A wonderful design
Pros:
Sturdy, attractive
Cons:
Cost (though how much does safety cost?)
The Bottom Line:
A safety gate that has a great design, good for stairs, and hard for toddlers to figure out.
|
|
Overall Rating:
|
 |
|
Author's Review
We moved into a split level house a year ago where the main living areas are on an upper level. When we moved in our son wasn't even crawling yet, but we knew we had to get the stairs covered!
I did a lot of Internet research to find what kind of gates are available and what would be safe at the top of stairs. I found that you should only use a gate that attaches to the walls at the top of the stairs (spring-loaded gates could topple if the child where to fall against the gate). Yes, we will have screw holes in the wall, but how hard is that to patch?
Our biggest problem was that we had a wall on one side and a wrought iron railing on the other. We solved that installation problem with a length of 2x4 wood (we attached the 2x4 to the railing with pipe brackets and bolted the gate to the wood). It has held up wonderfully for over a year now.
Our son has no clue how to open the gate ... and we normally have to show visitors! The design is climb proof, but not swing proof so be careful if it's hanging open and the kid is around!
Installation is not difficult, if you following the instructions carefully. You have to use templates to get the screws in the right places so it hangs properly, we got it right the first time, so it's not too bad!
We have our gate set up so it swings only one way (not over the stairs), but I think it's also sold with a bracket that allows it to swing both ways (if you were using it in a hallway or other non-stair opening).
I think the $60 we spent on this was well worth it, it seems like it will hold up through all of our kids without a problem. The styling doesn't scream 'baby in the house!', (though the pile of toys on the floor does) so I think this would be good in other situations where safety at the top of stairs could be an issue (for sleep walkers?).
There is one issue that deserves mentioning, though doesn't reduce my rating. How this gate works is that there are two posts (top and bottom) that slide into latches attached to the wall. I have found that the top post is face level to toddlers, so care must be used when swinging the gate open or shut that there isn't a face in the way!
