Recommendations for safety gates

declanmcc

Hey there,

Our wee man is on his feet now and has found out how to open doors also - so it's time to get some safety gates for the stairs!!

I'm having a look around and see that most appear to be "pressure fix". How secure is this compared to screw fix? I'm afraid that he could shake the gate and eventually dislodge the whole unit!

Any recommendations of wheere to get gates or which make is best would be great! Thanks!

building_with_lego

Pressure fix gates seem to come with cups that screw or stick to the wall/ doorway anyway. He'll definitely push or pull a gate over without it.
We had Lindam extending wooden gates that had screw fixings for the wall, but you could lift the gate on and off after the kids were in bed. Also recommended for Grandparents' houses as the gate itself was removable. They were £25 new iirc, and we sold them for £15 at an NCT sale. Quick google reveals them on offer atm in thebabycatalogue for £24.
HTH

peachyprice

I have to admit I never trusted the pressure fit gates at the top of the stairs. I have one at my kitchen doorway to keep the dog in when we're out at it's very easily pushed over.

I had one at the top of the stairs where the stoppers that go against the wall fitted into little cups. That worked a treat and was never pushed over.

peachyprice

building_with_lego wrote: »

Pressure fix gates seem to come with cups that screw or stick to the wall/ doorway anyway.

Not all of them do, some just have rubberised stoppers which are supposed to grip the wall/doorframe, and don't very well!

onlyroz

We've got one of these:

http://www.boots.com/en/Babydan-Gate-To-Go-Travel-Gate_11386/?CAWELAID=334483024&cm_mmc=Shopping%20Engines-_-Google%20Base-_---_-Babydan%20Gate%20To%20Go%20Travel%20Gate

It's great because we can move it around to where it's needed, e.g. sometimes it's at the top of the stairs, sometimes it's at the bottom, or at night it goes across the landing to keep the little girl in her room but out of the bathroom.

Bitsy_Beans

We had two of these safety gates at the top and bottom of our stairs
http://www.lascal.se/web/kiddyguard.aspx

When we bought them 4 years ago they were circa £50 each so not cheap. However we found them invaluable since the gap at the top and bottom of the stairs was wider than your average stair gate and since these are like a roller blind the width wasn't an issue.

Chakani

We have 2 Lindam ones and a Babydan one, all pressure fit because we live in a rented house at the moment and can't make holes in the walls. They have never come down, but we have found it necessary to add foam pads to prevent them damaging the wall, as you do have to make them very tight to be safe. I have fallen against them (pregnant and clumsy!) and they have not budged.

The Lindam ones are excellent, easy to use and fit, the BabyDan we bought because it was the only one narrow enough for our stairs - it's an awful design, wobbly, fiddly to open and close, and can't be done easily with one hand, unlike the Lindam ones, which open one handed and just slam shut. I'm pretty sure you can get fixed versions of both if you don't want pressure fit. As I said, we had no choice.

building_with_lego

peachyprice wrote: »

Not all of them do, some just have rubberised stoppers which are supposed to grip the wall/doorframe, and don't very well!

That's what I had thought until we had to buy an extra- narrow one for DS's bedroom for a while- you could stick or screw the cups on, then the pressure pads were held in place. Rubber stoppers on their own are a liability, but we'd only just decorated the doorframe and didn't want the cups on, I think he's had the gate off a dozen times!

SneakyP_2

Someone told me yesterday that the Lindam baby gates are on offer in Morrisons at the moment at £15 each. I think they are normally £20.

go_cat

Just a tip - make sure you measure the gap accurately before you buy one - they differ in minimum and maximum widths and this may affect which one you get

clw1

We went for a wall mounted one at the top of the stairs as I was worried I might trip over the bar at the bottom and fall down the stairs.

We also had a pressure one at the bottom of the stairs but they have to be tight to be secure and the pressure outwards to hold the gate in place was pushing the banisters over so they became wobbly. So we have now got a babydan screwfix one which is better.