For safety's sake, don't use a hand-me-down or garage-sale play yard. Buy a new model that meets the current voluntary safety standard, which addresses design problems of earlier models. Older models may have a top-rail hinge that can collapse, forming a steep, V-shaped angle that puts children at risk of being trapped or strangled.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled models that pose a rail-collapse hazard. If your child uses a play yard at a day-care facility, in a hotel, or at someone else's home, be sure it's a model that was manufactured in 2000 or later.