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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    356

    Default **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    xxxxxxx
    Last edited by jeno; 10-22-2013 at 08:38 PM.

  2. #2
    safetylady Guest

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    As a professional babyproofer, I generally avoid using the Kiddie Guard gate as it is not very practical to open and close on a frequent basis. On first thought, most people find this gate is appealing because it retracts. Sadly in most cases it is difficult to install safely. It has give in the centre especially the wider the opening. You need to have space to set it back from the edge of the stairs and this is usually not possible at the top of most stairways. At the top of the stairs you want a gate which opens with one hand because you are often carrying a baby or laundry in the other. With the Kiddie Guard Gate this is impossible. You need two hands to open and close and where is the baby while you fiddle with the gate. I advise against gates placed at the bottom of stairs as it can be potentionally dangerous as you put yourself out of balance leaning down to reach and swing open. Again if a child is in your arms you are adding more risk. A gate at the bottom of stairs is also hugely impractical for the adults. While you should block the bottom of stairs, I generally help clients to find ways to put up gates to block access to the stairways and narrow the supervision area. This usually involves gates across hallways and doorways in other areas of that level of the house. While it may be investment in more gates, you need to weigh practical, with expense over how many children and years of use.

  3. #3
    nfowife is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Northern Virginia
    Posts
    6,526

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    I really like ours still. The only things upstairs for us are DD's room (and the new baby's room, playroom, and guest rooms, all of which are empty right now and most of the time). We really only have the bottom kiddyguard closed when we are downstairs- which is a lot of the time. I open it to go upstairs and leave it open. If by chance I do need to run up the stairs and come right back down (and want DD to stay downstairs), we have a double staircase and I just use the other one that is outside of our gated/babyproofed area that DD doesn't have access to- so that one isn't gated at all. For a really high-traffic area it might be a pain, but for us the benefits outweight that and we really like the kiddyguard over a year later.
    I wish we could have it at the top of the stairs, but unfortunatly our opening was like 2" too wide for it! We have 2 safeway gates in other areas downstairs, and the elongate at the top of our stairs, and they all work well, but I do like how the kiddyguard retracts out of the way when not in use, for a lower traffic area.
    M, mommy to A 2005, E 2007, and L 2010

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    .
    Posts
    1,060

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    Safetylady,
    I appreciated your input. We have a need to have a gate at the bottom of the stairs (they end right into our main room/family room) and had purchased the Kiddie Guard. We were never able to install it due to the slanted moulding on the wall side of the stairs and the narrow bannister columns on the other side. What might you recommend in this situation?

    Maryann

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    356

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    xxxxxxx
    Last edited by jeno; 10-22-2013 at 08:38 PM.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Florida.
    Posts
    258

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    Hi. My mom who lives in our city has a historic 2 story house that has a LOT of decorative molding on the wall side of the staircase. She ordered 3 kiddygaurd gates because she really wanted something she did not have to look at when we were not there. She had a carpenter come to her house this week to install teh 3 gates (one at top of stairs, one at bottom and another in a difrerent area). Carpenter was able to come up with a solution with some extra wood without having to carve into or cut her molding...next time I am over there I will try to remember my camera to take a picture. My mom is VERY pleased with these gates.




    Heather:

    Mommy to DD (2005) and DS (2007)

  7. #7
    safetylady Guest

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    In most homes the Kiddie Guard Gate can not be safely installed as recommended by the manufacturer at the top of stairs. It is suggested to be used only where it can be installed a good 6 inches from the edge of the top stair. The mesh of the gate is not rigid and therefore has some give in the centre, especially the wider the opening. A child could lean against the closed gate and it would move enough that a they might get caught or fall into the space between it and the top of the stair. In most homes there is few opportunities to position the gate, far enough back from the edge to avoid this entrapment possiblity. In 20 years I have installed a Kiddie Guard gate only once at the top of a stairway.

  8. #8
    safetylady Guest

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    Sorry for the delay in replying. Initially I did not recognise the email source and thought it was spam. While we need to keep children away from the bottom of stairs putting a gate at the bottom is not my first choice. Leaning down to open and swing away from you is an unsafe approach to using a gate, especially when you become more top heavy when carrying the baby. Trying to open a closed Kiddie Guard when coming down the stairs with a child in your arms is impossible. You need two hands to open the gate. While many would say that the gate would have been left open, it is on principle not a great idea to be in a habit of not closing gates as you go through them. What I find is much better to consider is gating elsewhere to reduce approach access to the bottom of the stairs. It is often hard for people to think of this and in some cases it involves getting several gates. However the extra cost is greatly outweighed by the convenience. Leaving the bottom of stairs free of gates make for much easier access for the adults in the house. When there is no other alternative, in most cases a gate never fits your home and in order to put a gate up you need to create the surface added to the bannister and over the moulding to be able to put a gate up. Without seeing your floor plan of your home it is difficult for my to help make recommendations but simply it sounds like you could have put the Gate across the opening to the family room. If you would like to contact me again with pictures, a floor plan of rooms and measurements, I could fine tune the suggestions.

  9. #9
    safetylady Guest

    Default RE: **nfowife** and others with Kiddy Guard Retractable Gate

    The Kiddie Guard Gate can be useful in places where not used frequently like grandparent homes. This is only if there was enough room to install 6 inches back from the top of the stairs. However if the purpose of the Kiddie Guard was to have it out of the way when the grandchildren are not there, most top-of-the-stair gates with more convenient, easier one-hand opening mechanisms can easily be unclipped from their fixtures and stored. Another advantage is these gates usually are less cost. At the bottom of stairs in more cases than not, it was not necessary to have any carpentry work done, as there are a variety of different pressure gates which include features that can make installation to uneven surfaces simple. Consulting a local babyproofer could help advise people on these choices of gates.

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