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The Stairway Special has a simple, functional look, but it's a top pick for its sturdy aluminum construction, easy installation, and safety factor. Read More

This top-selling baby gate fits most openings between 29 and 38.5 inches wide. It's a breeze to set up, but certain features don't work all that well. Read More

The Easy-Close is a good option, all things considered, but comes with a few minor annoyances. It won't work for the top of a staircase. Read More

This awkward gate looks nice and decorative, but is utterly mediocre by most other metrics. At best, it's an average choice. Read More

A retractable gate that functions like a roller shade sounds great, but reviewers aren't convinced on this one just yet. Pets can squeeze under it. Read More

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 potential hazards..

We researched 13 baby gates and tested six ourselves to determine when choosing 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), 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.

These are the best baby gates we tested, ranked in order:

The Cardinal Gates Angle Stairway Gate is the best baby gate we tested.

The Cardinal Gates Stairway Special is the best baby gate on the market thanks to several thoughtful design features and solid construction. Not only does the product come with a comprehensive installation manual, but their videos are an excellent tool for those who need a bit more help.

The baby gate is made to be mounted about six inches from the floor, which avoids the common installation issues that plague many gates. Often, molding, baseboards, or an intricate banister can prove difficult, but not for this one. We found the hardware to be logical and that the installation and subsequent uninstallation left minimal damage. The latch isn’t the prettiest or most obvious, but it’s simple to open with one hand for an adult, but not for toddlers.

One of the more uncommon features of this product is that this baby gate can be installed at a bit of an angle. While it may never be an issue if you have a fairly new home, often times an older home may have more quirks and non-standard openings, where this gate (and probably only this gate) would work, thanks to the adjustments made available by design.

The Cardinal Gates Stairway Special gate is constructed from sturdy yet lightweight aluminum. You should have no problem installing this, seeing as the instructions are particularly outstanding. For those who get a facial tick upon glancing at Swedish furniture instructions, trust that you won't have to worry about losing your weekend over this one.

Can be installed at an angle

None that we could find

The Regalo Easy Step Baby Gate is our best value pick.

If you’re looking for a less expensive (but still effective) baby gate, the Regalo Easy Step Gate is a good alternative. We liked how quick and easy the installation was, and that it felt solid without too much fuss. The features that didn't work as well are the slim opening (just 16 inches) and the odd two-step handle to open the gate.

A lot of times, parents who tested this would turn sideways to fit through the narrow opening, which can be especially awkward if the gate is at the top of the stairs. Overall the gate’s design does the job. This model uses screw-in wall cups to secure the gate to the wall and has a large, if only slightly, clunky-looking handle.

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 so I could provide parents with advice and answer questions they had about which ones to buy.

Most parents are focused on the security and installation of the gates, and how easily they can open and close them while ensuring that the little ones stay safe. We added a few more criteria to our tests, including how easy it was to understand the manual and how much damage was left behind after we were done testing.

In researching the category, we started by selecting best-selling and highly-rated gates that had been on the market long enough to have an ample track record. Once we had an initial set of candidates, we eliminated gates that had the lowest ratings, and many that had much higher than average price tags. We tested each product with parents and their kids, and asked for each parent to fill out a questionnaire about their experiences. We then calculated the scores and found our favorites.

All of these models we tested were adequate and would ultimately prevent a child from accessing a set of stairs. The features that define the winners and the losers are largely related to the ease of installation, and how quickly you can get through the gate.

Gates that swing open fully, and that also do not have a threshold you might trip over are the best options, and our scores reflect that. It's much easier to walk through a gate straight on versus having to turn your body at the top of the stairs to step through.

When choosing a baby gate, there are a few things to consider. Issues like installation style, materials, height, latch style, and more can all play a factor in your decision.

Think about whether you want a pressure-mounted gate or a hardware-mounted gate. Pressure-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 if there's no fall risk. (For instance, if you just want to keep your toddler out of a room.)

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. These may require a drill, but they're much more secure. Ideally you’ll install the gate into a wall stud, since it may need to support a toddler hanging off of it.

Some hardware-mounted gates install directly into the wall. Others let you install 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. In general, hardware-mounted gates are the preferable option because they offer so much more stability.

Also, if you’re installing 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 add this to rounded banisters on one or both sides.

You should also consider the materials that go into making the gate. Metal 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 gates made of plastic or wood.

If you choose a wooden gate, make sure that the finish is smooth enough that splinters aren't an issue. Whatever you choose, make sure your gate is sturdy enough to stand up to rambunctious kids (and enthusiastic pets, if you have any).

Not every baby gate was made to fit every doorway. Most let you adjust the width, and you'll see ranges anywhere from 36 to 42 inches wide, give or take a few inches.

Many baby gates offer can be expanded with 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.

When you're managing a baby, you've got a lot to think about already. You want your baby gate to be as easy to use as possible. Don’t just think about how the gate affects the baby, but also how it affects you.

Is it easy to open? Does the latch support one-handed operation for times when you're carrying your child? 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 life or parenting.

One important thing to look for is a certification from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). This is a sticker that certifies 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)

You don't need a lot of experience to install a gate that's safe for your child and won't harm your walls.

It’s important to make sure that when you purchase your gate that you hold on to every part that is required for installation (even if you don't use all of them), both now and in the future. As your child grows, so may your home. What works in one space may require special hardware or those extra pieces you thought you would never use in another. One main challenge for a baby gate is the banister. Be sure to check the guidance on each product for how to work around them, or even try to use your gate at a safe angle, like the Cardinal Gates Stairway Special. There are also kits, like the Qdos Universal Stair Mounting Kit, designed to help you mount the gate against an irregular surface.

For those who are afraid of wall damage, there are products out there that can help. The Wall Nanny works great for pressure mounted baby gates. It works on almost all 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 measuring twice, and drilling in the place you are supposed to once (and not testing out four other spots). A final note: If you’re not handy, don’t sweat it, many people have installed a baby gate with no prior experience.

This model did not score as high as our winner for two main reasons. One, the limited opening (19-inches wide) has a threshold you must step over at the bottom of the gate. For contrast, the Cardinal Gates model opens fully (roughly the size of the gate itself). Two, we didn't love the handle mechanism, which is a “slide and lift,” taking extra effort to get through. This model was the only pressure mounted gate we brought in for testing. We knew it wouldn’t work at the top of the stairs, but it can be used at the bottom of the stairs. We found that even though this is one of the most popular models online, it just didn’t work all that well in practice. The gate felt flimsy, and even after lots of tweaking, it never got secure enough for our testers to be comfortable relying on it as a safety device.

Doesn't work at the top of the stairs

The Summer Infant Multi-use Extra Tall Walk Thru Gate has the longest name of any gate we tested. Other than that, it’s performance and installation was pretty average. While some parents commented on the height (36 inches) as a pro, others thought that it was awkward, especially when going up the stairs. Add in a slim opening (17.5-inches wide) and you have a fairly mediocre option that doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the category.

None that we could find

Retract a Gate is a great concept, and there may be future versions that complete the vision of an easy-to-use and retractable gate. We found that the gate was average in how it operated, but that the main attribute it lacked was a secure feel when in use. Reviewers online have commented about having dogs or cats that can get through the gate, whether it’s underneath of it or by ramming through it, so we worry about the durability of the material. We also thought that it could be possible for a child to get underneath the gate, especially if it wasn’t installed as intended. While future models may eliminate these hazards, we aren’t quite ready to give this one a recommendation.

Pets can reportedly bypass it

The EvenFlo Top of the Stairs Gate has an overly complicated installation that wasn’t as easy to follow as the other baby gates in this guide. The four-point adjustments that can be made to tilt or arc the placement add unnecessary complexity, and quite often you would have to go back and tweak a bolt. This model had more plastic on it than the other gates we tested, which in this model’s case felt like it could be a durability issue in the long run.

None that we could find

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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