How to Buy Child Safety Gates

Child safety gates are one of those inventions that makes parents' lives around the world just a little bit easier. But with the variety of choices on the market, a parent must decide what baby gate is best for their child.

Instructions

1. Determine how you will use the child safety gate you're considering. Perhaps it is going to be used as a deterrent to steer a child in another direction, or perhaps it guards the top of the basement stairs and is critical to the well-being of your child.

2. Decide how many child safety gates you need to make your home safe for your kids and pets.

3. Shop for specific styles of child safety gates at your local super store. Pressure gates that are snugly wedged in a door frame will create a deterrent to your child without being a permanent fixture in your home. Gates to provide protection can be attached to openings of almost any size with bolts to make it impossible for children to get through.

4. Measure the spaces in the openings of gates to insure that babies, toddlers and pets can not climb them or get stuck in them. Traditional gates that open to create wide diamond shapes are not safe for use and should be dismantled to prevent accidental suffocation.

5. Consider how often the adults in the household will need to pass through the doorway you're gating off. If it's used regularly, consider a gate that adults can open but children can not.

6. Review the brand and style of child safety gate you're considering on the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website to make sure it's not been recalled or poses any threat to the children in your care.