You put up baby gates throughout the house to keep your newly mobile kiddo safe, but they could have the opposite effect. A 2014 study by the Nationwide Children?s Hospital in Ohio discovered nearly 1,800 little ones wind up in the emergency room every year because of baby gate-related injuries. These kids sustain everything from sprains and strains to traumatic brain injuries because gates collapse or are left open.
But that doesn?t mean you should give up on gates. ?Baby gates are essential safety devices for parents and caregivers, and they should continue to be used,? says Lara McKenzie, the study?s co-author and a researcher at the hospital?s Center for Injury Research and Policy. ?It is important, however, to make sure you are using a gate that meets the current safety standards and is the right type of gate for where you are planning to use it.?
To help avoid common mistakes, childproofing experts reveal their top dos and don?ts for safe and secure baby-gate installation.
DO: Get the right gate for the job

The top of the stairs is the most common area for parents to put up a gate. But this is no place for a pressure-mounted gate, which a child could push out of the way. The bar at the bottom of these gates is also a tripping hazard for parents and can cause severe injuries, says Yehudah Franken, owner of Babyproofers Ltd. in Toronto. Instead, he recommends a hardware-mounted gate. Sure, it requires putting a few small holes in the wall and ...