shoes (we used the soft leather slip on style) they seemed fine.

All that said a rung with a good non slip backing is much more comfortable for me sitting on the floor playing with them and I'd guess more comfortable for them too.

[flightgoddess]

I/ve always had hard floors. A large area rug is great for those places you will have lots of floor play/rolling, etc. Living room/family area is good, wherever you will spend the most time.  Eventually I got one for my son's room when he was older and spent more time playing in his room on the floor. And Baby Legs leg warmers are great for protecting little knees.

[cristeen]

I got a foam play mat for the living room, where he was doing most of his pulling up/falling. The rest of the house is hardwood and he did just fine. Babylegs were tough for us because hed just slip, so we didnt use them much. Socks have the same problem, hence the recommendation for soft sole shoes (like Robeez) or bare feet.

We kept the play mat in the LR until he was stable and could reliably climb up onto the couch and then replaced it w a play rug. Because it is absolutely more comfy than bare floor.

[MsFortune]

I'd get a nice area rug so you have a place to sit on floor and place together. We removed our rug and discovered we played with the little kids less. Put rug back down and we played more.

I'm a fan of either cotton or wool rugs when the kids are crawling around on the floor since lots of the fibers get into their mouths.

[gini1313]

Our first, we lived in an apt with carpet.  Our second, hardwoods with an area rug.  Our third, just hardwoods.  I like the hardwoods better.  They are so much cleaner than a carpet and now that I have lived with them, it skeeves me out a little to have a little baby rolling around on a carpet anyways.  We have some nice flannel quilts (lap blanket sized) that MIL made for the kids and we just put them down to sit on if we want something.  Then you can just throw them in the washer when they get dirty. 

Sometimes I think of getting floor pillows to sit on, but I think it would be mainly for me... the kids don't seem to care.  And, ds hasn't had any trouble getting mobile, although he didn't crawl in the traditional sense of the word, more scooted on his bum.  I don't know if he would have done that if we had carpet, but he is walking just fine now.   

[chely7425]

The kids play room is carpet, it is just the family room and dining room and kitchen that is hard floors.  I think we will skip the rug for now... lol