The 5 Best Baby Gates, According to Real Moms

With nearly 14,500 reviews on Amazon—the bulk of which give it five stars—this pressure-mounted gate is known for being easy to install (in roughly ten minutes, one person said). Because this style gate works like a tension rod, you don’t have to put any holes in your walls, and a Dallas mom raved that after two years of daily use, it hasn’t budged an inch.

What’s most impressive to us, though, is its open-and-close latch: There’s no fumbling to open it, yet its two-step process is just complicated enough that toddlers can’t easily master it. Or force it open by sheer willpower.

Don’t let the fact that this gate needs to be screwed into the walls intimidate you—it’s a necessity for styles that block off stairs to help ensure that kids can’t knock them loose by slamming into them. A paper measuring tape comes with the kit, making it easy to drill holes in exactly the right spots, and the steel frame means it doesn’t warp easily. “That safety doesn’t come at the cost of aesthetics—these white metal gates fit right in with our Scandi-style home vibes,” one New York City mom told us. “The open/close takes a little getting used to, but I appreciate that there is no way in hell that any baby, toddler or child will be able to bust out.”

$51 AT AMAZON

If metal gates aren’t your thing, try this oak style. It’s got more of a rustic vibe, but what moms really love about it is the comfort-grip handle that allows you to open and close the gate with just one hand (while also passing the toddler-can’t-easily-unlatch-it test). It’s designed for use in doorways and stairways, and it comes with screws so it can be installed on the walls, making it extra secure.

You loved your open floor plan…until your baby started crawling. Then, suddenly, cordoning off a portion of the room seemed impossible—and so did retaining your sanity, as you chased the baby all over the place. That’s where this extra-wide gate is a lifesaver. “You can position it however you want,” said one Brooklyn-based mom, who linked two together, forming an L-shape gate to partition off her living room. “It’s study, secure and, dare I say, a bit chic?” She loves that it isn’t bulky; her son loves playing peekaboo through the mesh. Win-win.

Summer’s line of baby gates came up several times when we talked to moms, but this one earned a spot on our list because it checked off several boxes at once. It can be drilled in (great for stairways), but there’s also a no-drill installation method for doorways. Extensions allow it to block pathways as wide as 60 inches, and there’s an auto-close feature to gently close the door behind you. Plus, that slate gray and honey oak combo? Ooh, baby.