Soft play is like God's gift to parents .
Your little one can pinball around without hurting themselves, using up all that amazing energy they have - all while you sit down for a moment.
However, the ball pit area may be best avoided - no matter how much your little one loves it.
Studies have uncovered some grim and troubling truths about ball pits, with the risks being potentially life-threatening.
The findings show that the dirtiest ball pit contained an average of 170,818 bacteria per ball, while another had 712,000 microorganism cells, The Sun reports.
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Sure, kids may be a little grubby themselves and you can't shroud them in bubble wrap.
That said, researchers from the University of North Georgia revealed that of the 31 different types of bacteria found, there were types linked to bladder infections and infections of the heart lining.
They found bugs including Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylocccus hominis, Streptococcus oralis, and Acinetobacter Iwofii.
These are bad news indeed, as they can also be the cause of sepsis meningitis , bloodstream infections, skin infections and pneumonia.
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In addition to these bacterial nasties, researchers discovered a yeast that can cause fungal infections in people with compromised immune systems.
The types of bacteria found are further bad news for babies, as they may cause blood and skin infections.
No matter how robust your little one, all they'd need was a scab or scrape to leave them susceptible to infection.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Infection Control, looked at ball pits in physical therapy centres in the US.
