My husband and I are searching and searching for the right gate to install and to be homest I am overwhelmed at the different ones on the market. I have gone by what Consumer Reports have listed but I am not too crazy about the gates that have a bar running across the bottom, I consider that a trip factor when it is at the top of a stairwell that is heavily travelled. We also have one of those landings in our bonus room where the top stair kind of doglegs to the right and there is no wall. We would have to build out an extension in order to attach the gate. Anyhow any suggestions or types of gates that individuals have had success with would be appreciated. I am really tired of looking.
Mom's, thank you for all your suggestions. My husband and I went with the Evenflo top of stair gate for one of the stairways and it is working great. We did have to do some modifications to the trim work but other than that it seems fine. We still have to build a wall out in the bonus room for the top of the stairs in order to attach a gate there but we are working on it. Still going to install the same type gate.. I love that I can come out here and get all sorts of advise and suggestions. Even seeing what other mom's are asking may be a question that I needed answers to. Again thank you very much.
I just bought and installed the Safety First Smart Light Gate. We really love it. It was easy to install and if opens and closes easy but hard enough that a child will not be able to open it.
R.,
We recently moved to TN and the gates that we had in our old house didn't work in our new one. We had one of the extra tall pressure mounted ones (with the bar across the bottom). These were super easy to install, but didn't fit. I purchased three different ones (yah, there were a lot of holes in our new house) until I found one that worked. I'm not sure if it will work for your set up. Check out the Evenflo Secure Step Metal Gate from BabiesRUs. It is SUPER easy to install (and trust me, I tried 3 different ones in one day). The box says 10-minute install...and it was. Little hands shouldn't be able to open it anytime soon. At the bottom of our stairs we have Kidco Safeway Gate - 30-1/2" (also from babiesrus). It has adjustable top and bototom depths so if you have baseboard at the bottom but not the top it will work. The drawback to this one is that it is pretty easy to open...so I wouldn't recommend it for top of stairs. But, it does extend out to 42 inches
Hope this helps
-L.-
I have three little ones and the gate we use at the top of the stairs is an Evenflo top of the stairs gate (you may even stain the wood to match your decor) that goes into the wall/stair banister. If do not wish to put holes in your banister for mounting and/or the section of wall is not sturdy enough at onestepahead.com you can purchase a gate installation kit. The gate and kit has worked well for us (it also kept our dogs from going upstairs and vice versa when needed).
Good luck - I'm anxious to read some of the suggestions since we have some of the same issues.
Hi R....
Forego the gate and you'll be happy you saved your wall! We have never gated our steps at either house and have four kids. Will not gate for the new one, either. I do want to gate them out of the kitchen, though, lol!!! It may be a little more active for a short while, but my first was doing steps, up and down, very well at 10 months old. The gate only brings more attention to the steps and makes them more of a interest and challenge, they will try to climb over to get to what they want, down or up!
Hope I have helped, there are better and safer ways to "baby-proof" with no tools required!
The gate we used was wooden. The whole gate swung out so that there was no bar at the bottom to trip over. It is made by Evenflo and is called the secure solutions wide gate model 1150. Hope this helps.
Hey R.
You would have a lot better luck, looking in baby stores, vs walmart and the like. there are some gates that have their hooks which go into the wall or door and the gate can be removed and used when needed. for a bigger area or door way, the older fashion acordian style works good. and if you have the money for a special made, any talented carpenter can whip up something that looks and well good. Then you have complete choice of style and color.
hope this helps
have a great week
M. s
The best gate for stairs as well as rooms are the First Years. It is the ones that has the foot petal and you press with your knee and it opens from both sides. I love it!!!
Hope that helps, T. D
