we got a playpen to begin with as Jack liked to roll and scoot and well I lost him on eday he had gone under fishtank anyway we used the playpen then when he was older we used the playpen sides as barriers we have a large 180cm opening into our kitchen cheapest gate for that size was $200+ so hubby cable tied to sides together and we have a gate we also used to use them in 2 of the bedroom door openings but just close doors now