I just saw a tumbling mat on overstock for <$100. Don't remember the deets, but it might be flexible to grow with him.

I went to ross and found several options, some had large squares and could fit about 8x8, some were alphabet squares, some had animals, and some had just dots. All were under $20. I bought a few for my house and a one for my sisters. They have been working well so far.

We bought the cheap-o puzzle squares for my daughter and I think that was the right choice. Her sitting but not crawling window was really short. Even with the puzzle squares, she was able to "creep" off of them within minutes. Watching her crash her big bowling ball head into our wooden floor was hard for me but didn't seem to phase her. I'd save your money and add those savings to your rug fund.

I would just get a $30 rubber-back rug from IKEA. The puzzle squares are a pain for me as the kids pull the letters out and pull the puzzles apart and then they are not a good surface for rolling or crawling around.

I ditto what nellymom says. Put the $100-150 towards your rug fund. We've worked with the cheap $20 alphabet foam set from Costco for about 6 mos (son is now 11 mos old). He's so curious now that he's all over the house and no where near the padded oasis we set up!

I don't think that mat will last very long. We use the ugly blue tiles sold at Babies R Us and as weight lifting gear. They are awesome and we have a really big space for the kids to play (we have concrete floors). Bigger is better. I'd choose them any day over the small alphabet mats.

You can special order them now in better colors. They are very functional and offer terrific protection.

Go for the cheapest option... babies get big SO fast!! It's hardly worth spending a lot of money on something they will use for such a short amount of time.

We bought the super cheap gray "puzzle piece" foam stuff at Lowes. Not even the kid kind---like the stuff you put under exercise equipment. Did it look nice? no. But it was super easy to fold up and stick behind the couch, as there were only four large pieces. I usually added a couch throw on top of it to make it softer. And it was no time before my son was rolling and crawling all over the place, anyway. There was no keeping him on a mat at that point. And the hardwood didn't seem to really bug deter him from trying to get around.

I know they're not pretty, but what about a $20 rug from somewhere like Wal*Mart or Home Depot? I bought a couple when we couldn't yet afford area rugs. They were 5x8 and larger, depending on the source, and basically just a carpet remnant with finished edges. It's be cushy and neutral... and easily vacuumed.

Babies who want to move don't care what kind of floor they're on. My son had a huge callus on his knee from crawling on concrete all summer. Your little guy is not going to be needing a mat for much longer.

We also have wood floors throughout our house. I bought a cheap rug at Walmart ($20 on clearance because it had a stain) for the baby to crawl around in her room. And for our family room, my mom made a playmat from a yard of flannel, a yard of plush "silky" material (like the stuff on the back of those satin baby blankets?),some velcro, and a bit of an egg crate mattress. Its FABULOUS! Our girl is a year on friday, so she no longer stays put, but it was great for tummy time. We still lay her down on it when she takes her bottle.

-her older sister also loves to use it as a tent/tumbling mat/turtle shell/cape.

I agree, just get a cheap area rug for the same price. If he's 6 months and already rolling, he'll be crawling soon and then a play mat isn't much use.

I wouldn't spend the money on the pad pictured. It's too small. Your baby is going to be crawling soon...you won't be able to keep him in one place! I'd save for your rugs or go for the puzzle mats (or start thinking about baby gates and play yards). Also, babies like textures, at least my little guy does. I think Airexurb's idea to make something is a good one especially if you combine some different textures.

We ended up getting the Skip Hop play mat, which was about seventy bucks and was not worth it. It got filthy really fast and he only sat on it for a month or two before hevwas mobile, and it made me feel like my house was a preschool. Now it's sitting in a box in the clothes not even a year later. We ended up getting him a cozy shag rug from ikea which works much better! Land of Nod also has nice rugs for kids. That's my vote!

if you have a crafty bone, you could easily sew up a cute cover for some crappy foam tiles, and save a boatload of cash!

baby will be crawling off that before you know it, i agree with the ideas to get something cheaper/bigger that will be more useful in the long term.
my babies both learned to crawl on wooden floors - we just used a yoga mat/blankets or whatever we had on hand if we felt they needed some cushioning :)

He's not going to be "uncomfortable" on the wood floor. His hands and knees have so much padding. My 8 year old can still crawl on all fours without it killing his knees! It's painful for adults to do this, but babies are squishy.

Ditto the thumbs down to expensive play mats, particularly the skip hop. I was a total moron and bought TWO of them to get the colours we wanted. The rest of her room was totally DIY so it was our big splurge. What a waste. Dirty very fast and even the littliest baby can undo them easily. Not worth the $ or constant effort of putting them back together again.

I'd stear clear of the "puzzle" rugs if I were you. They've just been recalled here in Europe, because of toxic emission.

When my son was about 4 months, we bought a velvet-y funny playmat with a hop and all. He used it for about a month or two, and I've been using it as a funny rug ever since.

I made the mistake of choosing a very pale one (that was great to look at !), and my son wasn't very interested. If I had to do it again, I'd choose a second hand, bright and colorful play mat. Then I'd store this eyesore till it's useful again.

We bought a gym mat from matsmatsmats.com - the four color kind that folds up. It was my husband's idea and and it worked well then and my 4 1/2 still uses it all of the time for tumbling in the house.

We have wood floors and I just doubled up an old quilt for my son to roll/crawl/play on. Easy, cheap, AND washable. :)
(And when he was learning to sit and inevitably fell over and bonked his head on the wood floor, he didn't seem to mind.)

We too had hardwood floors when my daughter was a baby. We bought the soft toddler mat from costco.com for $160 and it was worth every penny. It is very thick and perfect for when my daughter was learning to sit, crawl, walk. She could fall flat on her face and would be just fine. I sometimes put a play yard around it for when I needed a safe place for her to play. It was awesome. Another plus was that it is very comfortable for adults to sit on (unlike the thin foam mats), which resulted in us playing with her much more. Even though $160 seems like a lot to spend on something she outgrew in less than a year, we resold it on craigslist for $120, so we were really only out $40.

We bought the alphabet puzzle squares (mat) and a plastic play yard (by North States on Amazon) which is approx. 36 square feet - but not particularly attractive. It was helpful for when she first started crawling and pulling herself up (and inevitably falling down and bumping her head). We've been using it for a few months now (in a corner of our family room)- it's a good place to keep her playing and occupied for short spurts (like to go do a load of laundry, prepare dinner, etc).

However at 8 months, she's crawling like crazy and doesn't care to be fenced in for very long and just wants to crawl everywhere!

BTW - we have Mexican saltillo tiles in the living, family and dining rooms and wood floors in the bedrooms.

I plan to keep these items for our future kids and then sell it on Craigslist (as "mili's mom" did). :-)

just fold up a quilt. The puzzle mats can be a choking hazard, as they pull the bits out and bite on them. Very hard to clean, as well. He'll be walking before you know it.

We have grey foam mats like the alphabet ones but thicker and not "kid colors." Got them on amazon but can't remember the company. The intention has been to get a nice rug to cover them (something fairly neutral but still kid friendly) - not that this has happened in 1.5 years! It's a good choice for us because it's nice to have a padded area when they still fall a lot as well as for *our* knees when playing on the floor. Just gotta get that rug and it will actually look nice too!

No, don't get foam anything. My kid bit them and I worried about choking, and they were a PITA to clean & keep together. Either get a rug, or invest in some baby legwarmer things :)

Soft Tiles: We have cement floors and got a 8' x 8' set of gray tiles that are the same color as our floors. They're aren't the prettiest, but they do their job. They were good for when my kids were learning to roll over, crawl, etc, they are good for adults to sit on without killing their backs but they are the BEST now that my son is doing sommersaults all over the living room. I can't speak for all, but the set I got from soft tiles, didn't smell even when they were brand new and I ave no problems with them despite the fact that I have serious chemical sensitivities/allergies.

We never bought any of those things and it was fine. My now 11.5 month son falls, but when he does it's usually not where a mat would be anyways. If I needed something soft for him to sit on I'd just put down a few blankets - but before he was sitting he'd be on his stomach sliding around the room. Not worth it, and as one commenter posted above - likely toxic.

getrung.com sells the mats in a bunch of colors, so you don't have to be stuck with only the assorted brights. You can also get them to cover virtually any square footage; we did our whole playroom in their mats.

I agree with @soirish87, the Skip Hop is not worth it. I bought it in Canada at almost $80. It marks really badly, gets scratched and my daughter pulls it apart in seconds and chews on the pieces. One of the worst purchases we've made since she was born!
Next time around I'll buy the cheap foam tiles from Target and put a rug over them!

Another vote for a quilt or comforter -- baby will be crawling soon, and playing on a mat or blanket will be a thing of the past! AND I've heard plenty about foam mats offgassing and being toxic for chewing, etc. Keep it simple & save!

we had the 20 buck cheap puzzle type. once he out grew the need for the matt i made them into a cube and cut square holes out with a butcher knife. he loved crawling in them. I only cut two of the six sides out. then filled with plastic balls.
definatly not a nessissary thing though.

I vote for a blanket. Used for centuries with no mishaps. ;)

I saw some crawler knee-pads recently from Safety First. That seems like a good option when he starts to crawl. Until then you could use a blanket.

Yeah, ditto what lots of people said: no need for a pad of any sort that will be used for only a few months, if that. We used a couple of thick blankets on our living room floor. Get something you can also use somewhere else in your home. Eventually our son got out of padded area, and never turned back.

I second (hundred?) the others who say forget it all together. Put down a blanket or two. In a month he'll crawl right off ANYTHING you put down and since you aren;t going to do wall-to-wall carpet, why bother worrying about a hard surface? It seems with my boys I can put down a rug or a mat and wouldn't you know it they only want to play with/chew the edge, or crawl off it immediately...this includes outside! Put down a picnic blanket and just watch the kids fly off it like they are repelling magnets. My 8 month old now crawls right off the blanky right onto the grass/gravel I was trying to avoid and will start eating something he isn't supposed to, but not even touch the food. Go figure.

I agree with others who have suggested an inexpensive throw rug. Something cotton that you can easily throw in the wash would be ideal, get it to match the nursery so that once you've realized that babies don't require a padded surface, it'll have a forever home in that room.

@ Amy Westman: Really? Baby knee pads? Who buys those?

Ah! This was amazing! Thanks, everyone, for your input! I'll skip both and just use what we have around the house.