Baby gate help!!

[rin]

We're looking for a baby gate that we can use to block off our kitchen doorway. There are no stairs in our house, and our doorway is kinda narrow (about 28 inches), plus we have wood molding that we would rather not damage so we don't want to use a permanently installed gate if at all possible. We also might want to use the gate in other openings in the house, so it would be nice if it could adjust a bit since the other doorways are of varying widths.

What we're looking for is an adjustable pressure-mounted gate that's very easy to install/uninstall, since I would use it primarily when I'm in the kitchen cooking and want our 9 mo old daughter to stay in the kitchen with me rather than cruising out to the rest of the house and wreaking havoc. (I've been barricading her in with me using the trash can and a full bag of dog food, but she's already figured out how to get around this.) We don't want the step-through kind with a little door, since it would really just be used primarily for keeping her in the same room as me, and we'd probably just store it behind the kitchen table most of the time.

Does anyone have/know of anything like this? I'd love to hear your recommendations!! Obviously we'd like to spend as little as possible, but don't want a POS that's going to fall apart/break our fingers every time we try to use it. Thank you all!!

[TwoBees]

We use this basic one to gate off our bedroom (to keep DD in), or keep her out of the kitchen.
http://www.diapers.com/product/produ...roductid=33419

This might also work well for you:

http://www.diapers.com/product/produ...roductid=33415

[rin]

We use this basic one to gate off our bedroom (to keep DD in), or keep her out of the kitchen.
http://www.diapers.com/product/produ...roductid=33419

This might also work well for you:

http://www.diapers.com/product/produ...roductid=33415

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you ever worry that your daughter might get her head stuck in that cat cutout? I love the look of that gate more than the other one, but I'm wondering if our daughter would try to get through the cat hole and get stuck. Although maybe I'm overthinking this!

[TwoBees]

Thanks for the suggestions! Do you ever worry that your daughter might get her head stuck in that cat cutout? I love the look of that gate more than the other one, but I'm wondering if our daughter would try to get through the cat hole and get stuck. Although maybe I'm overthinking this!

Before I bought it, I thought it might be a possibility. But it is really not that big and my daughter is tiny! (15 lbs, head circumference about 17.5 inches). Cats can squeeze through very small spaces so it doesn't have to be that large. I could measure tonight if you would like.

I did notice that the finish has scratch marks on one of the gates. I don't know if it came that way, or if it happened when it fell, or if DD scratched it, etc. But for $25 and the cat not to be locked out of rooms, it works for us.

[rin]

Thanks so much for the suggestions! Off to do some shopping around for best prices.

[Radosti]

OK, we have steps in our house, as well as cats and dogs. Let me start out by saying that we have a cat door installed in the door to the basement because the litter boxes are down there, plus the cats escape to the basement whenever the kids and dogs get to be too much for them. Not once has any one of our kids attempted to get stuck in the cat door. They spend a lot of time sticking cat toys through it and waving them at the cats, or just looking through the hole, but nobody got stuck. It's too small.

On the topic of gates, we have these gates throughout our house:


http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2755234

I like them for several reasons:

1) the cats can go wherever they want to. Without the dogs or kids following.
2) the gates are pressure mounted, so no damage
3) the gates are not spring loaded, so they don't swing shut on their own, leaving me the option of leaving them open whenever I don't need them to block someone in/out. This is particularly helpful when I do not want to corral the kids or dogs somewhere.
4) there is one on the boys' room because DS1 doesn't want the dogs in there, but the cats are fine.
5) when the kitty door is shut, my cats know I don't want them going in there. Sometimes, they still squeeze through the space where the gate pressure mounts on the wall, but oh well.

[TwoBees]

On the topic of gates, we have these gates throughout our house:


http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2755234

I like them for several reasons:

1) the cats can go wherever they want to. Without the dogs or kids following.
2) the gates are pressure mounted, so no damage
3) the gates are not spring loaded, so they don't swing shut on their own, leaving me the option of leaving them open whenever I don't need them to block someone in/out. This is particularly helpful when I do not want to corral the kids or dogs somewhere.
4) there is one on the boys' room because DS1 doesn't want the dogs in there, but the cats are fine.
5) when the kitty door is shut, my cats know I don't want them going in there. Sometimes, they still squeeze through the space where the gate pressure mounts on the wall, but oh well.

I looked at those gates, but the product info says that the pet door should not be opened when children are around. How small is the door? Have you had any issues with it, or people tripping over it when open?

[Radosti]

We've had them for the past 4 years and no problems. The cat door can be open or closed and the most the kids will do is either open it or close it. Then, the cats resort going between the gate and the wall. I know that my kids can't go through the cat door, nor can the 23 lb dog.

[TwoBees]

We've had them for the past 4 years and no problems. The cat door can be open or closed and the most the kids will do is either open it or close it. Then, the cats resort going between the gate and the wall. I know that my kids can't go through the cat door, nor can the 23 lb dog.

Can this be hardware mounted? It might be a perfect solution for the stairs going down to our recently-finished basement.