STMs- help my stair gate anxiety

austinlyns · February 2014

We are moving to a 3-story house next month and a couple from my hometown just lost their 18-month old when she fell down the stairs and sustained a skull fracture. My anxiety about having stairs is now off the charts. Does anyone have a great wall-mounted safety gate they recommend? We have a one-story house now so have only used the flimsy pressure-mouned kind to block certain rooms. I have been looking online and the huge amount of choices is stressing me out.

KeyLime81 · February 2014

We have THIS ONE. It does the job. I like that it's wall mounted, secure, and easy to operate one handed, and my toddler hasn't figured it out yet!

What a tragic story about that little girl. My heart breaks for those parents.

beachbride5 · February 2014

whatever gate you get, it needs to be screwed into the wall trim. NO TENSION MOUNTS. make it so tight it takes you a lot of coordination to get it unlocked and you will be fine. that is a tragic story, and it would scare me too, but most likely something was faulty with that, either the gate or the installation.

hollygb22 · February 2014

we have this one. It attaches to the bannister on one side and the wall on the other

https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=22767536&cp=2255956.2273442.2850038.23088636.18816696&parentPage=family

.

I like it because it didn't have a lip on the bottom..we bought another but i was constantly tripping on the piece that went across the bottom. THis one swings fully open and the child proof latch is difficult..even for us sometimes

FutureMrsW9 · February 2014

OMG what a tragic story. I don't blame you for having anxiety about it. We have a couple sets of nasty stairs in our house, as well, and I've been wondering the same so thanks for posting! We also have at least one banister in each place that we'd need a gate, as we just spend several thousand dollars on the new banisters, so we'd prefer something that doesn't need to be drilled directly into the wood - the wall I'm not so worried about. I've seen the pieces that you can attached with zip ties, but are these really secure, particularly at the top of the stairs?

k2k2tog · February 2014

What a tragic story! I can't blame your anxiety at all.

We're currently renovating our house, which includes installing a new set of stairs. I'm hoping to be able to convince DH that we should also install a custom-made baby gate that matches the stairs. We have dogs that we want to keep out of the upstairs room as well, so something permanent would work well for us.

ncbelle · February 2014

beachbride5 said:

whatever gate you get, it needs to be screwed into the wall trim. NO TENSION MOUNTS. make it so tight it takes you a lot of coordination to get it unlocked and you will be fine. that is a tragic story, and it would scare me too, but most likely something was faulty with that, either the gate or the installation.

This absolutely! We had a KidCo one that worked well.

Dharmatron · February 2014

I'm a paranoid dog mom who worried about her dogs falling down the stairs so I bought a baby gate several years ago. I have The First Years one. It mounts into the wall and is easy to open and close.

owlcup · February 2014

Definitely mount it directly to the wall. My DS fell down a flight of stairs because of an impropery installed gate. He was fine. Also be sure to have them at the top and bottom of the stairs.

You'll likely have your gates installed for a looong time especially if you are going to have more kids.

robbinrl · February 2014

We'll have to invest in a good one too since our basement doesn't have a door. One suggestion is to look at pet stores and pet gates. When we had a puppy we had an awkward space we needed to gate off and there are so many options and choices.

becomingmommyagain · February 2014

Once LO is mobile we are putting the mounted swing gate on LOs bedroom until he starts potty training. We have a very large landing at the top of the stairs and plan to section off the nursery, teenagers bedrooms & bathroom all in one section but leave the top of the stairs and landing by our room open. DH is worried about putting a gate right on the top step because the area between the top step and facing wall is only the width of the door but the landing opens up to a width of 10ft x 22 ft. He also doesnt want me trying to unlock the gate with LO in my arms.

We will put a gate at the landing at the bottom of the stairs though once he's mobile. Our basement door has a latch lock and a child safety handle as do all the doors on the first level.

We had my sister & her three kids (18 months, 3 & 4) living with us and this worked pretty well to keep them corralled.

tlcalloway · February 2014

another piece of advice that i might offer, is really consider the gate placement...we had a 3 story townhome when DS was born...you had to climb a half flight of stairs from the front door to the main floor and then another set of stairs to go up was just to the left... rather than 2 gates, i got a huge extended one which gave me a safety zone as well to adjust myself before and after going through gates....i was just as fearful of slipping down the stairs while holding LO while trying to juggle opening and closing the latch

temursgirl · February 2014

I'm looking into this too as we have all kinds of stairs, decks, etc. I don't have a solution yet, but I just wanted to add that my brother had remarkable escape abilities as a baby. Not just the stair gates but his crib, playpen, and highchair as well. And he is not an athletic or even active adult. That said, although we will be gating our stairs, I don't think one can rely on gates.

JulieSmiles · February 2014

I have a question that goes along with this one. The living area in my home is all on one floor. We have a basement/ garage as well, but it is closed off by a door. The door is in our living room though. Do you think a baby gate would be needed to block off the stairs to the basement or will it be okay with just the door shut? The door is always shut, so if we do need a gate, when should we expect to put it up?

chloephoebecali · February 2014

beachbride5 said:

whatever gate you get, it needs to be screwed into the wall trim. NO TENSION MOUNTS. make it so tight it takes you a lot of coordination to get it unlocked and you will be fine. that is a tragic story, and it would scare me too, but most likely something was faulty with that, either the gate or the installation.

This. Also, consider put something at the bottom of the stairs or gate off the area where the stairs are. You don't want the sneaking up the stairs and falling down just as much as them falling from the second (third) floor.

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