Gates - Minneapolis,MN

I would recommend a gate at both the top and bottom of the stairs. As soon as they can stand upright, they seem to want to crawl upstairs! I don't know the brand name of our bottom-of-the-stair gate, but we got it at Babies 'R Us, and it's one of those which you can configure to different shapes by adding on sections. The gate we had at the top of the stairs (now on our daughter's bedroom) is a step-on, pressure mounted gate, also bought at Babies 'R Us. We've never had any problems with it, however, I was told by a safety expert that pressure-mounted gates are not the safest because they can fall.

With our son, now age 4, we never put a gate on his bedroom door because ours was right next door and we wanted him to be able to come into our room if he needed us. However, with our 20-month-old (much more active) daughter, we put a gate on her bedroom door to keep our son and cat out when she was a tiny baby, and now we use it to keep her in when we need a second without having to chase her around, or to separate her and her brother when needed.

Hope that helps!

We use the Evenflo Top of Stairs gate in our multi-level home: http://www.target.com/Evenflo-Top-of-Stair-Gate/dp/B00004...
It's not quite as convenient as the hands-free ones but they have high customer ratings and are very safe, affordable, easy to install, and you can lift the entire thing out if you need to remove it quickly. Some things we like are the nice wide opening it makes (we tried a different kind that only left a narrow opening which made it tricky to go through if you were carrying anything) and the latch is easy enough for adults and older children to open (if you show them how) but impossible for little ones.
DEFINITELY USE THEM AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS as well as the top. Good luck!

Get one and use it! My son rolled down the stairs at 6 months old, and I had left him about a yard away from the stairs and only turned my back for a moment! Those little buggers start moving before you know it!

We also have a rambler with the master downstairs and my son's room upstairs. We put a swinging gate at the top of the stairs, which has worked really well. I'm not sure if the bars are far enough apart for a cat to get through it or not. We considered putting a gate at the bottom also, but we never did. When he started to walk, we found that he didn't want to go up the stairs without us anyway. I don't know whether it was because of us training him or because he was just scared, but he would always stop at the bottom of the stairs and wait for us. Now that he is 18 months old, he will go up the stairs without us if we're not watching him, but I trust his abilities enough that I'm pretty sure he won't fall down. We still do fasten the gate at the top when he's upstairs though.
We got the gate at Babies R Us--it mounts permanently onto the wall and swings open with a latch on the top of the gate that is easy enough to do one-handed, but too stiff for a kid to squeeze.

I keep a gate at the bottom of our stairs and will soon install one at the top as well, although I never got the one at the top with my older son. We spend most of our time on the first floor, so keeping them off the stairs is most important to me. My (now nearly 3) son fell down our stairs when he was about 17 or 18 months. He was completely capable of going up and down on his own, but he foot got stuck in his pant leg and he slipped. He ended up with a broken arm and it was horrible. Just something to think about. I had thought he was totally fine to go up and down on his own, but you really need to watch them or help them until they are older. I had run up to use our bathroom (I was 8 months pg at that time - and tired of going over the gate all the time so I had taken it down).

I have 3 inexpensive pressure mounted gates that I keep in various places in our home... one at the back door (to keep the baby away from the basement stairs and to prevent our preschooler from opening the basement door for him) and to keep him away from trash and stuff. I also keep one at the bottom of our stairs, and when we are upstairs, I keep on on the boys room to keep them from going back down the stairs.

Good luck!
J.
SAHM to Charlie and Joey (2 1/2 and 1)

S.,

If you plan to have more kids, I would recommend one that has a push button remote release. You put a battery in the remote, place it however high you want on the wall, and push it to release the gate remotely. It gives you about 2-3 seconds before it locks again.

I loved this because my big kids could let themselves up and down the stairs without my help, but the baby was kept safe. Otherwise, I would constantly be letting kids through the gate or they would try and climb over it. The only downfall is that you have to replace or recharge batteries.

I found the gate at Babies R Us.

S.

We have 3 gates in our split level house. Until our son was safe on stairs, I appreciated having one at the bottom of the stairs as well as the top to prevent him going up. I swear they are drawn to stairs like a magnet. I would wait until big bed time to see if you think you need one. The kids are all so different.

We bought 2 Safety 1st Smartlight Stair Gates at BabiesRUs sptroes and they have been excellent. They go into the wall or bannisters and are extremely safe and sturdy. We have actually never put in batteries to use the smartlight part of it, so I do not know how that is. I just love the handle and ease of use. Here's the link:http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265785

We also have a cheaper wood one for a less used staircase, but the opening/closing of it is difficult and drives me nuts. I've found spending the money on a good gate is well worth it.

We used a Kidco Model 20 gate at our old house. DO NOT use a pressure gate at the top of the stairs. I would recommend putting a gate at the top and bottom of the stairs.

I am in the same dilema, however we have a wide staircase at the top and the railing is angled, so we are very very limited.

Good Luck!!

We have them at the top and bottom of all stairs. It just added the extra comfort level we liked. We REALLY like our "The First Years: Hands-Free Gate" and 3 of our 4 gates are that model. It is a foot activated gate and really nice for adults and especially when carrying little ones or stuff around.
Good luck.
D.

I have First Years Hands Free Gate, and it is 49.99 at Babies R Us. I love it! You step on the release to open (hard enough that kids can't do it)...it's stong for top of stairs...firm click into place, so I know it's shut...etc.

I use Saftey 1st gates they attach to your wall on one side with 4 screws and swing back and fourth when you lift the handle. THey fit like every doorway and I love it. There is no jumping over gates( excpecially on stairs bad idea). They are pretty inexpensive and are much better then the wooden gates you have to put up and take down everytime you want to go threw. Yes put gates at the top and bottom because if you dont he will crawl up the stairs and fall down them. I also have a gate on my sons doorway because he is two and has a toddler bed he can get out of and even though are house is child proof I don't want him up when I'm not.

Yes put a gate at the bottom of the stairs. My mother in law has one that bolts to the wall that has bars so her cats can go thru, I used evenflo at my apartment but there aare alot of good brands out there so go with what works for you. :)