Best Baby Gates of 2026
Keep your curious baby or toddler safe with gates that excelled in our tests for security
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Baby gates can cordon off a room or area in your home to help keep your child safe. For a baby gate to work well, it should be easy for an adult to open, but difficult for a toddler to unlatch. It should also withstand significant pulling so that it doesn’t become uninstalled every time your little one yanks on it.
In our labs, we’ve spent several weeks putting 28 baby gates through rigorous testing, including pulling on each baby gate with up to 100 pounds of force. While we found that hardware-mounted gates are the strongest, our baby gate buying guide can help you find the safety gate that fits your specific needs and space, whether you’re using a gate at the top of the stairs, to block the bottom step, or to close off a hallway.
Best Hardware-Mounted Baby Gates
Hardware-mounted baby gates are bolted or screwed into doorway woodwork or wall framing. This type of safety gate is ideal anywhere there’s a fall risk, such as at the top of stairs.
All of the hardware-mounted gates we’ve tested have earned our CR Recommended mark, performing well in our lab tests and impressing our expert testers with their security, convenience, and ease of installation. See the full list of safety gates we recommend.
