Those moments when your little bundle of joy finally figures out how to crawl or takes their very first steps are landmark milestones that you’ll remember forever – but they also mark a pivotal moment in your life as a new parent.
That’s right: it’s now time to babyproof the house. And the most important element of babyproofing has to be the all-important stair gates.
As soon as your little one is on the move, they’re bound to make a beeline for any stairs, so it’s vital that you invest in a good quality safety gate to keep them from scaling any steps while your back is turned. Even if you don’t have stairs, a great gate can be a godsend for keeping babies and toddlers out of areas you’d rather they didn’t venture.
With so many on the market, how do you choose the right one? Our handy guide will tell you what to look out for.
What do I look for when buying a stair gate?
There are a few key things to consider when trying to find the right stair gate for you. First, location – where will it be going? Will you use it at the top or the bottom of the stairs, or both? And do you need one for anywhere else? Then you need to think about the size it needs to fill (there are plenty of retractable options available that can be adjusted to fit different spaces) as well as the height – if your toddler is particularly tall for their age, for example, you’ll need to take that into account – and the fixtures.
There are two main types of stair gates: pressure-mounted ones, which are the easiest to install as they don’t require fixing to the wall, and hardware-fixed gates, which are most recommended for long-term use or at the top of the stairs. Then, of course, there are the aesthetics – as these are going to be on display for a while in your home, it’s important that you choose a style that you can live with seeing every day. There’s a wide range available on the market, from Scandi-style wooden options to minimal metal styles and even see-through and mesh versions.
Which is the safest option?
This really depends on where you want to fit it. While hardware-fixed stair gates are usually considered the safest option, due to fact that they are physically mounted to the wall and are therefore highly unlikely to budge, these aren’t always a possibility for every parent, especially if you happen to be living in a rental property where you can’t drill into the walls. If you do go for a pressure-fitted stair gate, make sure it’s installed properly and test it thoroughly to make sure it will hold firm, especially if it’s fitted at the top of a staircase.
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Lindam Easy Fit Plus Deluxe Safety Gate
These are some of the most popular and highly rated stair gates available right now (a quick straw poll of my fellow toddler mums revealed this to be the most-bought option), and for good reason.
Arriving fully assembled and super easy to install, with no tools or drilling required, they can be put up within a matter of minutes. They’re pressure-mounted gates, meaning they’re not quite as safe as their hardware-fixed counterparts, but these ones come with a clever pressure indicator which tells you when the gates are fitted correctly.
They’ve been designed to be as simple and easy to use as possible, with a release that can be opened with one hand (though be warned it can take a few goes to get the hang of it) and the option to extend the gate with a separate extension for wider openings.
The only snag is that it does have a step-over bar across the bottom, which you need to be mindful of so you don’t trip over it.
Buy now £35.00, Argos
BabyDan No Trip Metal Safety Gate
Super sleek and simple in design, the key thing to note here is that there are no bars or footplates to trip over at the top of the stairs, which is a serious bonus when you happen to have a wriggling baby in one arm and a basket-load of dirty laundry in the other.
The gate opens in both directions, which again makes multiple trips up and down the stairs seamless, and it can also be opened with just one hand.
The gate can be used as a pressure-mounted option, for speedy installation and removal, but it also comes with stop pins for mounting at the top of the stairs, giving you more flexibility depending on what works in your house.
It’s worth noting that this stair gate is only recommended for little ones up to 24 months, so if you’ve got older toddlers it’s worth investing in a longer-lasting option.
Buy now £25.00, Argos
John Lewis & Partners Extending Wooden Safety Gate
As we said, the thing about stair gates is that they’re not the most attractive things to have in the house. Depending on your interior’s aesthetic, you might prefer to steer clear of the usual metal options and go for a sleek Scandi-style wooden gate instead. This extendable stair gate from John Lewis ticks all the boxes on that front – and best of all, it’s a more wallet-friendly option than most of the wooden stair gates on the market.
Despite being at the more affordable end of the scale it still comes with plenty of whizzy features, including an easy system that allows it to be opened and locked with one hand, double locking and two-way opening options. What’s more, it also comes with a no-trip bar and a generous extension, meaning it should fit most spaces.
The only small gripe our tester had was that it was trickier than some of the gates to install, but they were pleased it came with stop pins specifically to mount it safely at the top of the stairs.
Buy now £40.00, John Lewis
BabyDan Guard Me Auto Folding Safety Gate
This option from BabyDan looks a little different from the more traditional stair gates on the market because it’s a retractable version – very handy for packing away when the little ones are in bed and you’d rather the bulky stair gates were out of sight.
Made from hardy PVC, it also tends to blend into doorways more seamlessly than your average metal stair gate (plus there’s the added bonus that it’s easy to clean mucky little fingers prints off of).
Our tester was impressed with the gate’s innovative retractable function, which is particularly clever as it’s auto-foldable – meaning all you have to do is press a button and the gate will retract, so there are no fiddly clasps to grapple with. It can also be folded on the inside or the outside of a doorframe and doesn’t come with a floor bar so there’s no trip hazard. It’s a fairly narrow gate, making it particularly good for tight spaces.
Comes with a one-year guarantee.
Buy now £69.99, John Lewis
Fred Pressure-Fit Clear-View Stair Gate
This is a pricier option than any of the others on this list, but there’s a reason for that: it’s one of the few stair gates currently on the market that offers a see-through option, ideal for those who don’t want a bulky gate cluttering up their homes.
While this may be a design-led option, with a sleek clear acrylic panel in the centre of the gate, that doesn’t mean it scrimps on any of the safety features. There’s a special colour indicator to let you know if the gate is unlocked, as well as one to show that it’s been installed correctly.
The totally transparent window allows you to keep an eye on your little one at all times, and the pressure-fix function is easy to install and remove without tools, though it does come with screws too if you’d prefer to use them for extra stability. While it does come with a bottom rail, which can be a trip hazard, this one has a clever glow strip, meaning you’ll spot it even in the middle of the night.
Buy now £180.00, Amazon
Safety 1st SecureTech Flat Step Safety Gate
While most pressure-mounted stair gates come with a step bar along the bottom, which can be easy to trip over at the top of a staircase, the folks at Safety 1st have come up with a way to work around this issue by installing a specially designed flat bar along the bottom of their gate, greatly reducing the risk of tripping and making this a more suitable option to be installed at the top of the stairs.
Though it’s worth bearing in mind that pressure-mounted gates are not the most recommended for top of the stairs installations, if you absolutely can’t get around that – say if you live in rented accommodation and can’t drill into the walls – this is currently the best option on the market and comes with all the key features you’d expect, including double-locking and the ability to open it one-handed, although our tester did find this mechanism fiddlier than on some other models.
Buy now £39.99, Amazon
Dreambaby Retractable Gate
For the sleekest retractable gate around, it has to be this version from Dreambaby. Made with a sturdy mesh barrier available in three colour choices – grey, white or black – this is a really nice alternative to metal or wooden stair gates, and has the added bonus that it won’t bruise your shins when you knock into it. It’s a particularly flexible option that fits into the most awkward of gaps, including tricky corner staircases.
Its innovative design has led to it winning its fair share of parenting awards, and our tester was impressed by how easy it was to use and move around, thanks to its lightweight nature. The mesh barrier retracts all the way across, leaving no step bar to trip over, and can be opened with both hands, though note that when you open the gate this way it makes a sound to alert you; to open it silently you need to use both hands.
Buy now £50.00, Argos
Dreambaby Xtra-Tall and Xtra-Wide Hallway Auto-Close Security Gate
If you happen to have a particularly tall little one – or an extremely adventurous, mountain-climbing toddler - you might struggle to find gates high enough to fit the bill. This option from Dreambaby is a great choice, being designed to be both extra tall at 1m and extra wide, making it the perfect fit for wider spaces around your home. Another handy feature is that the opening mechanism is higher too, meaning you can save your back from having to bend down quite as much.
The sturdy pressure-mounted gate comes with a swing shut, auto-close feature – so you don’t have to worry about remembering to close it behind you – as well as a two-way opening and double lock system. But most importantly, even the most inventive of toddlers won’t be able to find a way to scale its heights and climb over it.
Buy now £74.96, Amazon
Cuggl Wall Fix Safety Gate
It is a truth universally acknowledged that having a baby is one of the most expensive things you can do, and there is seemingly no end to the number of things you need to fork out for as they grow. But while stair gates are a non-negotiable item (unless you happen to live somewhere without stairs), there are ways to make it a more affordable purchase. Like buying this option from Argos’s in-house label, for example.
The fuss-free Cuggl gate has a small price tag but it’s still big on all the usual safety features you’d expect from a stair gate. As a wall-mounted option, it doesn’t come with a fancy pressure-fit function and it’s not extendable, but its fitting makes it super sturdy and it can still be open one-handed (after a few goes of mastering the technique) in either direction.
Buy now £20.00, Argos
Safety 1st Travel Safety Barrier
You’ve booked the villa, paid for the flights and packed the suitcases when a horrible thought suddenly dawns on you – your holiday home has at least one perilous flight of stairs, and you didn’t think to mention you needed stair gates. Luckily, there are some great travel stair gates on the market, including this one from Safety 1st. Made from lightweight mesh and weighing just 2kg, it comes with its own travel case making it super easy to stash in your luggage.
The gate comes completely assembled, so it can be used straight from the box, and is very easy to set up, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting it to fit most doors. Just bear in mind that, unlike a regular stair gate, it doesn’t open and shut – meaning you’ll have to step over it any time you want to move from room to room or go up and down the stairs – but it’s a brilliant option for when you’re going abroad.
Buy now £51.61, Amazon
Verdict
If you had to invest in just one stair gate, the Lindam Easy Fit Plus Deluxe Safety Gate would be at the top of our list. Super easy to use and install, it feels sturdy without being overly bulky or intrusive in your home, and it comes at a pleasingly reasonable price point too.
