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  1. #11
    Uno-Mom's Avatar
    Uno-Mom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    I heartily recommend "retract-a-gate.com." Those gates are awesome!!!

    Everything they say on the site is true: they are easy to install, one-hand operate, look really nice, totally secure, etc etc. We have two gates (rollers) and extra brackets for other doorways. That way we can just move the roller to another place without paying for a whole other gate.

    We had to buy that kind because of an irregular doorway but I would use them anywhere over the kind that don't retract. There are other threads discussing these, too.

    Often bumbling mother to baby girl "Sprog"
    Born November, 2009

  2. #12
    3blackcats is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Love the Kidco gate that you step on! We have three of them!!

  3. #13
    AshleyAnn is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Avoid the evenflo easy step gate. My mom bought one even though I told her not to and it began to warp within 3 months of purchase and occasionally popped open with a little extra pressure applied. DD leaves it alone so we continued to use it but over christmas it got kicked a few times by our guests and is now totally ruined. It opens with a small amount of pressure applied to it so its useless.

  4. #14
    essnce629's Avatar
    essnce629 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    We love our Kidco gates too! I had the Kidco G20 with DS1 and we used it again in our old house with DS2. It finally broke though (metal bar detached from top) and so I threw it away when we moved to our new house. We also have the Kidco Elongate gate that I had up in our living room blocking DS2 from the dining room and I'm about to reinstall it tonight in the kitchen of our new house. I now need to buy another gate for the hall and I'm trying to decide if I should get another kidco or something else. I've always had all our gates in doorways (so solid wood) but now it will be on drywall in the hallway so I'm thinking about getting a pressure mount gate. The retractable gates have always appealed to me too though.
    Latia (Birth & Postpartum Doula and Infant Nanny)
    Conner 8/19/03 (My 1st home birthed water baby!)
    Parker 5/23/09 (My 2nd home birthed water baby!)

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Pittsburgh
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    we have the first years one that you step on. We had to put a piece of wood under if because we have quarter shoe molding on one side of the wall and not the other, but otherwise it has been great. We have it at the top of our steps... not RIGHT at the top, you walk a ways to it... it's just to keep the girls from raping and pilaging in the bedrooms. They haven't figured out how to open it yet. They have the concept but lack the strength.

    I seem to think it's similar to kidco (which of course I never heard of before I bought it) except kidco somehow allows for more adaptability if you have molding issues?

  6. #16
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Texas
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    293

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    For stairways, I am now convinced this is THE BEST GATE:
    http://www.cardinalgates.com/ss30a.html

    A professional babyproofer recommended it to us because no matter how we tried, we couldn't get our stairgates to install well. The Cardinal gate is a sturdy (but lightweight) aluminum, not heavy like the other metal gates out there. It has a great simple latch that confounds the kids(and some grandparents), but is easy to work for adults who know how. There's video on the website.

    Even though we're onto todder #2, and we had 2 highly-recommended and expensive gates already, we needed help. The main problem for us was that the studs at the top of the stairs did NOT run directly opposite each other, such that if you wanted the gate installed on the studs (which you do) the gate was at a 30-degree angle and didn't close properly. We tried installing at normal angle by using giant anchors. B/c of the weight of the gate, and 2 years of my now-3-year-old pulling on it. We now have giant patches over the giant holes in the walls from where those anchors pulled out. We probably didn't need to replace the gate at the bottom of the stairs, but we liked the ease of use of the Cardinal so much, we got a second.

    NO more expensive than other gates. Get this one. It's the best.
    Wondermom

    DS 1 8/2007
    DS 2 1/2010

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Pennsylvania
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    3

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    Quote Originally Posted by essnce629 View Post
    We love our Kidco gates too! I had the Kidco G20 with DS1 and we used it again in our old house with DS2. It finally broke though (metal bar detached from top) and so I threw it away when we moved to our new house. We also have the Kidco Elongate gate that I had up in our living room blocking DS2 from the dining room and I'm about to reinstall it tonight in the kitchen of our new house. I now need to buy another gate for the hall and I'm trying to decide if I should get another kidco or something else. I've always had all our gates in doorways (so solid wood) but now it will be on drywall in the hallway so I'm thinking about getting a pressure mount gate. The retractable gates have always appealed to me too though.
    Hi:

    Do you use these gates in the bedroom doorways??? I am looking for a hardmount gate for the bedroom doorway. I see that you use the G20. I like that alot but don't know if I can put it in the doorway.

    Thanks a bunch...
    Kelley
    Kelley

    TTC #1 Mother to many furbabies

  8. #18
    essnce629's Avatar
    essnce629 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frenchwhip View Post
    Hi:

    Do you use these gates in the bedroom doorways??? I am looking for a hardmount gate for the bedroom doorway. I see that you use the G20. I like that alot but don't know if I can put it in the doorway.

    Thanks a bunch...
    Kelley
    Oops, just seeing this now. No, we've never used this gate in a bedroom doorway, although I did have it installed in my mom's old house in a narrow doorway that lead to the kitchen. It worked great there, but it was just a doorway, no door. The gate and hardware is narrow enough that it would fit alongside a closed door in a doorway as well. For your situation though, I just bought one of those Retract-A-Gates that several people recommended and installed that in DS1's doorway to keep DS2 (who just learned how to open doors) from opening his door and waking him up and stealing all his chokable toys! It's great for this purpose since when not in use there's no metal gate sticking out and in the way. And now DS1 can play in his room without having to close the door and be all isolated from the rest of the family. We also bought a second set of brackets for $12 that we installed in the hallway, so I can just pop the gate out of DS1's doorway and move it to the hallway to keep DS2 out of the living/dining room area. It's great for this purpose and when it's not in use in the hallway all that's left of it's evidence are 2 small clear brackets on both sides of the wall.
    Last edited by essnce629; 01-26-2011 at 03:59 AM.
    Latia (Birth & Postpartum Doula and Infant Nanny)
    Conner 8/19/03 (My 1st home birthed water baby!)
    Parker 5/23/09 (My 2nd home birthed water baby!)

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