Kidco Safeway Gate: The BEST Child Safety Gate on the Market

We live in a two-story home, and knew that we were going to need a good gate to keep our kids safe upstairs. The kid's bedroom door opens right at the head of the stairs, and a single mis-step by a sleepy child... or one that got out of the crib... could spell disaster. So we began looking at child safety gates, and were astounded by the huge variety on the market.

After much research, and gate testing, we bought the Kidco Safeway Gate. Actually, we bought two of these -one each for the bottom and the top of the stairs. Most people probably need two, but forget to get the second one. This is a permanent gate, not one that you pop up for a week or two. It is permanently attached to the wall, so when we no longer need it, we'll have to do some fancy repair work on the wall. Oh well, that's what spackle is for, right? This is also not the cheapest gate on the market -- the quality is great but the price was high, I think we paid about $60 + each for ours, to the best of my recollection.

It has a nice mechanism to swing smoothly, and opens either in or out (I think its supposed to only go one way, you set it up for the direction you prefer, but you can kindof force it to go the other way. We learned this on a 4 am trip downstairs when we jerked it a little too hard -- that would be the "royal" we ... as in ME... and it opened the other way!). In any case, it has a nice bottom and top mechanism for the attachment to sit into, so you aren't just snapping it open and shut. Perfect if you have an older child, like we do, who might have otherwise found it fun to open the gate & swing on it (he still does this occasionally, when he thinks no one is looking. We are.)

Our gate at the bottom prevents baby from crawling up the stairs unattended. The gate at the top of the stairs allows baby to run free upstairs without us worrying about her toppling down the stairs. Whereever she is, the appropriate gate is closed. Even our five year old knows to close the gates behind him.

Even with gates, babies need careful attention -- our son fell down the stairs twice. Luckily my husband was right behind him, and stopped his fall both times. But having a gate only prevents them from going up (or down), you still have to watch them as they go.

It does open with one hand, but its not a simple snap & go ... so your baby won't just whip it open. Its white, tubular and sturdy... as I said, our (almost) five year old swings on it occasionally (which leads to an impressive display of my vocal talents) and it has held up. I of course don't recommend this (the swinging OR the yelling) but I figured I'd tell you how sturdy it is. Ours is five years old - the gate, not the child - and still working well. We did have to tighten the bolts down about 2 years ago, but it is still in great shape. We are thrilled with it and I am happy to give it the big thumbs up.