How To Keep a Toddler Out of an Accordion-Style Door

Lock or latch the accordion-style door if possible. These doors are handy for closets and for separating parts of a room, but they can easily turn into toys or allow toddlers into areas they should not be when they are left unlocked. When the door is latched, the child should not be able to break through. Search for a door that has a lock or latch high enough so the toddler’s hands cannot reach the latching system.

Use a long baby gate designed for long doorways or fireplaces if the child refuses to leave the accordion door alone. This is helpful for wide accordion doors that cannot easily be blocked by a typical baby gate. Some longer baby gates are meant to go around an entire hearth, so this type of gate will easily go across an accordion door and still let adults easily pass. Other gates are available that are as wide as 12 feet and can separate entire rooms, so you can place one in front of your accordion-style door.

Install a hardware or pressure-mounted gate in front of the accordion-style door that is the width of a typical doorway or smaller. In the accordion-style door’s entryway, there should still be some hard wall in which to install a typical baby gate. A pressure-mounted gate is easier to install and more portable, and you can move it without damage to walls after the toddler no longer needs to stay away from the door. A hardware-mounted door requires drilling into the wall, but is sturdier.