Jane's getting to the age where she's going to start to crawl. She's been getting herself up on all fours for the last 3 weeks now and, lately, it seems like it's all she wants to do... now she just needs to learn to go forward. Or does she? Part of me is excited for this new stage and the other part is dreading it. Right now, I can plunk Jane down on the floor in her playroom and cook supper or clean the kitchen and not worry too much about tripping over her. Once the crawling starts... life will change. Like I said, the other part can't wait to see her develop!Over the holidays we started thinking about baby gates among other things (e.g. putting the crib mattress lower). Problem with our house is that both stairway entries (is there a better name for this that my brain is not allowing me to remember?) have one side wall and the other side pretty-posty-thingy (I am 100% positive that there is a better name for this that I can't remember).
So, we bought the pressure mounted
Safety 1st gates and here was our problem:- Because one side was a fancy post, the pressure mounts wouldn't securely hit the post
- Because the wall side had a molding, once again the pressure mounts wouldn't hit the wall evenly
So, my dad built the following solution (see pictures). I know there are other baby gates out there that we could have used but these were the ones be bought and, I'm pretty sure, are the most common. With our solution, these gates are SO sturdy! They are definitely not going anywhere. Thought I'd let ya know in case you have these gates or similar, a similar issue and are looking for a solution! I plan on painting them white to give it a more finished look but only God knows when I'll get around to that, if ever. Another benefit to this "fix" is that it's not permanent. We don't plan on living in this house forever and even if we did, plans change, so you don't want to do something permanent that can't be fixed up with a bit of putty and paint (e.g. screwing into your beautiful hardwood stair posty-thingy).
6 comments:
he did a great job rigging something up for you! At least it doesnt look messy, and a little paint will make it so its barely noticable!
I hate posting this here but How did you get your PTPA button, I just got my welcome email and I can't figure out how to get the button so I can post it to my blog.
Thanks (about the PTPA Button, I am not on the panel (yet) it said in the email they gave me that I can get one but I think I have to just hyperlink thier website right now(since I am not on the panel) Thanks for your help!
We had the same problem, and my Mr. Fixit hubs fixed something up like this.
It gets pret-ty interesting once they get on the move. And wait until the first time she tries to wander on up those stairs on her own. Holy moly.
I started reading your blog when she was so tiny. I can't believe it's time for this already.
It's a newel post! :)
I read that pressure gates shouldn't be used at the top of stairs. I'm sure it's perfectly safe and it definitely looks like you've got it installed properly, but I wouldn't want to NOT mention this to you and then hear later that you had a problem arise.
Hey Angelene,
Yeah we're aware of this, however, our gates, although pressure secured, also have little latches attached to both the wall and our makeshift post (that came with the gates) to secure them! :)
Thanks though! :)
Excellent! I figured there was another latch type of mechanism on there somewhere. I'm interested to hear how you like the gates once you get using them, because we'll be in the market for gates soon!
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