Safety Gate for Stairs - Help??

Hi A.,

We have two Kidco gates that mount on the wall at the top of our stairs (we have two sets of stairs). They are a white metal and look very nice. We have had them installed for 2 1/2 years now and they work and look great. We purchased them at Babies R US. My husband spent considerable time researching gates online after our initial visit to Babies R US (you can go to kidco.com to see all their gates -they also come in other colors and wood). He said that unless you are putting the hardware dirctly into a stud then when you install them to just make sure you get the metal butterfly anchors that open behind the wall to keep the gate in place. This is not mentioned in the instructions. Just be sure to measure your opening so that you can get the right sized gate. Don't forget to allow a few inches at the bottom of the gate (needs to be high enough so that kids can't climb over but close enough to the floor so they won't climb under. I think ours is about 4-5 inches off the floor. Our cat can slide under it easily enough.)

Blessings,
L.

There are kits for exactly that purpose at Buy Buy Baby. I would get the zip tie ones we got the ones for a wood stair case they are a pain but they make ones for metal that have zip ties they are nice.

We have the Safety First metal gate from babies r us but my husband had to mess around with it to mount it to our metal banister on both sides. He was able to do it, but needed other materials than what it comes with. If your husband is handy, im sure he could do it. Its at the top of our stairs and very secure.

One Step Ahead has great gates and kits for the banister side. CHeck that out first.

We had the same issue with a round newell post. Take a 1X1 or 2x2 piece of wood and use plastic ties to attach it to the round rail, then mount the gate to the wood. This will leave the rail damage free so you are not drilling into the metal.
Hope this helps!

There is a curved one that is like a plastic sheet instead of bars that you can get at Babies R Us-It is 65 bucks or so. One side can mount to wall and other can be mounted to pole with plastic tie things. My friend has it and it is very secure.

I also have to buy a gate for the top of our back porch stairs. the porch is indoors. And there is a metal handrail right where most gates would attach to the wall. We think we are going to attach a 2x4 or such-so it doesn't stick out too much-so that we can attch the gate. Not the most asthetic but safety is more important. Not sure if this is an option for you but something to think about. You could use a clamp or other attachment if needed. I have been considering the gate that folds similar to a shade or a wooden swing gate that would have little "extra" materials. Oh, and I am buying through the One Step Ahead catolog since they seem to have the best selection at reasonable prices.