Parenting & Family

Safetyproofing: Safety gates

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  • Jun 8th, 2007 11:42 pm
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Sr. Member
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Feb 5, 2006
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Brampton

Safetyproofing: Safety gates

Hi there!

Anyone have any opinions or experience with various fixed gates (for the top of the stairs) and compression gates (for elsewhere)?

There are many scattered reviewes on Amazon and other sites, including Consumer Reports, but I'm curious what "actual" parents have to say about their gates.

Thanks!
19 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Oct 10, 2006
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Toronto
I was never a fan of baby gates right at the stairs.

My upper stairs were conveniently placed so I could put the gate about two feet before the stairs themselves. Just added that little extra piece of mind. When mounting the gate, make sure you hit the stud for added strength.

I just found this Baby Gate Selector...it could help!

http://www.babygates.com/
See this button :confused: :confused: Learn how to use it PLEASE ;)
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Oct 15, 2001
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Same here, no gate at the top of the stairs, our gate is at the master bed room. Either the child is in the master bed room or on the main floor. However, a gate is installed at the stairs to the basement.
Deal Guru
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Apr 17, 2005
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Brampton
HappyGoLucky wrote: Hi there!

Anyone have any opinions or experience with various fixed gates (for the top of the stairs) and compression gates (for elsewhere)?

There are many scattered reviewes on Amazon and other sites, including Consumer Reports, but I'm curious what "actual" parents have to say about their gates.

Thanks!
For the top of the stairs, my husband actually made the gate from same handrail & pickets as the stairs...even stained it the same colour :lol: ...so looked really 'custom' like it was part of the stairs... plus it was very secure when closed & they could just crawl all over the hallway...of course supervised :-)

For the bottom of the stairs, we used the SafetyGate III http://www.northstatesind.com/juvenile/ ... _frame.htm...I really liked it & was very easy to use. My twins also enjoyed playing with it :D :cheesygri http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4374/img0472cm2.jpg
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Jan 16, 2003
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I've never put gates in my house. My son was climbing upstairs / going downstairs when he was super young and never falled. You could see a big difference compared to friend's kids who did not even know what to do with stairs.

To me, a child should adapt to it's environment and not the opposite. You see people with kids that childproof everything, remove decorations, plants, ... just so childs don't get injured or break things. I prefer the opposite and teaching him to not touch stuff or to be careful with things.
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Feb 12, 2007
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mart242 wrote: I've never put gates in my house. My son was climbing upstairs / going downstairs when he was super young and never falled. You could see a big difference compared to friend's kids who did not even know what to do with stairs.

To me, a child should adapt to it's environment and not the opposite. You see people with kids that childproof everything, remove decorations, plants, ... just so childs don't get injured or break things. I prefer the opposite and teaching him to not touch stuff or to be careful with things.
You don't think it's wise to learn from the many injuries and deaths resulting from kids falling down stairs?

My 9.5 month old son would gladly adventure face first down our stairs if I had not gate....so should I remove it?

Sorry but I find your comment with respect to stair gates ignorant. Glad it worked for you...but I won't try.


Adapting to one's environment also means learning from past mistakes...
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Dec 12, 2004
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mart242 wrote: I've never put gates in my house. My son was climbing upstairs / going downstairs when he was super young and never falled. You could see a big difference compared to friend's kids who did not even know what to do with stairs.

To me, a child should adapt to it's environment and not the opposite. You see people with kids that childproof everything, remove decorations, plants, ... just so childs don't get injured or break things. I prefer the opposite and teaching him to not touch stuff or to be careful with things.
I partially agree that some people get carried over, but I would still secure electrical outlets as a minimum.
P.s. I use one gate for the room where my daughter plays in case I loose attention for a second.
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Jan 16, 2003
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Whiplash7828 wrote: You don't think it's wise to learn from the many injuries and deaths resulting from kids falling down stairs?
The big issue is that it gives people a false sense of security, just like the debate about the "bath rings" that cause babies to drown. People put their babies in there but assume that their baby will be safe so they don't need to focus as much attention to their baby and then accident happens. I'm sorry but if you blame a bath ring because your baby drowned, you deserve to be shot or at least not reproduce. I don't understand why the ontario govt is even considering banning these rings. Some will put a gate and think that they are safe but what happens the day that the gate isn't there or isn't properly locked? Oh, stairs! brand new area for baby to discover!

Just take a look at all the stuff we did when we were kids! No kids can do that these days because they are over protected. Big wheels? drinking from the garden hose? Lawn darts?

edit: another one: the little "walkers" for kids (you know, the thing that looks like a flying saucer with wheels?) These things were banned just because some &@#!(* parents decided to let their kids play with these in front of stairs and the kids ended up killing themselves. Because of a few stupid morons, the rest of the parents have to pay for it. I had one of these when I was a kid and my parents told me that I always had a blast on it!
Deal Fanatic
Jan 5, 2003
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Toronto
- Compression/spring-mounted gates should only be used between rooms or in hallways, but never for stairs, as a kid can use their weight and push them over.
- If you get a gate for the stairs, make sure you mount them with the appropriate wall anchors. I've been in non-handy parents' houses who have used plain screws into drywall (won't work and thus dangerous).
- Safety Superstore has the best variety of gates in the GTA (hence the name, I suppose). Check out their website. I've heard of Babyproofers, as well, and they have a couple of locations, but haven't checked them out. We're always at Safety Superstore getting other things anyway (more than just tires! I mean, safety stuff..)
- Try to test out the latch yourself in the store. Some are too difficult for even some adults to use without a lot of strength and a resulting hand cramp.
- I like metal gates with vertical bars. Some plastic ones have a bunch of holes or a grid pattern, and I think it's too tempting to use those as footholds.
- What's wrong with posted opinions from users on Amazon.com? I find them very helpful, especially the negative ones. These are from actual parents.
- How much to baby proof is a personal opinion, as is much of parenting. We did not put gates at the bottom of the stairs and have taught our 14 month old to not climb the stairs. If he disobeys us, we can just grab him by the time he's gone up just a couple of flights. Worse case scenario is he gets a bump on the head if he falls before we get him. However, we have put gates at the top. Even though we've taught him not to go down the stairs, a 10 foot vertical height is probably at least a 15 foot fall down onto hardwood and tile and his motor skills are such that we're not prepared to have him go up or down stairs yet.
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Feb 5, 2006
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Brampton
Thanks for everyone's replies. Regarding my comment about comments from Amazon, I do in fact regularly use Amazon's users' ratings as a guide for a good purchase. What I meant was I wanted to hear from some real parents here on RFD! :D

So, in ConsumerReports (April 07), they have some ratings as follows:

Hardware mounted:
- The First Years: Simple & Secure Stair Gate (score=87, security=excel.)
- Safety 1st: Lift and Lock Security (score=81, security=excel.)
- KidCo: Safeway Gate G20 (score=77, security=excel.)

Pressure mounted:
- KidCo: Gateway G11 (score=74, security=good)
- North States: Auto-Close (score=66, security=very good)

Seems like there is something to be desired in the way of pressure mounted gates.

Anyone see these gates here in Canada or have any experience with them?

Thanks!
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Oct 15, 2001
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mart242 wrote: The big issue is that it gives people a false sense of security, just like the debate about the "bath rings" that cause babies to drown. People put their babies in there but assume that their baby will be safe so they don't need to focus as much attention to their baby and then accident happens. I'm sorry but if you blame a bath ring because your baby drowned, you deserve to be shot or at least not reproduce. I don't understand why the ontario govt is even considering banning these rings. Some will put a gate and think that they are safe but what happens the day that the gate isn't there or isn't properly locked? Oh, stairs! brand new area for baby to discover!

Just take a look at all the stuff we did when we were kids! No kids can do that these days because they are over protected. Big wheels? drinking from the garden hose? Lawn darts?

edit: another one: the little "walkers" for kids (you know, the thing that looks like a flying saucer with wheels?) These things were banned just because some &@#!(* parents decided to let their kids play with these in front of stairs and the kids ended up killing themselves. Because of a few stupid morons, the rest of the parents have to pay for it. I had one of these when I was a kid and my parents told me that I always had a blast on it!
Yes, I agree with you, the child has to learn early. We supervised the child to use the stairs as soon as the child can walk. Usually the gate is just used to keep the child in the same room with us. Otherwise, we don't know where the kid is. :cheesygri . And the gate is to keep the child in the room in case he wakes up and wanders down the stairs half sleeping and half awake.
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Jan 7, 2005
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Those gates are a lifesaver, My kids have two left feet.
Ephemera

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Whiplash7828 wrote: You don't think it's wise to learn from the many injuries and deaths resulting from kids falling down stairs?

My 9.5 month old son would gladly adventure face first down our stairs if I had not gate....so should I remove it?

Sorry but I find your comment with respect to stair gates ignorant. Glad it worked for you...but I won't try.


Adapting to one's environment also means learning from past mistakes...
I also agree with you. I also agree with mart242. :)

Before the kid is ready. A gate is needed. As soon as the kid is ready, teach the kid the proper skill. Don't depend the gate any more because by that time, they can climb over it.
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getmail99 wrote: I also agree with you. I also agree with mart242. :)

Before the kid is ready. A gate is needed. As soon as the kid is ready, teach the kid the proper skill. Don't depend the gate any more because by that time, they can climb over it.
I guess my reaction came from my perspective. My son is not ready to walk yet...all he does is crawl so a stair gate is a must. He is very curious and does not have the coordination required to learn to go down stairs yet....(cause yes he climbs UP!) :)
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
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Keeping a gate at the top of the stairs in no way hampers the development of the child. We have an older house, have hardwood and even with the sticky soles on socks, our son could have easily slipped and fallen down the stairs..

As for gates, we have a compression gate that he could not budge. Even now at 4 he could not move it (and he will put his weight be hind it). Now, this gate is never removed as it has an interior that opens with a foot release....even at 40+lbs he cannot budge the gate.

Finally we are not depending on the gate but use it as a safety measure. Walking around at night going to the bathroom half a sleep, would you want him to slip and fall? Of course not. During the day, the gate is open.
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Feb 1, 2006
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I find gates to be very useful just to coral the kid into an area where you want him. Very helpful when only one parent is home and needs to make dinner.

We started letting our 2 year old go up and down stairs with close supervision as soon as he could walk, and he's now very good on stairs, but we still kept the gates up.

As for other safety stuff, can't imagine any parent not having locks on cupboards with cleaning supplies and/or garbage in them. Or drawers with knives. While it's true you can go overboard with safety, the reverse is also true, you can be too lax. It's all fine to say that you should just watch your kid when you only have ONE of them, try giving that close attention when you have two or more, and they run in opposite directions. :lol:
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:arrowu: .... yeah, that :cheesygri . I have 2 of those gates: one at top of stairs, and one at the bottom. you have to make sure it clicks properly tho- my 2 yr old has finagled it open a couple times when it wasnt in the locked position. best of all: it looks nice and matches my guardrail on the stairs. very good product!

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