2nd floor deck -- help!

[NCGrandma]

I'm the family's official "safety-gear Grandma" -- now that I've bought Kidco safety gates for all the places that need them indoors, it's time to turn my attention to the great outdoors! The main spot that needs attention is the deck, which is off the dining room via sliding patio door. Because of the slope of the yard, the deck is second-floor height. The deck sides have the usual wood railings/slats and there are stairs going to the ground.

DIL and I have been talking about a retractable mesh gate for the top of the stairs, and outdoor-quality safety mesh to cover the sides. The retract-a-gate (http://www.retract-a-gate.com/index.html) looks good and I've seen decent reviews. Any experience with that brand?? Any recommendations for mesh for the sides? If possible, DIL would like something that won't totally block the lovely view of the woods.

All suggestions welcome!

[hillview]

We had about 5 of them going at one point. They are great. You can't really SEE through them although they do allow light through etc.

[NCGrandma]

Any suggestions for mesh to cover the sides of the deck?

[gamma]

We had a second floor deck and using a staple gun, stapled nylon mosquito screening up. The screening is quite sheer and hard to notice. It comes on a large roll and was easy to remove when we no longer needed it. One thing I always had to be mindful of was chairs on the deck. We always had to keep them far away from the railings during the years when the the little ones were in the stage of pushing chairs around and climbing. I was always fearful they would stand on the chairs and fall over the railing, but it became a habit to keep the chairs pushed under the table when they were unoccupied.

[DietCokeLover]

Have you looked at One Step Ahead? They have a mesh deck guard on there. We used the plastic guard on our indoor railing and it has been great.

[NCGrandma]

Have you looked at One Step Ahead? They have a mesh deck guard on there. We used the plastic guard on our indoor railing and it has been great.

I did see this but wondered (a) how sturdy it was and (b) how hard/easy it was to install. Looks like it uses some sort of zip ties. My DIL is a whiz at installation/assembly so that's not a major issue, although the Kidco top of the stairs gate (indoors) was apparently a bear to install.

[NCGrandma]

We had a second floor deck and using a staple gun, stapled nylon mosquito screening up. The screening is quite sheer and hard to notice. It comes on a large roll and was easy to remove when we no longer needed it. One thing I always had to be mindful of was chairs on the deck. We always had to keep them far away from the railings during the years when the the little ones were in the stage of pushing chairs around and climbing. I was always fearful they would stand on the chairs and fall over the railing, but it became a habit to keep the chairs pushed under the table when they were unoccupied.

Thanks for the caution about chairs. Baby-proofing in general is a bit of a challenge with a very distractible older sibling (ADHD).

[new_mom_mry]

We love our retract-a-gates but I would not be surprised if by the time DS is 2, he will be able to figure out how to open them. He is getting close to doing so (at 19 months) and always tries to turn the close/open knob because he sees us do it. Else, I love these gates. Very easy on the eyes.

[abh5e8]

are the slats on the railing so wide the child could fall through? if so, i would want more then mesh and staples. can you add additional slats in between the existing?