Baby Gate dilemma

We live in a small 2 bedroom condo that basically has a front door that opens to a foyer with a coat closet and garage door. Then stairs lead up to the living area. The dilemma is due to space we have to put our cats litterbox in the garage with a kitty door leading out to it. We will need to put a gate up at the top of the stairs in a couple of months (our almost 5 month old is scooting now). However, we need a kitty door in the gate (one cat could jump over a gate fine, but our other 20 pound clutz would never make it)and no gates out there seem to have a solid door. I realize that a kitty door could be a potential hazard for the baby, but our place is small and I keep my eye on her all the time. I just need a gate to slow her down if she crawls fast toward the stairs. Not to mention, we could install the cat door that only opens when the cat is wearing the matching electronic collar.

So, does anyone know of a solid door gate? Any other ideas? I have thought of just using a playyard instead, but it would definately take up our entire living area. I would try to get my husband to make something, but we don't have the tools and he is gone a lot anyway (military). Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!

I bought an EVENFLO Swing-N-Latch Gate with wooden slats. My 10 month old thinks it's boring as heck and now completely avoids our porch and the steps leading to it. My cat (who is not a very good jumper either) will jump over the gate but prefers to wait for me to open it. We leave it open at night and when the baby is sleeping. It took my non-jumper about 3 days to figure out she wasn't locked out on the porch! :-)

This gate is nice in that it mounts to the wall and can be easily removed or just left to swing open. (You can set it to swing one way or both ways) I got it for $35 new.

To mount the gate I used a drill and a screw driver. I had never used a drill before but it was easy to do! I wish you luck!

DD is starting to scoot even faster now. We may end up trying the Evenflo soon. Thanks for the tip!

We have had to mount our baby gates about 4" - 5" off the floor -- just enough for the cats to scoot under, but not enough room for the baby to go under (he's 15 months old and has tried to go under <lol>). I have one cat with bad knees, so he can't jump at all.

Alternatively, we leave the gates open except when the baby is in the area and we are with him. That way, I can lift the cat over the gate, if need be.

Sarah....