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.

We found at that age, that our babies hated a playpen as they wanted to explore too much and hated being confined. We also tried a gate on the kitchen but found it a hazard for the adults (this might be resolved with a better gate).
Instead we reinforced what areas our children could and couldn’t use. I had just a cupboard and draw of things (eg. tuppaware) in the kitchen out of my way that they could sit and explore. I reinforced that they were the areas bub could use. It does take a little bit of time to learn (eg regularly bringing them back to those areas if they wander where they shouldn’t) but as long as there is enough to interest them then it works. If I really needed to keep them right away, then I might put them in a highchair with a snack or with a new toy or activity that kept them really interested for awhile.

yes also if the child will be able to leave your site and wander too far, then a try the baby pen for safety

Up to the individual. I use the gate so they can move around more.

I used a baby walker to sit her in, she then had freedom to move around but could not get close enough to anything that was hot whilst I was cooking.

I have always used a gate with my children and taught them not to touch things