we're not crawling yet but very mobile with bum scootching, and i am quite comfortable to leave the room for a few minutes if the gate is up ... room is safe from a baby perspective, and they don't seem to mind if i am gone a few minutes. it's never long mind you - 3 or 4 mins at a time, but i keep coming back to check and going again, so i can do several things in and out every 3-4 mins.