EMILIA'S PLAYPEN.

We recently purchased the 'BabyDan Configure Gate XXL Black' from Safetots. We previously had the Infantastic playpen which we're keeping for when we travel and for when Emilia stays at her grandparents' house. We decided to get a bigger and sturdier playpen as Emilia is walking now and has quite a lot of toys. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on her and for her to play happily and safely whilst I'll be caring for the new baby. I believe this type of playpen was well priced (£89.99) and I'm extremely happy with our choice. 

(This is the old playpen, which has served it's purpose and would probably have stayed as her playpen if we weren't having another baby)

Here is the new playpen - it fits openings of 90 cm to 360cm, each gate piece is 72cm high x 72cm wide (72cm x 33cm panels are available), this particular playpen/room divider is made up of 4 x 72cm panels and 1 x 72cm gate panel which opens both ways and can be done so one-handed. It comes with the wall-mounting kit so you don't have to purchase that separately. We're absolutely in love with the playpen, however our experience with the company was not as satisfactory. Safetots claim to offer 'next-day delivery' when you spend a certain amount and order before a certain time (which we did), yet it took 3 days to get to us. It was processed by Parcelforce 1 day after we ordered, yet it was delivered (with a time-slot sent to us 2 hours after it came) 2 days later, in an open, damaged box. Thankfully the items inside were intact. I emailed Safetots to let them know of our experience and we are yet to hear back.. glad to see they value their customers. Also, we purchased an extra 72cm panel (£19.99) as a precaution in case the playpen was too small, then later realised that we wouldn't need it and that Safetots return policy is at our own expense (£15 collection service), so the extra panel will either be sold or be banished to the shed. So overall, a lovely gate, but next time we'll be ordering through Kiddicare or Tesco.

Playpen extras

• The white storage unit was purchased from Argos for £49.99, its great for storing books and toys and you can buy boxes to fit in the squares if you want it to look extra tidy!
• A washing basket can come in really handy to store little toys and teddies, they're super cheap and you can get them from anywhere.
• These floor mats were also from Argos on a promotion of 2 packs for £15, they're by Chad Valley and they're perfect for toddlers. We were originally going to buy a few packs from Amazon but they were smaller and had pop-out parts that can cause a choking hazard (they weren't suitable for under 3's).
• I'd recommend buying a few throw blankets and pillows for your little one to roll around on or have a little lay down. We got ours from Asda, they range from £3-7, definitely under £10.

We're so happy with our choice of playpen, it absolutely gives us peace of mind that Emilia will be able to play happily and safely, especially as we have a new baby coming in April. Our experience with Safetots was unfortunate and we're unsure if we will order from them again but that's not to say that everyone will have the same experience - the issue was mainly with Parcelforce.