Safety Gates for Stairs

Safety gates keep babies safe by protecting them from falls and minor accidents that are bound to happen when they set out to explore the nooks and corners of the house. It isn't their fault because when in that age, the curiosity and the urge to know about everything around them is quite natural. This curious nature though, can put them in trouble, especially when it comes to stairs. Unlike adults, toddlers cannot judge the dimensions or the number of steps on the stairs. So, how can we stop our little ones from trying such stunts? There is an easy way out. All you need to do is buy child safety gates for stairs. These gates are meant and designed for children between 6 months to 2 years. So, if you have a child of this age in your home, then it is advisable to get safety gates for stairs as soon as possible.

Types of Safety Gates

Safety gates are basically classified into three types, hardware-mounted, pressure-mounted, and retractable. Let us see what is the difference between these types and which one of these would be best suitable for stairs.

Hardware-Mounted
These type of gates are also called permanent gates and are installed using screw in brackets. In this type of a safety gate, the latch needs to be pressed to open a part of the gate for adult access. Although it is a laborious task to install hardware-mounted gates as compared to the pressure-mounted ones, it qualifies as the best safety gates for stairs amongst the two for the security it provides.

Pressure-Mounted
These gates are very easy to install, they are fixed on stairways through traction, by applying pressure against the opposite wall. These types of gates usually expand and fit tightly between the two posts of the staircase. However, the bolts of pressure-mounted gates might fail to line directly to the stair posts as the stair posts either are mostly cut at angles or have round edges. Because of this it is not sturdy and safe enough to be used as safety gates for stairs and hence is not recommended. Also, since it is only kept in place by pressure, these are not safe for stairs at all.

Retractable
Hardware and pressure-mounted safety gates have rigid bars whereas retractable gates for stairs come with polyester mesh screens instead of the bars. Though these are capable of handling almost 200 lbs of impact, they are not recommended. This is due to the fact that if the baby happens to run into the screen, there are high chances of the baby falling through the screen. Also the chances of your child toppling over this type of safety gate for stairs is more likely when compared to the other types.

These were the types of child safety gates that are easily available in the market. They come in a wide variety of materials like metal, wood, and PVC. They are also available in attractive colors and shades. You can also use these gates on doors. Hardware-mounted and pressure-mounted gates are both equally good to be used at lower levels. But as I mentioned before, hardware-mounted provides more stability and strength to the gate to stay put as it is fixed with screw in brackets. So, if you are looking to buy child safety gates for top or bottom of the stairs, then you must go for hardware-mounted gates.

Safety gates for stairs and doors would give you peace of mind and take care of your baby's safety when home. You wouldn't have to worry about your baby waking up after a nap and trying to climb down the stairs to meet you. Just put some toys in the room or in the hallway so that they can play with them and it'll keep them engaged. You wouldn't have to run upstairs at every slight noise to check if they are doing fine, you can work peacefully and they'd be happy to play in the secure area that you have created for them. Just peekaboo a few times to see if they are enjoying and you'll find that they are.