Gone are the days when things were bought for the basic needs they were supped to fulfill. Now is the time when you buy things with the extra added benefits, to get the best out of the money you spend. With the changing times and changing lifestyles, with both the parents working it has become essential to have a safe playpen for the baby.

Though factors like safety, easy cleanup, and ease of use remain the most important criteria that must be borne in mind while buying baby playpens, there are other features you can check out too, in order to ensure that the playpen gets used even more extensively. Some of them are:

1. Wheels- Baby playpens with wheels are always better than playpens without them. This allows easy maneuverability of the pen throughout the home.

2. Easy to fold up- These days such baby playpens are also available that can be folded up completely, into a small compact form that can be put into a bag or a carrying case too. This means that no mater where you and your baby travel to, your baby never has to miss his or her playpen! Generally such folding playpens come with a carrying case itself. So that you can fold them up and keep them conveniently in these cases.

3. Canopy- It is generally preferable to opt for playpens with a canopy. This ensures that you can take your child with their playpens even outdoors, in the sun. The canopy protects the baby, as your baby happily plays away in the playpens, without being bothered by the strong sunlight.

4. Changing station- Many manufactures manufacture such playpens these days, than have an extra yard that can serve as a changing unit, when required. These generally fit on the top, where you can lay your baby down for changing. This is an extremely useful feature that comes in handy on many occasions.

5. Playpens that can be used as cribs- These are playpens that can serve as cribs too, as and when you require. This means, that when you want your baby to have a crib to sleep in, you can change these. You can immediately transform it onto a crib, and when the child wishes to play, it can be used as a playpen. While traveling, this playpen-cum-crib feature can prove to be extremely useful.

6. The playpen should merge with the overall décor if the nursery or the house, otherwise it will look out of place.

However as you watch out for these added benefits in the playpens, do not forget to take your most important needs and requirements into consideration. For instance, as you purchase a playpen, it might be helpful for you to first make up your mind as to how much traveling would your baby be doing. No matter how many additional benefits does your playpen provide, what is really important is whether these benefits feature to your requirements and your overall lifestyle or not.