Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen review: a safe option from newborn to toddlerhood
The Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen has been designed with small homes in mind. But how does it fare when it comes to day-to-day use? Parent tester, Anna, puts it through its paces.
By Laura Westerman | Last updated Dec 4, 2023
Overall star rating: 4.5/5
Price on writing: From £55.20 | Buy now from Amazon
Baby playpens can provide a safe space for your baby to play from as early as the newborn days, but they can be particularly useful when your baby starts to crawl and move around independently.
The Safetots Deluxe is one such option. Suitable from birth till age two, this fabric playpen has received positive reviews from parents across the UK and beyond. But does it perform as well as its ratings suggest? We put it to the test with our parent tester, Anna, and her now 15-month-old baby.
Our verdict on the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen
Set up: 4.5/5
Safety: 5/5
Ease of use: 4.5/5
Design: 4.5/5
Ease of cleaning: 4/5
Value for money: 5/5
After six months of use, we think the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen is a great buy. Safe, affordable and small enough to fit a variety of spaces, our parent tester, Anna, has been impressed with just how easy this playpen is to use.
Lightweight and portable, it functions well in whichever room she puts it in, and she has found it to be an invaluable piece of kit for keeping her baby safe whenever she’s needed him to play independently.
What we like
Zip door for easy access
Soft-touch fabric
Lightweight - can be moved around the home easily
What we don’t like
Doesn’t fold - has to be taken apart for storage or travel
Play mat not included
How we tested the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen
Six months of use
Tested with a baby
Used at least once a day
Anna started using the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen when her son was eight months old and crawling, putting it through its paces every day for the last six months. She initially set this playpen up in her living room, but uses it in different rooms in her house when needed.
At 15 months old, her son is now outgrowing this playpen, but he has played in the Safetots Deluxe for short periods of time whenever Anna has needed a few minutes to herself, whether that was to clean her teeth, pack her changing bag for a day out or do general chores around the house.
Read next: The best baby toys from newborn to 12 months
What is the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen?
The Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen is a minimalist play space for babies and toddlers. Available in a round or hexagonal design, it’s modest in size so is suited to both large and small homes.
It features a handy zip door for easy access - particularly helpful when your baby becomes heavier to lift - and the fabric is soft to the touch for additional comfort.
Neutral in colour, this playpen is both modern and sleek, and will blend in well no matter your home interior. While it sadly doesn’t come with a play mat (this can be bought separately), it does have an integrated base that is comfortable for babies to play on.
One of Anna’s favourite things about this playpen is just how lightweight it is. At just 4.2kg, it can easily be moved from room to room or taken apart and used elsewhere, whether on holiday or at the grandparents’ house. Anna took it with her to her mum’s house when she and her son visited for a couple of weeks during the summer.
Key specs
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 71cm | Age: Birth to 2 years | Material: Fabric (unspecified) | Foldable: No | Assembly required: Yes
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It comes in two designs: round or hexagonal
What’s in the box?
Six feet
Six top connectors
Six side poles
Six curved or hexagonal poles for the base (design dependent)
Six curved or hexagonal poles for the top (design dependent)
Playpen fabric
How easy is the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen to assemble?
While there are a few different parts to get to grips with, this playpen is still simple to assemble. To put the base together, the six base poles need to be threaded through the fabric and then the feet attached in order to join the poles together.
You then thread the side poles through the fabric and click each pole into one of the six feet before threading the top support poles through as well. The top connectors click together with the press of a button. You’ll hear an audible ‘click’ when each connector is firmly in place.
Anna commented on how easy it was to put this playpen together, but said, “It’s not so easy to work out how to disassemble it,” which you need to do if you want to take the playpen down for travel or store it away.
Read next: The best play mats and activity gyms
How safe and sturdy is the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen?
Safety-wise, the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen conforms to British Safety Standard 8423:2010, with an integrated base that’s needed for testing under this regulation.
Multi-panelled, the playpen has breathable mesh sides, and each panel is 71cm in height to keep babies contained and the connectors safely out of reach. The zip sits on the outside when the fabric door is closed, so can’t be tampered with by curious children, and the feet have suction pads for added stability on hard floors such as laminate or tiles.
Anna says, “I’m very confident that this playpen is safe. It’s sturdy and there are no sharp edges so it feels safe for my baby, even if he’s bouncing around in it. There are no gaps in the fabric where his small fingers could get trapped.”
What’s the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen like to use?
The Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen excels when it comes to day-to-day use. Simple to operate, with only a zip door to contend with, it has enough space for babies and toddlers to play comfortably. When opened, the door fabric can also be used as its own mat for additional play space.
Anna adds, “The playpen is generally very easy to use and I’m happy with it. The zip door is very helpful to get my baby in and out, especially for my mum who finds it hard to lift him out now that he’s heavier.”
While Anna only used the Safetots Deluxe indoors, it could, in theory, be used outdoors too, but only on dry ground.
Some parents who have used the Safetots Deluxe also say that it’s been a handy way to keep their newborn and pet separated. Anna hasn’t used it to keep her baby and cat apart, but her cat has been very interested to explore the playpen from a safe distance.
Read next: The best baby bouncers for newborns
What do babies think of the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen?
For Anna, this playpen has been ideal for short play sessions. She says, “My son doesn’t like to spend too long in the Safetots Deluxe, but that’s not because of the playpen. He’s OK in it for five to 10 minutes at a time, but then wants his freedom!”
If your baby is likely to stay in their playpen for longer, the Safetots Deluxe will be more useful to you. It doesn’t have any special features or activity elements for babies to enjoy, other than the zip door to crawl through, so you’ll want to make sure they have some fun baby toys to play with while they’re in there.
Is the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen easy to clean and store?
Because it’s made of fabric, this playpen isn’t as easy to clean as we would like, but it can be wiped down with a damp cloth when needed. The fabric is also machine-washable, but you’ll need to disassemble the playpen first in order to do this.
In terms of storage, the Safetots Deluxe can be taken apart, and is compact enough to fit neatly into a cupboard with boxed dimensions of 68 x 20 x 14cm, but Anna found disassembly to be less intuitive and more time-consuming than she was expecting.
Read next: The best baby walkers to encourage those first steps
Price and competition: is the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen good value for money?
Yes! With an RRP of £57.95, the Safetots Deluxe Fabric Playpen is very reasonably priced when compared to other playpens on the market. However, it doesn’t come with an activity panel or integrated play mat as some playpens do, so it may not be as attractive a purchase if you’re specifically looking for those things.
Bear in mind that this playpen will also be outgrown once your child reaches two years of age, if not sooner. But if you’re in need of a safe space for your baby to play right from birth, the well-designed Safetots Deluxe is a better choice than many.
About the author
Laura Westerman is an editor, writer and Deputy Head of Editorial Content at Mumsnet. Mum to a one-year-old, she’s always keen to make playtime safe and fun for her daughter, so is fully invested in finding the best and most affordable baby products on the market.
With over seven years' experience as a full-time editor, five of which have been spent writing, commissioning and editing product reviews and round-ups, Laura has a keen eye for what parents love and likes nothing more than putting together honest reviews to make parents' lives that little bit easier.
In addition to her work as a writer and editor, she has also appeared in a number of baby product review videos for Mumsnet's YouTube channel.
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