Baby gate question

[boiler717]

How would you recommend gating these steps? Should I wait and see if the kid is wanderer / climber before doing something for sure vs putting something on the registry?
If I did a gate, would prefer something with a door because we go out this entrance a lot. Also, the dog food and water is on the tile (in the laundry room, not shown) so I'd like something that could be propped open.

[anna7602]

We have small stairs like that leading to our front door. With DD, we had a pressure-mounted gate at the top of the stairs. It was more of a visual deterrent because that works for her. She was the kind of kid who if you put her on a picnic blanket, she would stay on the blanket and not wander into the grass.

We tried gating DS into the living room (just off our entry way, so cutting off access to the area with the stairs) and that worked for a few months, but now he can pretty much roam as he pleases and it turns out that he's not interested in going anywhere near those stairs. The only thing on the other side of them is the front door, which is always closed.

[anna7602]

I mention the visual deterrent thing above bc I wouldn't use a pressure mounted gate if the kid is actually going to try to lean into or climb over the gate. I would screw it into the wall in that case. And before screwing anything into the wall, I would wait to see what kind of child I have on my hands.

[boiler717]

Sept 2, 2015 6:49:09 GMT -5 @cookiemonster03 said:

I wouldn't worry about it anytime soon. What's on the other side? If you're only near there to enter/leave I probably wouldn't gate it at all but otherwise door way makes sense.

Eta: is that a fridge/your kitchen on the other side? Is there an option to gate from that side?

It's the kitchen / sunroom (our main living room). There's a way to gate to keep in this area from the rest of the house but not a way to gate the sunroom from the kitchen. There's not a door way to the stairs, they spill into the kitchen.

[MadamePresident]

I actually would not get those stairs. I like for my child to be able to practice and learn how to use stairs, I think that looks perfect. It's small enough where they would not get very hurt if they were to fall.

[mlt]

Is that a half flight or a full flight? If it's a half I probably wouldn't gate them at all and would just put a spongy mat at the bottom. Carpeted steps are perfect for learning how to use them.

[boiler717]

Sept 2, 2015 7:19:49 GMT -5 @cookiemonster03 said:

I think this is going to have to be one of those wait-and-see things. You may be able to do a pressure mounted gate on the third stair if baby isn't a lunatic But the other issue is will the baby leave the door food etc alone. One option may be a foldable gate thing kind of propped as a visual deterrent, but it's impossible to know right now what exactly you'll need.

There's nothing across from that wall next to the fridge, right?

Just the kitchen island

[boiler717]

Sept 2, 2015 7:55:21 GMT -5 mlt said:

Is that a half flight or a full flight? If it's a half I probably wouldn't gate them at all and would just put a spongy mat at the bottom. Carpeted steps are perfect for learning how to use them.

It's a full flight, turns after those four steps. Practice stairs are a great idea, I won't worry about adding a gate for this area unless I have a wild child.

[dottyblue]

I would wait and see, but if it becomes a problem when baby is mobile, I suggest doing a play yard that can be drilled in to the wall to wrap around the base of the stairs. Like so:

www.amazon.com/Regalo-192-Inch-Super-Wide-White/dp/B003VNKLIY/ref=sr_1_4?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1441200357&sr=1-4&keywords=play+yard

This is what we did in our rental that had crappy railings where we couldn't install a pressure mounted gate and couldn't do a heavy-duty drill into the walls.