Pressure-mounted Gates?

I don't know anything about pressure-mounted gates, but we have wall-mounted gates that we installed. Like you, we did not want to damage the bannister, so we put a piece of wood between the bannister and the gate - the gate is then drilled into the wood and not the bannister. This has worked very well for us. Our daughter is very good about not going up the stairs, so we don't have any gates at the bottoms, just at the tops to prevent her from falling down the stairs. Besides, we figured if she does head to go up them, we can always grab her before she gets very far. But falling down the stairs happens in a split second. Saved us some money too because as you know, those gates are not cheap!

As for the cat situation, we have a fat cat too! We wondered how this whole gate situation would work for her, and really it's been no problem. We don't have to keep the gates closed at night when our daughter is sleeping, so kitty has full run of the house all night long. During the day, if she needs to get up or down the stairs, we can open the gate for her and let her through. And you'd be surprised - fat as she is (17 lbs) she can still squeeze her way through those bars if she really wants to!

Hope this helps!! : )

Hi Jen,

Actually we have an odd railing configuration too. At the top of the stairs I use a pressure gate. My son really doesn't get free roam of the house without me right on his tail, and he isn't getting out of his crib at night yet, and even if he did manage that, he's too short to reach the door handle so he's stuck in his room for a bit. I only use the pressure gate when I am in the upstairs hallway doing laundry (our laundry room is on the 2nd floor). I am within 10 feet of him the whole time and as of yet, he doesn't try to climb the gate. I don't use it as a permanent fix though - just to keep him within sight while I hang up clothes and fold towels :)

Our guy has been a pro on the stairs for a while... so I'm not absolutely concerned he's going to fall... I just need to keep him nearby - because he takes advantage of my distraction - i didn't use it one time, and I swear within a minute he was all the way down stairs and he was eating carmelized pecans out of the garbage - THIS is why we call him our little puppy :)

We did pressure mounted at the base and wall-mounted on the top. The pressure seems just fine. We have an odd space on the bottom and also have a safety first gate, slightly different that a previous poster.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2265784
This one seems to fit odd spaces better.

oh, our cat... can't get through. He's out of luck.

We always used the pressure mounted gates and I have always found them super strong. As for your cat, don't put the gate at floor level... raise it enough for your cat to get under it. That was always my solution and it always worked.. even with a chubbo cat.. mine was too!!

Start the gate just a bit higher then the first stair.. your son shouldn't be able to get through and your cat should... may take a few times to get the level right for both of them.. but it will work!! I never had a gate level to the floor, they were all raised for the cat.

Good luck! Kudos on moving buddy!!

We did not have luck with the pressure mounted gates as they would not stay secure against the banister. My husband bought a piece of 1X1 wood and attached it to the newel post with wire ties, then screwed the gate piece to the wood. That way the gate is secure and no damage is done to your banister.

One Step Ahead (www.onestepahead.com) has a safety gate adapter for $19.95 that latches onto the banister posts so that you don't need to drill into your banister. Item #13197.

I got my products from protectiveparentschildproofing.com. They have good tips on the website too.

Hi Jen:

This link will take you to the gate that we have used for the past 3 years. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2463319

We are so pleased with this gate. Our son pulled on it, pushed on it and it has never once came down. On one side we have a solid wall and the other side is against the bottom rail of our banister. When I copied this link, I read the reviews and was shocked that some people rated it so poorly. My only guess is that they didn't follow the instructions properly. I would highly recommend it myself.

Enjoy your little explorer!!

When my daughter started motoring, we had a pressure mounted gate at the bottom of the stairs. We spend most of our time downstairs, so we didn't have one at the top of the stairs. We also didn't want to drill into our walls & our gate worked fine. We just got it at Walmart I believe. I do think you can get pressure-mounted gates that swing open too, which would make life easier for your cat. I don't have a cat, so I don't have much thought on that.
Good luck!

We have an odd set up in our home, so the "Kiddy Guard" gate was the best fit. It is like a retractable blind that is very sturdy. It is a little pricier than a regular gate, but it has been great. We wouldn't have spent the money, but our neighbor had the same gates, and we saw them in action. We actually just put a gate at our kitchen entrance to gate off our kitchen instead of putting drawer and cabinet locks on everything. Good luck!