Baby safety gates may not always be safe, study finds
| CHICAGO
Baby聽gates聽meant to protect young children aren't always as safe as parents think. A new study says nearly 2,000 U.S. kids get emergency room treatment each year from injuries resulting from falling through or climbing on these聽gates.
Most injuries weren't serious. But the researchers say parents should know about precautions. That includes using boltedgates, not pressure-mounted ones, at the top of the stairs.
Researcher Lara McKenzie and colleagues at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, examined data on kids up to age 6.
The number injured on聽gates聽more than tripled over 20 years. These cases climbed from about 4 per 100,000 children in 1990 to almost 13 per 100,000 in 2010.
The study was published online Monday in the journal Academic Pediatrics.
