Guide to Buying Child Safety Gates

In some of the other articles that I have written on child safety and childproofing your home, I have highly recommended the use of child safety gates. Child safety gates are excellent ways to partition off certain areas of your home and keep baby from entering rooms where they can get into messes or end up hurting themselves. Child safety gates can be used effectively in doorways and in front of staircases. They can be made of plastic, wood or othe rmaterial. One thing to watch for when buying a child safety gate, is whether or not you can see your child on the other side. I suggest purchasing a gate that has a clear plastic or mesh on it so that you can clearly see your child through it. One thing to understand about child safety gates is that there are several different types of gates. Each different type of gate is specifically designed to protect certain areas of your home.

For instance, there are your regular free-standing child safety gates. These types of gates contain several panels that come together to create a play space for your child, much like a play pen. On several models, there are panels that open like a door so that you or your child can go through.

Walk through gates are wonderful gates that are best used for high traffic areas of your home. These gates work excellently to partition off certain rooms in the home such as the living room and kitchen areas. With one touch, adults can easily open the gate in either direction. Be aware that your children are always watching and will be attempting to open the gate just like he saw mommy or daddy do!

If you have a staircase in your home, it is advised that you invest in a pressure mounted gate. Bear in mind that pressure mounted gates are for use at the BASE of the staircase, not at the top. These gates are also great to put in regular doorways in your home such as your kitchen or bathroom, two of the most dangerous rooms in a home. Pressure mounted gates are the types of gates that use pressure from a locking mechanism to keep the gate pressed up against the door frame. The panels adjust to the size of the space by sliding the panels together or apart.

If you have stairs, you are probably wondering what you are supposed to use at the top of your staircase if you can only use the pressure mounted gate at the base. The answer to this is a hardware mounted gate. Hardware mounted gates are basically just what they sound like. You must mount these gates at the top of your staircase to the wall with screws. This is for added security and strength. Always be certain to read the user’s manual and assembly instructions when mounting this gate. Be sure that the gate opens away from the stairs and not out onto them, other wise you or your child could possibly take a nasty spill down the stairs. Another great thing you can use these hardware mounted gates on are windows. Not many people think of using a gate to secure a window, but when you think about it, it’s a great idea. Simply mount the gate to the interior walls of the window area and you will no longer have to worry about baby falling through or pushing on the glass.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is that you should never leave your child unattended. Baby safety gates were never intended to substitute the love, care and attention of a parent. Be certain that you always have an eye on your child and never completely rely on any safety device to fully protect your child, only mom or dad’s protective eye can do that!