Review: North State Superyard XT Portable Playard

Babies are notorious for getting into the things you don't want them to, and my child was no exception to that. Constantly, I'd be running over to stop her from chewing on the computer wires, or trying to get into the kitchen. I tried blocking her way with a makeshift "barrier" consisting of her exersaucer and learning table. Well, babies adapt. She found her way around my pathetic wall, either crawling through them or simply moving them. Every day was beginning to seem like I was constantly pulling her away from wires and anything else I didn't want her to touch. It was time to come up with a new solution that wouldn't infringe upon her exploration.

I bought the North State Superyard XT Portable Playard for about $60. Others were priced MUCH higher and I felt happy to find one within my price range. Let me tell you, of all the baby items, from furniture to toys, this was the very best purchase I made.

Why? Well, featured in the pictures you see of baby gates (also known as Configure Gates), it encloses the baby in a hexagon. I knew my child would not like this, as she is big on exploring and having a lot of space to run around. The gate doesn't necessarily have to connect in a hexagon. In fact, what I did was wrap one end around my entertainment center and across the room and behind my couch in a semi-circle, leaving my daughter to be free to run up and down the hall and have the entire family room (minus the area the computer and those pesky wires are in) to herself to roam and explore. Pictures are very misleading, making you think you can only 'configure' this gate into a small pen.

Also enormously helpful with this playard is that you can buy 'add-on' pieces for your gate. If you wanted your child's playpen to be larger, or to extend the length of the gate to stretch around your family room. Each extension is $20, sometimes less, and is an extra 35 inches of space for you little one.

Simply putting a typical sliding gate between a walkway was not going to work for us, as the computer would be fair game for our child. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out how to keep her happy...and me. Now, I don't have to worry about her safety, for the most part. The gate is almost impossible to climb, the diamonds being very narrow, even for little feet. The gate itself is extra tall (26 inches high).

Another big plus on this gate is that it is completely portable and not hard at all to play up and take to a beach or park. You simply fold the interlocking pieces down and clip the carrying strap together and you're good to go. It's a little on the heavy side when carrying it condensed, but not overly so.

Overall, I want to impress upon you what a lifesaver this product has been for my stay-at-home-mom lifestyle. I don't feel afraid to leave my daughter for a moment while I get her some food from the kitchen or wonder what she's getting into while I use the bathroom. This is just one big stress relief for me and it really has changed my day-to-day life with my daughter. Pretty good for sixty bucks, huh?