Hello!

I have a 11 month old at home and she’s fast transiting from a crawler to walker. I’m trying to child proof our house properly and am wondering what mums think is more useful while i am doing things like cooking? Would a playpen or a baby gate be better?


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  • Baby gate! They ahte pens


  • I used both. It probably also depends on your child and how creative they are


  • I used a playpen for times when I needed to hang and collect the washing. I found it gave me peace of mind and my daughter enjoyed playing in there for short periods of time.


  • I have both. My son will only spend so much time in the play pen. So he like to come right up to the gate and watch me cook.


  • You can buy “playpens” that consist of plastic structure that you attach sections to the size you want to put your baby / toddler in – large area or small one. Hopefully you can position in a place where your little one can see you from a safe distance or use it while you go outside to hang our or take in the washing, collect the mail from the letterbox or even while you have a shower.


  • I think the gates are good for older on the go babies. If you’re going to be busy and need to have baby confined and kept safe in the one spot, I would suggest the playpen. That way you know they’re safe and you don’t have the added pressure of chasing them round


  • Baby gate, far more longevity out of these. Eventually your toddler will be able to love the playpen!!


  • I would go for the kitchen gate.


  • I think you should experiment with both of them and see what works for you!


  • I personally don’t like the gates. Most of them have rails a few cm. up from the floor – not the gat itself and it is very easy to trip over them. A friend of mine was renting a house. The laundry and toilet were just off the kitchen so that is where they had one. I tripped over it more than once. Their own 5 year old tripped over it and went “flying” and landed against the laundry trough, slid and ended up against the the back door. It stopped a crawling baby but was a hazard to others. The kitchen was very small so it wasn’t practical to have a playpen in the room.


  • I entertained the thought of a kitchen gate but mothers told me that babies hated them, and they were too small and chunky to store. Gates are better.


  • Due to the set up of our townhouse we had to buy a retractable gate to keep our baby out of the kitchen (and the cat little trays and access to our courtyard).


  • Kitchen gate without doubt!


  • Kitchen gate. I don’t think they stay in the play pen for too long before trying to climb out!


  • Kitchen gate for sure. Mine wouldn’t stay in a playpen for long.


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