Any recommandation on Pressure mounted gate?

[chanamelia]

Any recommandation on Pressure mounted gate? Thanks.

[Momof3Labs]

You might want to give some more information (or read past posts - there are lots of posts about baby gates). How wide is your opening, do you prefer hands free or one-handed, where do you plan to use the gate, etc?

[chanamelia]

The opening is about 3 feet wide. I prefer one hand. Thanks.

[momma_boo]

We currently have two of the hands free gate from The First Years http://tinyurl.com/34o5g and are quite happy with our choice. We have it at the bottom of the stairs and in the doorway to the kitchen. The hands free aspect is great, especially when I'm going back and forth from the kitchen with my hands full.

DH's niece and nephew were over a few weeks ago and his niece, who I think is 6 years old (but on the smallish side) couldn't get the gate to open even though she was standing on the step with her whole weight on it. Seeing that made me feel better about the gate.

[hellokitty1]

Thanks for posting Esther. DH and I looked at gates last week at BRU and I got a headache and walked away. The guy did mention this gate. Since it has your backing, I think we'll definitely get it. We've opted to approach the baby proofing process one step at a time and this is coming up on the list. WeE've done outlet plugs and that's it. LOL. My priorities now are cabinet/drawer latches for the kitchen and a gate at the bottom of the stairs in the kitchen. DD likes to hang out with me on the kitchen floor while I make dinner. But if she see something nifty on the landing, she goes right for the stairs.

BTW, what so you have at the top of your stairs?
And didi anyone have problem with screws just breaking when you tried to install the cabinet/drawer latches. DH got really annoyed and can't figure out why the screws were breaking. He'll either go get wood screws or I say just go return the package. They suck.

[momma_boo]

Hi Vivian,

I know what you mean about getting a headache with all the baby-proofing stuff. We're still going along with it at a rather slow pace as needed. We don't have too many exposed outlets in our tiny house but she finally found one the other day, so we covered that up. We don't let her into our kitchen b/c its old and the floor is totally gross. Fortunately, that saved most of the hassle with baby-proofing. She hasn't figured out how to open the bathroom cabinet, but we did buy something to secure it.

At the top of the stairs, we have the screw-mounted kidco one that we got at Buy Buy Baby: http://tinyurl.com/3hkqz
It seems to work fine, although we didn't too a particularly stellar job of installing it - not a reflection of the product, we're just dunces when it comes to this sometimes. DH is no Bob Vila.

[hellokitty1]

Esther-

We got the step gate you have this past weekend at the TRU baby sale. In response to your DH not being Bob Villa, here's my funny story. When we were at TRU, I asked DH if we should go ahead and get extensions since we did not measure beforehand and just return later if not necessary. His response; "Nah, it's standard", mind you the gate was for the bottom of the stairs. So on Sunday, DH pulls it out of the box, puts it in front of the stairs and doesn't want to admit we need extensions. So the joke for the rest of the day was that everything we talked about, I replied that it was "standard." So he takes a look at how to install it anyway and suddenly says, "It doesn't matter that we didn't get extensions, because we have to go back anyway bc this gate is defective." (The top latch didn't connect.) So he opens the second box and says, "Hmm, this is defective too." To which I replied, did you read the instructions?" So after Mrs. Villa (me) takes a look, I tell him that I think the gate has to be mounted and when it is screwed in, the gate will connect. Of course, that evening, he sees the piece of paper that states that.

Maybe this is one of those "had to be there" stories but it was very funny.

So as for your a gate at the top of the stairs, we are still deciding whether we need one or not. There really isn't a common are upstairs except for the hallway and we dont' really leave her unattended or we at least keep the door closed. When you were deciding on the mounted gates, did you look at the other First Years model that was mounted before you decided on the Kidco?

[momma_boo]

I don't remember looking at another one. The KIdco one was displayed in the front and then the salesperson recommended it as the "best" one and mentioned that it was rated highly by Consumer's or something. DH is a Consumer's groupie, big time.

I understand your story. I was pretty darned shocked when DH got the pressure mounted ones up w/o my assistance.

[Momof3Labs]

I'd really recommend that you just put a gate at the top of the stairs. Stairs are way too dangerous, and she will be moving back and forth between rooms once she gets mobile. Then, not long after that, she'll figure out how to open doors. It's just not a chance worth taking, IMO!

[heidi_timms]

I have the first years gate as well. We have had it for about a year or so and love it. We had for our dogs (to keep them out of the kitchen) before the baby came. The rubber feet started to disinigrate on the part that touches the wall and I called First Years and the sent me all new ones for free. Great customer service on their part!!!
~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03