What is the best baby gate for top of stairs?
I just bought the Safety 1st Perfect fit, it’s wall mounted on top of my stairs and I don’t trust it. Also every time you open it you have to readjust it loosing its one hand open feature. Please share your experience.
Thank you!
@barfly: So I should teach my 9m old (and walking) not to fall down the stairs and yet make sure the cabinets are locked? Sorry, a gate is a must. Anybody with kids have any suggestions?
March 11th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
save your money & teach your child how to safely go up & down the stairs. this skill is more valuable & you send a message to the child that it’s his home, too! install locks up high on all exterior doors, keep all chemicals & meds in a locked cabinet, and enjoy parenthood.
March 11th, 2011 at 10:59 pm
I have Dreambaby gates and love them. They’re metal and come in black or white. I have the standard size at the top of the stairs, and the extra-tall ones blocking access to the bottom of the stairs in the hallway. It takes a while to mount them properly, but the instructions are good and they’re strudy once mounted. They also swing closed automatically in both directions, though the click in kind of loud so I usually close them gently by hand. I ordered them online. They were more expensive than many gates, but totally worth it. You can open the gate easily with one hand.
You need to measure the space exactly, then buy any extensions you may need. The bottom and top of the space may be slightly different widths if you have a baseboard, but the mounting cups can screw out to different lengths. The more they’re screwed out, the less secure it is (thus the importance of getting extensions, if needed, rather than screwing out the mounting cups to the maximum). I wouldn’t trust any gate enough to lean against it at the top of the stairs, but ours has held firm every time we’ve bumped into it by accident, and it’s steady when my 13 month old daughter tries to shake the bars.