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Baby Fireplace Safety Gates - Child and Toddler Hearth Safety Guards and Fences

Updated on June 1, 2014

There is nothing better than a roaring fire blazing in your hearth to take the chill out of those cold winter months. Those flickering flames offer the kind of heart warming glow which no other form of in-home heating can recreate. An indoor fire is more than just a heat source, it's romantic and adds an unmatched ambience to any room.

If you have a toddler in the house or young children come to visit often then your hearth can quickly become the kind of hazard no parent wants their children exposed too. A lit indoor fire presents a burn hazard for toddlers and even unlit, you don't want the kind of mess which can ensue from a child playing around with the soot and ash. A raised hearth presents sharp corners which can be dangerous all year round so protecting against head injuries is a must also.

A toddler fireplace gate or baby fence for the hearth puts a protective barrier between your child and the potential bump and burn injuries a lit fireplace or its hard hearth can cause. This type of child safety barrier fence keeps your toddler or crawling baby at a safe distance from the burn hazard but provides a gateway through which adults can pass when they need to tend the fire. They are also regularly used to prevent children from touching other home hazards as well, like a wood burning stove, hot radiator heater or to prevent access to areas of the house you would rather keep unmolested by a toddler's sticky hands like that new $2000 flat screen TV you bought.

In essence, fireplace safety gates are a longer, more versatile version of the stair gates many readers have no doubt used or seen in use around the home to prevent pets or children from ascending or descending a staircase unsupervised. Freestanding stairgates and pressure mounted door gates block access through those portals to corral a child into safe zones whilst an extendable child safety fence like those you would use for child proofing a fireplace make a much larger barrier around dangerous areas.

A baby fireplace safety gate entends around the length of the hearth in an arc typically mounting onto the wall on either side. As this can quite a wide area to cover, toddler hearth safety fences come in much longer lengths and many of the best brands are extendable and allow you to buy additional extension pieces to fully cover the area.

Which are the best fireplace hearth safety gates for toddlers and yound children? The following selection are all top rated brands with high customer satisfaction ratings so you can be sure of buying the best one for your requirements.

Kidco 24" Hearth Gate Extension
Kidco 24" Hearth Gate Extension
This is the extension panel for the KidCo Heartgate above. It extends the 5 panel adjustable infant heart gate to provide additional protection over a larger area.
 

Another Excellent Choice of Child Safety Gate

Toddleroo by North States 3 in 1 Metal Superyard 6 Panel Play Yard, Baby Gate, Playpen or Extra Wide Baby Fence, 151" Wide. Wall Mount Kit Included. 10 sq ft play yard (30" tall, Taupe)
Toddleroo by North States 3 in 1 Metal Superyard 6 Panel Play Yard, Baby Gate, Playpen or Extra Wide Baby Fence, 151" Wide. Wall Mount Kit Included. 10 sq ft play yard (30" tall, Taupe)
This fireplace safety fence and indoor / outdoor child playpen comes complete with six sturdy metal panels and all hardware and fixtures to ensure easy assembly and use. The flexible design which is comprised of 6 interlocking hinged fence panels with a child-proof double-locking gate makes it perfect for multiple uses around the home where a child's safety may be at risk. Sturdiness is important to prevent children tipping over the child safety fence but you also want portability too or it's going to be a pain to move into position. At 42 pounds this metal infant safety gate is sturdy enough to offer great stability but suitably lightweight to be moved from location to location easily by an adult. It is suitable to be located on tile, hardwood or carpeted flooring. Rubber feet prevent the metal from scratching up a wood floor or scuffing tiles. You an use it as a play yard (see the pictures below) which provides around 10 square feet in enclosed space which can be extended to 19 feet with the purchase of the available extension kit or it can be used as an infant safety barricade to block off dangerous and out of bounds areas of your home like a fireplace or pellet burning stove. At 144 inches this wide fireplace safety gate for toddlers is great value at this price and the extension kit allows you to increase the width further still. Storage is important too and thankfully this folding safety gate folds up neatly when you are done with it ready to be stored without taking up loads of space. The versatility of this childproof safety barrier for fireplaces and more makes it a great purchase for anyone with young children. It works both inside and outside the home where you can use it for putting a childproof fence around a firepit, barbecue or for blocking off potentially hazardous parts of your garden.
 
Toddleroo by North States 2 Panel Extension for 3 in 1 Metal Superyard: Adds up to 48" for an extra wide baby gate or play yard (48" width, Taupe)
Toddleroo by North States 2 Panel Extension for 3 in 1 Metal Superyard: Adds up to 48" for an extra wide baby gate or play yard (48" width, Taupe)
This kit contains two extra panels for the North States 3 in 1 Metal Gate above. Each panel is 24 inches wide which extends the overall covered area to 19 square feet when used as a play pen or by an extra 48 inches in addition to the 144 inch wide original setup.
 

Why Buy A Toddler Hearth Gate For Your Fireplace?

Statistics show the number of children suffering burn injuries increase during the winter months as more people turn on their various heat sources. Children 2 and under tend to be admitted most often with burns to their hands and wrists either from scalding water or from touching hot objects like a wood burning stove, the glass fireplace door, a hot water tank or an open fire. Older children tend suffer burn directly from fire, often from playing with it. National statistics estimate up to 50% of all the 2 million burns which occur in the United States each year are preventable and a vast number aren't even reported which makes the approximate 2 million reported burns yearly even more troubling.

A glass fireplace screen or a door to an enclosed fire or pellet stove may provide protection against the flames themselves but they get incredibly hot as well and those flickering flames are very attractive to young hands and minds. The only real way to make a fireplace safe for a child to play around is to completely fence it off with a fireplace safety gate.

Baby Gates For Fireplaces Important Considerations

When choosing a child safety gate for a fireplace there are several things you should take into consideration. As this is a larger area to cover and there is the additional concern about heat damage it isn't wise to go with a product which isn't meant for the task and improvising is never a smart idea when it comes to the safety of your child.

The first important thing to look for is sturdiness and stability. There are numerous cheap child safety gates on the market which can be picked up in all the usual places you'll find low cost products like Walmart and Target and these have their place in the world. When it comes to preventing a child from accessing and touching a wood burning stove or fireplace you don't want to take chances and those cheap, somewhat flimsy models are just not cut out for the the job.

A fireplace baby gate should be metal and it should provide a means to mount it securely to a wall either side of the hearth in order to prevent tipping. It should also mount flush against the wall in order to stop a toddler finding their way around it.

One important thing parents often overlook is the material used to coat the hearth baby guard. You want something which will fit in with your home's décor as it is going to be a permanent fixture for a while but also something which is both flame and fire retardent and is non-toxic if you have a child who is liable to chew on it.

The length of a fireplace hearth gate for children is important but perhaps not so much as the ability to extend it easily should the need arise. Extra wide safety gates for children will be required if you have a particularly wide hearth or have a wider area you wish to protect and many of the best baby hearth guards have additional extension panels you can buy to increase their width.

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