Superyard XT

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

This product is as advertised and MUST be used according to directions. It provides a nice contained space for play for our 10 month old who has mastered crawling and just started pulling himself up.

We have it set up in the living room to block off the fireplace and create a safe play space. We bought the extension to make more room. He has room for his FP Farm set, lots of toys, a toy bin, and space to crawl, even if I'm in there with him.

I have it positioned to make use of additional support of some walls and furniture. It provides you some peace of mind for getting a few things done, but I wouldn't leave him unsupervised in it for any period of time as he seems quite capable of shaking it around, moving it, and certainly if not properly aligned or closed, of tipping it over. Set up properly he was able to use it to pull himself to standing quite easily.

It was easy to snap together and it's low enough for me to step over easily. Construction seems fair for the price and I really didn't want a heavy metal system that only contains a much smaller space. Not sure how it will last in the long haul as it's just plastic. You can't easily open the enclosure and positioning each piece to create the shape you want takes two hands and some minor wrangling. But you can shape it in many different ways and have it still be relatively safe.

We are considering a second one for the basement play area as well.

All in all a decent buy for containing the little guy and keeping him out of mischief as we proceed with more baby-proofing.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

A cheap gate for the money.
Only good on grass and carpet. My bay is almost 9 months and she was able to push it around.
She was also able to climb half way up too the top.
Another bad is the lack of the gate.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

I purchased this product for my 9 month old daughter at Christmas because she was beginning to outgrow the Pack and Play and needed more space to play. Within two minutes of her being inside the playard, she took both big toes and began climbing up to the top. Once she reached the top she would scream for dear life and I had to pick her up and pull her out. They should have made this product without holes so climbing could not take place. Waste of money!!!

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

My girl is 11 months old and already can stand and even push the play yard all over. So this becomes unsafe.

Having "no gate" is another shortcoming. I almost tripped when I crossed the panel.

I eventually returned it to babiesrus and switched to a heavier metal play yard by "the first years". Now there is a gate for easy access.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

Our son grew out of his play pen fairly quickly, We needed to find something that was big enough that he wasn't spending the whole time trying to get out. So we picked this up. We didn't think about the fact that we have hard wood floors. This product is meant for carpeted homes or out side use. Within 30 min, our little guy had figured out how to push it around the living room. We are always moving it back into place. I tried placing it on a area rug to keep it in place but he was still able to push the play yard around. Rug and all. I came up with the idea of putting a blanket on the bottom and then trying the corners in place. This helps from bending the play yard into bad angles, as well as making it harder for him to push it around. This did work for a while but but the older he gets the stronger he gets. So even with the blanket he is pushing it around the living room. Also the way the play yard is made it has a lot of little holes in the side, perfect for his little toes to climb right out. He's gotten pretty good at it now and doesn't hurt himself, but I'm afraid to even leave the room anymore.
All in all, it is a good product to have, just keep in mind these things. If you have hard wood floors though I wouldn't bother. Its more trouble then it's worth.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

This is the perfect fit for us. If the child was left unattended, which I'm sure the manufacture recommends against, I can see where he/she may climb out and get hurt. We purchased the product to keep our 17 month old away from our corn stove that gets very hot. It works great for that and seems to keep her contained for a short time if needed. Once you figure out how it works, it is quite slick to fold and put away. Great for the money.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

We set up a circled area with the superyard. Whenever my husband or I have to do some house chores, we put her in there and she can play for an extended period of time. It gives me time to cook, to clean, or even work on computer, and never have to worry about her bumping head somewhere - no matter how we childproof our place, there are always corners, edges, like a door frame.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

Here is my not-so-little, but hopefully helpful, review for you on the superyard XT:

PRO'S:

All pieces detach, so you can adapt it to however small or large you need it. It can serve to block off certain areas (my mom, who is "grandma" to 2 toddlers, uses it to block her tv and dining room area off; my sis uses it to keep her baby off their fireplace; we have divided ours into 3 fences throughout our house to keep our girl from coming in the kitchen, getting into her diaper pail and heater in her room,etc), or you can hook together as many pieces as you want to build a sort of "playpen" for the kids to play in. The adaptability of this great is great for awkward or large entryways or areas that you can't use traditional gates on.

Once you link the pieces together, they can be folded in or out. This also helps you to "mold" the gate into whatever shape you need it in (angles are best, as straight lines are dangerous. see below in "con's").

It snaps back into it's folded fence position when you don't need it. This is one of my favorite features. I love that when we have company, we can make the babyproofing disappear once we put her down for bed, and our living room (aka playroom during the date) becomes an adult setting once again.

CON'S:

This is not really a con as much as it is something to be aware of: when you first get it, expect the gates to be very difficult to work with. It will be hard to link/unlink the pieces (this may always be true) and the clicking/snapping into different positions will feel very stiff (fortunately/unfortunately, this loosens up quite quickly over time).

Once baby is heavy/old/smart enough, the gates in the "taken apart" (as opposed to all linked together as a playpen) position become less efficient. Once our girlie was learning to stand, she could force her weight upon certain weak links (which is sometimes our fault because they encourage sharp angles) and get the fences to bend and - only once in awhile - topple over. She is also outsmarting the system now since she knows how to go around them by finding the end of the gate and moving it. We have tried to combat this by hiding the ends of them by tucking them behind furniture or angling them in such a way that she can't reach the ends of them, which has helped.

Due to the uncertainties of the structure as noted above, I would highly recommend that you be nearby when the baby is within a gated area. We use these to block off areas of our living room which we have childproofed, so I am comfortable cooking next door in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on her; but since she has the strength and smarts to sometimes beat the system, I try not to go too far from her when she's using this.

For the above reasons, I would definitely never use this gate at the top of stairs unless you have a layout where you can bungee cord the gate on both sides to the railings/poles of the stairs (which my hubby actually did at one house we stayed in and it was a success); but, generally, I wouldn't use it for that. However, we do have it blocking the bottom of a set of stairs by wrapping it at an angle around the stairs. Again, we keep an eye on her or check on her every few minutes.

CONCLUSION:We like the superyard XT for the purposes it serves and LOVE that it can be adapted to various settings and that it can disappear when we want our house to look inviting for guests. Obviously, it's practical enough that 3 of my family members would invest in it; but, I think it gets purchased alot because there's not really anything else like; therefore, not much competition.

ANOTHER GATE SUGGESTION: If you need something a little sturdier just to block entryways or stairs, we also own another gate that we use for the area at the top of our stairs. We set it back a little from the top of the stairs to give us a step or two to walk before reaching the first step (much safer if you have that option). It's the First Years Hands Free Gate. We are SO happy with this gate and are always getting compliments from jealous parents who see it. After using it at our house one time, our neighbor went out and bought one for her toddler. Since it has a food pedal (which is the highlight of it's existance), it makes it a little tricky setting it up in doorways; but, it has been wonderful for us in the place that we have it. I love that I can carry the baby or laundry in my arms while I use it, and it's super durable (tested by an extremely active toddler whose been shaking, hanging on, and rattling it for the past 5 months).

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

This pen was wonderful! My daughter couldn't climb out of it and it was enough space for her to play and stay occupied while I cleaned. It was rough putting it together the first time, but now is a cinch since I'm used to it.

Comments about North States Industries Superyard XT:

Used it with my twins as a playpen, since regular playpens are so small, and am now using to block off part of my house from my 9 month old daughter. Great and versatile product.