WWS15D: Baby Gates

[London]

We don't have a crawler on our hands yet, but will soon and are starting to plan our baby gate game. In order to have a gate that is no-trip and has a kitty door cut out, DH is going to be constructing one himself (a la txshep and her pinspirational gate

Our problem is at the top of the stairs, as pictured below. We don't have a wall at the top of the stairs to anchor hinges into. The wall starts after a two-step landing. There is also a low, curved railing that means the gate would need to be low if installed at the very top (slightly higher than knee).

What would you do? Install at very top and anchor hinges into the spindle post? Install at landing and anchor into wall? Any other ideas?

[txshep]

I would install into the wall at the landing. To me, the risk of falling down two steps is much less than the potential risk of a low, not-as-secure gate at the top.

ETA: I really like your floors and quirky curved railing!

[emejay]

We have the same problem but at the bottom of the stairs. We have made an executive decision to let them open and to try and teach Arthur to get down safely (lol)

[emejay]

Jun 20, 2016 9:27:24 GMT -5 txshep said:

I would install into the wall at the landing. To me, the risk of falling down two steps is much less than the potential risk of a low, not-as-secure gate at the top.

Exactly

[ugotstarbucked]

There are gates designed to attach to banisters in that situation. MY SIL has one, I'll see if I can find an example.

Your cat can't just jump over the gate?

[London]

Jun 20, 2016 9:41:25 GMT -5 ugotstarbucked said:

There are gates designed to attach to banisters in that situation. MY SIL has one, I'll see if I can find an example.

Your cat can't just jump over the gate?

Lol. No. And somewhere in my house, my cat is judging you for suggesting that.

I mean, maybe she is physically able. But I feel like it would result in a lot of meowing and pawing and generally being annoying at 2AM.

[ugotstarbucked]

Lazy cats.

Our cats growing up used to like sleeping on top of the fridge. They got their own asses up there.

[evanda]

Get one that attaches to the banisters. Prop it open at night or when baby isn't around for lazy cat. I'm guessing the cat isn't able to fit through the railings either. But really you would be surprised the amount of damage a kid could do face first down two steps especially on wood.

Edit: I'm lazy and didn't read the whole thing. I think there are gates that install to the outer part of the banister to avoid the railing.

[cocopuff]

We have our bottom stair gate attached on the banister on one side and wall on the other. It's not ideal but has worked well for the past 2 years.

I agree with evanda that even two steps on wood floors can cause a lot of injury, so I'd try to put something at the top.

That all being said, it depends on how much you intend to have baby roaming upstairs. I know others who simply only go upstairs for bath/bed so their toddler/baby are literally never roaming around near the stairs.

I'm a paranoid nut about my kids getting out of bed MOTN and falling down the stairs so we have a lot gates. And we play upstairs a fair amount.

Here's what we use on the bannister

[eliza040502]

We had a similar issue and just gated outside of his room.

We bought a door with a cat gate, but it is one of those that could potentially trip you kinds. And my cat is too dumb to push open the door.

[ProfEDD]

We had to cover the railings at the top because of the drop-off. We also had to accommodate the cat, who can't fit through the baby gate. So this beauty is what my H came up with: Activity board/railing cover to the left; cat cut-through to steps bottom right of activity board; and the gate itself, mounted with zip-ties and sturdy foam so we don't damage the banister. It's a work of art.

[cowplanet]

Our bottom has just the spindles and banister and our top has one wall + banister. We got the KidCo angle mount gate for both (because nothing aligns true in our house). It doesn't have a cat door, but I remember seeing hardware mount ones that do. If you don't want to drill into the banister (small holes), you can actually attach 2x4s to the banister using zip-ties (or velcro, but I don't trust toddlers and velcro), and then drill into those. There are a lot of examples on Pinterest of parents doing that. Or you can purchase a kit made by the manufacturer that costs as much as another gate.

ETA: www.amazon.com/KidCo-Angle-Mount-Safeway-White/dp/B006OJIK44/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1466447512&sr=8-1&keywords=kidco+angle+mount 
- This gate actually installed way easier into our double banister than the wall/banister combo, so other than the pet door issue, it'd be perfect for your set up.

[cowplanet]

Forgot to add, you want a hardware mount for top of the steps. Bottom can do pressure mount just fine. This gate will wall mount and has a cat door: www.theuncommondog.com/carlson-maxi-gate.html? Maybe there's a smaller variation out there? Every pet-door gate I saw has the trip bar risk. I've also seen babies try to go through the pet door once they watched the pet do it.

[tsmith312]

We have the same stair issue as you upstairs . We bought this one in the pic . It's a little pricey but it works very well !

[crystaleyes138]

We got this from BRU.

It won't solve the cat "issue", but it a nice, decently priced gate for your type of steps.

Here's a pic. Our spindles were different sizes (ugh) so we added plexiglass at the bottom.

[London]

Thank you everyone so much for the input and suggestions and examples. I am going to try and cherry pick from all the different styles and see what works.

[estakis]

We are looking into this for our staircase. We also have a weird bannister set up that makes it tricky to install a gate. www.amazon.com/EZ-Fit-Baby-Safety-Gate-Adapter/dp/B0124LVKYW/ref=pd_bxgy_75_img_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6A0WVFNF3Y48XFHJ5SGB

[mandy522]

We used this on our old bannister. The brackets are adjustable so your bannister can be curved or fat at the bottom and skinny at the top or whatever and it's no problem - it creates a flush surface so you can wall mount any gate you want without damaging the bannister.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004CEN62O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?qid=1466470047&sr=8-1&keywords=bannister+bracket+for+baby+gate

And I just want to re-iterate what evanda mentioned - no pressure mounts at the top of the stairs. Wall mounts only.

[London]

Jun 20, 2016 19:50:53 GMT -5 mandy522 said:

We used this on our old bannister. The brackets are adjustable so your bannister can be curved or fat at the bottom and skinny at the top or whatever and it's no problem - it creates a flush surface so you can wall mount any gate you want without damaging the bannister.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004CEN62O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?qid=1466470047&sr=8-1&keywords=bannister+bracket+for+baby+gate

And I just want to re-iterate what evanda mentioned - no pressure mounts at the top of the stairs. Wall mounts only.

Pressure mounts are a definite no because of tripping hazard. I am a deeply, deeply clumsy person. The danger of me tripping and falling over any lip is high.

[mandie]

We never gated our stairs. Ben was always secured in a seat, held, or behind a closed door. So, it can be done without gates. But you do have to be very aware of where your moving baby is. I don't know if we will get away with it with the baby yet.

[mandy522]

Jun 20, 2016 20:43:54 GMT -5 London said:

Jun 20, 2016 19:50:53 GMT -5 mandy522 said:

We used this on our old bannister. The brackets are adjustable so your bannister can be curved or fat at the bottom and skinny at the top or whatever and it's no problem - it creates a flush surface so you can wall mount any gate you want without damaging the bannister.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004CEN62O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?qid=1466470047&sr=8-1&keywords=bannister+bracket+for+baby+gate

And I just want to re-iterate what evanda mentioned - no pressure mounts at the top of the stairs. Wall mounts only.

Pressure mounts are a definite no because of tripping hazard. I am a deeply, deeply clumsy person. The danger of me tripping and falling over any lip is high.

Yes I have that issue as well!

[ComeMai]

We have this one at the top & bottom of our stairs.

retract-a-gate.com

They're pricy, but can be mounted in just about any space. They also roll up really small & out of the way when you don't need them. We left them installed between baby #2 & #3 and didn't really notice them.

[Knitter]

Probably a UO but, we don't gate our stairs either. They aren't directly attached to an area of play (living room) so Baby isn't near the stairs unless we are right there. We teach safety on the stairs and not to play at the top or on them.

[canadiansciencegeek]

I don't have gate recommendations (still working on this ourselves), but for our lazy cat, we have mounted the gate a little higher than you're supposed to so she can squeeze under. It's still far too small a space for a child to get stuck.

[cowplanet]

I have to admit, I love having the top gate up now (bottom is rarely locked, though softly closed if we're downstairs), because I've had to leave A in the hall to roam while I started running the tub water or plopping or spraying her diapers. She's very fast, so even if I set her down for a moment right beside me, she's out of the room in a second or two.

We could probably get away without the bottom gate, but there have been a couple of times when A is happily playing in the kitchen with me, and then WHOOSH! She's tearing down the hall, headed for the stairs. Before we had the gate and I was following her around the house, she started right up the stairs like it was NBD. H is often on his phone when "supervising" or doing something else, so I definitely don't trust him to watch her constantly when on duty. The girl has no sense of danger, and definitely gravitates toward activities that we've said "no-no!" to before. If she hears the laundry room door open, you'll hear a high-pitched squeal and then the slap-slap of her barreling toward it. Forbidden room of treasure!!