Babyproofing Stairway

They do make special gates with attachments that you attach to the banisters without drilling. The entire set w/ gate will run you about 180$

This is the gate we purchased for our home and we had one banister we did not want to drill into. The other side was a wall. Check this site out for the stairway gate. There is an attachment you buy seperately to attach the gate without drilling into your banister. It should show up on this website.

http://www.amazon.com/Safeway-Wall-Mount-Stairs-Gate/dp/B...

If not go here for the additional piece.

http://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Gate-Installation-Kit-KidC...

We love ours and it is very safe and secure! Our little guy will be 2 soon and he can be a bit rough with it but so far it is sturdy and safe!

Good luck!
B.

It depends on if you know someone who is very handy. We used the standard wooden gate that is really cheap. We then got 2x4's and foam to mount on each side of the staircase and drilled into the 2x4 instead of the banister. The foam that you can get to go around sharp tables from babies r us is used around the 2x4's so it doesn't look so bad... It is kind of hard for me to describe to you perfectly, but if you know an engineer they may be able to picture what I am trying to tell you....

kidco makes lots of gates.

also check the right start store

and there is a catalog.. I think it is also called right start??

we had a smiliar problem with our steps.. we gated the hallway before the steps. Maybe you can do that too.

Also we left the gate up for about a month .. and then took it down because my baby was afraid of the steps so she didnt go near them.

so you may not need to gate. as long as your baby is not adventurous..

We encased our spindle with a box-like structure (4 1x6 boards) and then added a two-piece cap that fit around the smaller, upper part of the spindle. It was stained to match, looked good and there was no way for it to fall apart.

You will need to drill into the wood...for your baby's sake. We had the same problem...extra wide staircase with wood spindles on both side. Found a great gate (Parents' brand...found it at Target!) and it was wonderful. Yes, we had to drill a few small holes into the wood, but that gate was safe and it was the only one that would work. Good luck.

Here's what you do. You buy a swing gate for the top of the stairs. Then you buy two planks of wood (stain to match if you like) and attach the gate to the two pieces of wood (instead of to the spindles of your staircase). Then you use zipties to attach the wood to the spindles of your staircase. It doesn't sound like it would be, but it is very sturdy. My 3 year shakes it and has even stood on it.

kidco makes a kit that you can use to attach to the staircase ...babies r us sells it
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2967825

We had the same problem. We had to buy these attachments that fit around the spindles to make them flush. They are sold at Babies R Us but they are very expensive. One kit cost (if I remember 40 bucks) and that is for one side only! It worked though and that's what matters most. Here's a link: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2967825

Hi K.,

I see you allready have plenty of responses, but I thought I would put in my two cents..lol I agree with buying the kit or boxing in. Your baby's safety is number one priority and it will be well worth it. Especially as the baby starts walking and starts getting quicker, because let me tell you they do:) You will just have a piece of mind by doing it the right way and having to spend some money. Good luck!

S. S.

K.,

You've had alot of great suggestions already. We used a large opening pressure gate that would extend at different lengths allowing us to safely secure the gate against the newel post of the railing.

Since we were uncomfortable with the spacing between the railing we had a piece of plexiglass cut to fit the opening. To install it we placed a few nails in front (but not nailed in completely). You could also secure it with a shoe molding or 1/4 round molding.

C.

Hi K.---I can't really comment on the problem of a gate for stairs without walls or spindles to use to attach it to. BUT, I might have a fun activity for you and your daughter to do that would help her learn how to use the stairs!

When my first was a baby, we lived in an apartment on the third floor. We used to sit outside of the apartment about the time that my husband would get home from work so we could see the parking lot and be waiting for him when he got home. Of course, the stairs became a great source of interest for her. So we would spend the time waiting for dad, Amanda wanting to crawl up the flight of stairs. After 2 or 3 stairs, I would start pulling her back down. I would grab her legs and pull her backwards, legs first. After doing that for 2-4 steps at a time, I would let her crawl all the way to the top landing. Of course, at first she would turn around and want to go face first back down. Then I would say things like, dangerous, or no-no to her and then turn her around to go down backwards, again pulling the legs and feet until she got started. It didn't take her very long to learn how to back down stairs.

Obviously, we still needed a gate when we moved to a house with stairs, until we were confident that the kids were consistent in crawling backwards on them, but I believe that we were able to remove the gate sooner because we played the 'game' of crawling up and being pulled down the stairs when they were learning to move around on their own.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions about the little 'game' we played with our 3 kids. We had great fun and it's always good to have more interactive time with the babies.

Good luck. D. ###-###-####

We ended up drilling the gate into the spindles b/c all of the gates we tried were not safe. We bought our swing gate at Babies R Us that is made for larger openings. It wasn't cheap but well worth it.

We boxed in our spindles with two 1x6s (stained to match) and bolted them together. Then attached the swing gate to the 1x6. We saw the kits, too, but they were pretty expensive.