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While you may have been anxiously waiting for your baby’s first steps, hoping it would make parenting a bit easier, you may not have thought about what comes next: baby proofing your home. This is where baby gates can help. They're useful for segmenting a play space, but they’re especially important near stairs, landings, and other potentially dangerous locations.
We researched 13 baby gates and tested 4 ourselves to determine the best options to childproof your home. Though tension-mounted models are easy to install, we discovered that hardware-mounted baby safety gates are generally preferable. We also wanted to find a baby gate that suited nearly every possible scenario, including placement at the top of the stairs, which requires solid construction and mounting that not every gate has.
After reading instructions (again and again) and installing and testing each candidate, we found the Cardinal Gates Stairway Special (available at Amazon) is the best baby gate on the market. For those who want to spend less, the Regalo Easy Step (available at Amazon) is another good choice with only a few compromises.
On the left: The Cardinal Baby Gate, opened slightly, at the top of a stairwell. On the right: A woman in a pink shirt and black pants holding a baby in one arm standing at the bottom of a stairway. She is opening the Cardinal Baby Gate with her free hand.
A baby sits on the floor in front of the Regalo EasyStep baby gate. An adult's hands are securing the baby gate via the latch on the top.
None that we could find
Awkward on stairs
Slim opening
Retractable
Questionable durability
Pets can reportedly bypass it
Expensive
I’m Matthew DeLauder, and I’ve spent almost 10 years working in the juvenile product industry in a retail setting. There, I was able to see new products and learn about how they differentiated themselves, to provide parents with advice and answer questions about which ones to buy.
Understandably, parents are most concerned with the security of baby gates. It’s important to be able to easily open and close them while ensuring that your little ones stay safe. We added a few more criteria to our tests, including ease of installation, how easy it was to understand the manual, and how much damage was left behind after we were done testing.
We started our research by selecting best-selling and highly-rated baby gates. Once we had an initial set of candidates, we eliminated gates with low ratings and some with higher-than-average price tags. We tested each product with parents and their kids, and asked them to fill out a questionnaire about their experiences. We then calculated the scores and found our favorites.
All of the baby gates we tested would ultimately prevent a child from accessing a set of stairs. The features that define the winners and the losers were primarily ease of installation and how quickly one could get through the gate. Baby gates that swing open fully, and that also do not have a threshold you might trip over, are the best options.
When choosing a baby gate, there are a few things to consider. Installation style, materials, height, latch style, and more can all play a factor in your decision.
Most gates will feature either a pressure-mounted gate or a hardware-mounted gate. Tension-mounted baby gates push against the wall on either side, and the force of that pressure is the only thing that holds the gate up. This may be fine in situations with no fall risk, but if you're putting a safety gate up at the top of a set of stairs, you'll want something a little more solid.
That's where hardware-mounted gates come in. Hardware-mounted gates may require a drill, but are generally preferred because of their greater stability. Some gates install directly into the wall, preferably at a wall stud for support. Other gates come with a wall mount. The mount stays securely attached to the wall, but you can remove the gate from the mount so that it doesn't present a trip hazard when you don't need it.
Also, if you’re installing baby gates in a stairway that is open on one or both sides, you may need to buy additional accessories. Most gates mount into a flat surface, so you may need to buy a banister adapter that can attach to rounded banisters on one or both sides.
You should also consider materials. Metal baby gates are among the most popular for stability’s sake, but be mindful of gates that are mostly metal with cheaper plastic parts in some places. You'll also find baby gates made of plastic or wood.
If you choose a wood gate, make sure that the finish is smooth enough that splinters aren't an issue. Whatever you choose, make sure your baby gate is sturdy enough to stand up to rambunctious kids (and enthusiastic pets, if you have any).
Not every baby gate fits every door frame. Most let you adjust the width, usually from 36 to 42 inches wide, give or take a few inches.
Many baby gates offer an extension kit. You can find these kits for both pressure-mounted and hardware-mounted gates. If you need to close off a larger space, you can also find an extra-wide gate, including some that fit openings up to 12 or 13 feet wide.
Don’t just think about how the gate affects the baby, but also how it affects you. You want your baby gate to be as easy for you to use as possible.
Is it easy to open? Does the latch support one-handed operation? Does the latch include an auto-lock feature? Is the wall mount separate for easy removal? Ideally, your baby gate does its job without interfering with your daily activities.
It’s important to find a baby gate that is certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). That means that the manufacturer has voluntarily followed certain safety standards when designing and building the gate.
JPMA standards include strength of the materials, the latch's integrity, and the gate's minimum height. It also sets restrictions on any openings in the gate (they need to be big enough that tiny fingers can't get caught) and the distance from the bottom of the gate to the floor (no bigger than 3 inches, so that little ones can't crawl under it)
When you purchase your baby gate, hold on to every part that is required for installation (even if you don't use all of them). As your child grows, so may your home. Future installations may require special hardware or those extra pieces you thought you would never use.
One main challenge for a baby gate is the banister of a stairwell. Be sure to check for guidance on how to work around them. You can find kits, like the Qdos Universal Stair Mounting Kit, to help you mount the gate against an irregular surface.
For those who are afraid of wall damage, The Wall Nanny works great for almost all pressure mounted baby gates, and it’s simple to install. If you have a hardware mounted baby gate, you’ll most likely have some sort of wall cup design, which will help to minimize any damage.
The best way to prevent damage is to install the gate correctly in the first place. This means choosing your location carefully, measuring twice, and drilling once. A final note: If you’re not handy, don’t sweat it, many people have installed a baby gate with no prior experience.
There are two things to avoid when installing a baby gate. First, never install a tension-mounted gate at the top of the stairs. Their ability to withstand pressure is much lower than a hardware-mounted gate. The risk that the gate gives way and your child falls is too high.
You should also avoid leaving a large gap under the baby gate. Some people leave enough room for a household cat to squeeze under. But if your pet can get through, odds are that your kid will try, and you definitely don’t want that.
Generally, baby gates are meant for ages 6 months to 2 years. Every child’s development is different, but by the time your kid hits 2, odds are that they may be big enough to try and dislodge a baby gate, or even climb over it, turning your safety device into a safety risk.
Tension-mounted baby gates are safe in certain circumstances, but they aren’t as sturdy as the hardware-mounted variety. Avoid putting them at the top of the stairs, where a child toppling the baby gate would be disastrous. That said, tension-mounted baby gates are fine as a barrier between rooms.
Matthew DeLauder
Contributor
Matthew DeLauder is a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician and baby gear expert with a decade of experience in the specialty product space.
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