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Toddlers and babies can cause some real worry and ruckus for parents when they start moving around. Until your baby is still in their seat, the pram, or on the mat, they are these adorable and cute little creatures. However, once your baby gets to crawl and move around, things take a drastic U-turn. A baby, naturally, will try to reach every corner of the house, touch every wall, crawl every surface, and will basically be all over your house. Though this stands essential for baby’s growth, it could also get rather unsafe because movies, literally, move around mindlessly. They might collide into walls and can also go beyond boundaries they should not cross.
To avoid circumstances like this, it is essential for all parents to use baby gates. Baby safety gates are of two kinds, baby gates for stairways – that restrict baby’s movement and keeps them from venturing to the infamous staircases; and baby’s gates for doorways that can be installed in potentially dangerous areas like the kitchen, bathroom, and the main entrance of the house. We have curated a comprehensive list of the best baby gates for stairs in another blog post on our website, however, here, we will be talking about the best baby gate for doorways in this post.
While picking a baby gate for you, the primary features that should be considered are a) sturdiness of the gate, b)one-handed opening, c) doorway width, d) finger pinching, e) ease of installation, f)safety standards g)flexibility. Now, for a fact, there are tons of baby gates out there to pick from and it might get rather confusing for new parents to pick the right baby gate.
To Make Your Job Easier, Here Is A List Of The Top Recommended Best Baby Gates For Doorways!
1. Toddleroo by North States Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
One of the top-rated gates of on the United States, the Toddleroo Baby Gate by North States is priced at a decent 5$ and is a tension gate, which means, it saves you the trouble of installation and assembly. You just buy the gate and it squeezes itself into your doorway for the perfect fit- just like that! This baby gate for doorways comes with wall cups that secure the tension arm in place and keeps the baby from slipping when they push or pull the gate. For the wall cups, you can either screw them into the wall or you could even just use a double-sided tape.
This gate is NOT RECOMMENDED for stairs because it comes with a 2” tall threshold at the bottom which can cause some serious tripping accidents. Sturdy in structure, this baby gate also features a locking mechanism in two settings – for one, the gate can be unlocked by just lifting it to open it; or for even more enhanced safety, option two needs you to twist the lock to open it. Whichever option you use for unlocking, we are sure a little baby cannot possibly do either on its own. This gate shuts off automatically and it swings both the ways. Ideal for doorways between 31″ to 38″ wide, it stands 29” in height and is available in white and bronze colors.
2. Regalo 192-inch Super Wide Gate and Play Yard: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
Priced higher than the Toddleroo gate, this one stands at about 90$ but it also fits doorways as wide as even 192 inches! For installation, this door can be customized for use as it comes with eight independent detachable gate sections. You can set up the gates side by side, you could make a huge gateway in the living area or you could even just use it to set up a huge play yard for the baby inside the house. When first looked at, this baby gate might overwhelm you a little as it is SO HUGE and comes with so many parts. However, at one closer look, you would realize that it is rather simple to install. It stands up on its own, so you can actually just make a few markings on the wall and set it up wherever you want to.
The best part about the gate is that on top of each joint, the place where two gate sections meet, it has a tightening knob that can tweak the gate in your desired shape and position.
What makes it even safe for babies (though a little difficult for parents) is the fact that this door needs two hands to open it. Besides, the door is not spring-loaded, which means, it does not shut off automatically, but it does have a step-over bar on the bottom that makes it rigid even when open. Once you figure out how to set this one up and your way around it, this can really double up as a versatile gate and can be used for various configurations around the house, not limiting it to just a baby gate!
3. Summer Infant Multi-Use Deco Extra Tall Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
At a medium price range of 65$, this baby gate stands 36″ tall at the peak which makes it rather impossible for your little one to climb over it. However, it could be a downside for lazy parents who like to step over gates to make way for themselves instead of opening the gate every single time. This gate shuts and locks automatically which is a really great feature in terms of safety, but then again, the problem is that it uses a stop bracket to serve this purpose. The stop bracket can sometimes snag your pants when you pass, hence, it becomes necessary for parents to be rather cautious with this gate. At about 17” wide, the summer infant baby gate is tension-mounted but can also be mounted for use. It is very sensitive to the tension and if you overdo the tension, it might squeeze the opening too narrow and the gate will not shut.
This gate is marketed as a good fit for doorways as well as the bottom of the stairs because it allows you to choose if you are using a tension-fit (for doorways) or mounted (for stairs) option. But then again, this gate is recommended more for doorways and not the stairs since it has a bar across its bottom which can be hazardous if installed at the stairs.
4. DreamBaby Chelsea Extra Tall Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
Very similar to the Summer Infant baby gate spoken of at #3, this one is an extra tall tension gate that features a 2” threshold at the bottom edge. Made in sturdy construction, it is priced at about 90$ and comes with a child-proofing lock mechanism, can be opened with one hand, swing in either direction and also shuts off automatically! About 18 inches in width, it comes included with extensions for the right fit in doorways larger than 31” – but the extensions are included ONLY if you buy it off Amazon. Extra-wide and tall, this gate can fit doorways as narrow as 38” and even as wide as 70” which makes it supremely versatile.
The problem, however, is that this baby gate lacks a hold-open feature to keep it open at 90 degrees, and including this could have really taken this gate to the next level. Besides, some reviews on the web also point out how the locking mechanism, in some cases, stopped working in a couple of months.
5. Lemka Walk Thru Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
This high-quality, pressure mount gate, the Lemka Walk Thru Baby Gate is so ideal and divine for doorways and between rooms! At about 60$ in price, this baby gate is about 31 inches in width and can fit passages between 31” and 47” with ease. For its working, it relies on telescopic screw rods that need to be pressure mounted into the (included) wall cups. The wall cups are recommended to be screwed on the walls for maximum security. Installable and ready for use in under 15 minutes, this baby gate is made in pretty decent quality in terms of the quality of the screws, mounting rods, hinges, and the overall locking mechanism. Unlike a lot others, this one can open wide – even beyond 90 degrees and it is also very easy to reverse the swing direction which makes the swing customizable as per your needs. The locking mechanism can be opened with one hand, however you will need to push forward on the thumb latch and also pull up at the same time. This feature works exceptionally well around curious toddlers who want to know the science behind everything they get their hands on! The gate is painted in a lead-free and non-toxic paint.
6. Munchkin Loft Aluminum Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
Rather steep in price than any other baby gate on the list, this one is priced at a whopping 180$ and has only lately started to gain some serious popularity in the market. One of the most obvious factors that drives parents to buy this baby gate is the fact that it is engineered in a sleek design, almost like it is built to ensure your house looks non-cluttered and fancy so to say. With really wide and big bars and aluminum build, the gate stands pretty heavy and is also really sturdy. A hardware-mount baby gate, this comes without the option of tension-fit and doesn’t have a bottom step-over bar. The lack of a bottom step over-bar might make you want to use it at the bottom of the stairs, however, we recommend against it as the door of the baby gate can swing both ways. Especially if you install it at the top of the stairs the both-way swing can be rather hazardous for the baby as their curious mind might want them to push and lean on a gate, perhaps, eventually also succeeding in opening the latch.
The commendable features of this baby gate include a) the mounting hardware is a long, vertical piece with multiple screw holes, which makes it really sturdy when attached to the wall. B) Making it even sturdier is the fact that when attaching the gate to the hardware you need to slide the entire gate down into the wall mount. C) After you’ve once adjusted the width of the gate during your initial installation, this gate further allows you to fine-tune it with its built-in “Integrated Tuning System.” This system lets you adjust how much the wall mount sticks out, to fill any tiny gaps during installation.
The gate can accommodate openings between 26.5 to 40 inches in width and stands at about 31 inches in height. The gate can be opened and closed with hardly any effort. Its locking mechanism needs you to grip and squeeze the lock with one hand- making it impossible for babies and toddler to be able to open it. The brushed aluminum, on top of everything else really amps up the aesthetics of your house! The only downside, however, all said and done, is the exuberant steep price of this baby gate. Also, the installation might take some more of your time and brain space than other gates on the list. You need to ensure that you are absolutely bang-on with its installation, otherwise, the gate might not lock shut properly.
7. Munchkin Easy Close Metal Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
Much cheaper, at 50$, in comparison to the munchkin gate at #6, this one positively reviewed by parents but not as well as some other baby gates on the list like the North States or DreamBaby gates. A tension gate with a 2” threshold at the bottom, the locking-mechanism of this gate is what is supposed to be exceptionally outstanding as per the reviews of many parents. The gate, however, lacks an auto-shut feature and also gets rather irritating overtime to push close. At times, when you have only one hand at your service, you might want to swing it to close it, but that also doesn’t work very well as it needs you to manually open the lock mechanism in order to latch-shut it. Even for mounting, it requires some outward pressure for mounting which restricts it to be mounted only on solid doorway frames. It fits doorways even as narrow as just 29.5 inches in width, though can be also used on doorways up to 35” with extensions (one included).
8. Regalo Easy Step Walk-thru Baby Gate: Best Baby Gates for Doorways
At a price point of just 35$, this happens to be one of the top-selling baby gates in the market. It works on pressure-mounting against walls and it can easily fit openings between 29-39 inches in width. For a larger opening, you might need to use extensions or you can just buy the wider variant that includes extensions for up to 50” applications. Wide-enough to section a part of the room, this baby gate uses a lever-lock mechanism that requires both of your hands as it needs to be pulled back and lifted up simultaneously. The opening can also prove to be rather narrow for broader parents to pass by. The gate swings only one way and it cannot be reversed and it also works on manual locking which can get a little annoying for parents over time.
Another point-worthy feature here is that its height might prove to be short for taller babies as they could tend to monkey on it and eventually hurt themselves. The taller version of this gate can be bought for parents with taller babies. The brand markets it as a gate that can be used at the top of stairs, but again, since it features a potentially hazardous step-over rail at the bottom of the gate, this might not be a very good idea.
These were the top 8 best baby gates for doorways specially picked by Parenthood bliss. However, if you’re looking for a baby gate for stairs, we have a list for that too! Check them out.
Final Thoughts-
The day your baby starts crawling and moving around the house, you will start looking at your house in a different view altogether. It will start to instantaneously look extremely dangerous and it might be baffling how you never noticed it before! In order to avoid your baby from getting hurt, it is imperative for parents to buy a baby gate. Whichever doorway baby gate you pick from this list or otherwise, from elsewhere, we hope your baby transitions hurt-less from the cute muffin phase to the walking-around monkey phase!
