If you like public malls, there are several around - Tysons (go at slow times), Fair Oaks, etc.

Your house. Most places are dirty and its not fair to people walking/playing.

The redone MLK library downtown has a baby play space!

We used to love the building museum for this!

Jolly Yolly playground at Montgomery Mall has a separate area for little babies. The staff seems to enforce it, but I would go on a weekday.

If you want to keep her away from others' germs, you'll have to stay in your apartment. But there's no reason she has to be "bored" crawling there. Put some cushions, pillows, yoga mats, pool noodles on the floor and let her crawl on, over, and around things. If you have a place to stretch it out, get one of those collapsible play tunnel things (e.g. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/dvaergmas-play-tunnel-blue-green-90547595/)

If you want to get out, playgrounds and libraries are the best. Playgrounds being the less germy of the two.

6 months, 6-8 month phase

Sickness? Nothing you can do. If she’s crawling where other kids are crawling in the winter, she’s going to get sick. Best hope is to wash hands frequently, but if even if they completely sanitize everything every single day (which no one does), she’s still going to get sick because sick kids are going to be there. Playgrounds are actually best for this because being out in the open air helps.

Forgetting about that part, Magic Ground in Columbia Heights (above the Target) is a good option for a crawler. They have a room and a couple of dedicated places for under threes and people generally stick with it. And overall, the kids are smaller - my five year old is almost too old for Magic Ground. So she’s not going to be dealing with pushy 8 year olds. It’s very toddler heavy.

But it’s a germ fest and so is everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:Little Gym is great for this.

or Gymboree. Pay for a subscription to one of those places.

There is an indoor playground in Kingstowne area, Hyperkidz, that is extremely diligent about keeping older kids out of the baby area.

This is a short phase. Let her crawl around your apartment and get bored. She’ll quickly move onto walking.

Anonymous wrote:Crawling on public flooring where other kids crawl and people walk? Barf.

+1 If you're worried about germs, keep your baby in your tiny apartment. Crawling on a public library or indoor playground floor is never going to be particularly hygienic. Or invest in some heavy duty winter gear and keep her on the outdoor playgrounds.

Little Gym is great for this.

Crawling on public flooring where other kids crawl and people walk? Barf.

All my baby wants to do is crawl, cruise, climb and explore. We live in an apartment and she's getting quite bored because it's so small.

I'm trying to find more places we can take her too that she can crawl around and explore. I live in NW DC, but I'm willing to travel outside of the city in any direction.

So far we've taken her to library events, the playground, and indoor playgrounds (like scramble and the children's museum).

The problem with the indoor playgrounds, is that they don't do a good job making sure the bigger kids don't enter the crawling baby area. She gets intimidated when they start running around, and doesn't want to explore anymore. I also have to constantly pull her out of the way to make sure the other kids don't run her over or accidentally hurt her. I would love a space that's just for kids under 3-4, or a place where the staff enforces the age rules for the different play spaces.

We've also tried the Toy Nest. I love it, but she's not into toys so much at the moment. She wants things she can climb on, and pull herself up to stand on, and explore.

The playground and library is fine, but since she's on her hands crawling around....she often ends up sick. I wanted to see if there were places that do a better job of cleaning/sanitizing the baby areas.

I know illness is unavoidable, but if you have any tips to reduce how often it happens I'd love to hear it! I wash her hands often with soap, and we give her a bath when we come in from going to the play places, but it doesn't help too much.