If your baby will soon make the transaction to moving on his or her own
, its time to consider safety gates. In fact around the time your baby is starting to sit up is the ideal time to go shopping for baby gates and by the time your little one is crawling, its too late!
When I had my first child, everything was so new to me and I literally was learning on my feet from day to day. By the time your child is making robbing movements which is the precurser to actually crawling, you realize you have to take a look around your home with a view to your childs safety when s/he starts crawling everywhere.
Stairs are the immediate danger that most homes have so its important to keep them off limits to your child. There are many baby gates on the market to choose from. Check around with friends and family who have children. They can give you good advice regarding which product they choose and the advantage and disadvantages. Not only will you learn a lot but you may even be gifted with used safety gates. When children are old enough to navigate stairs and there are no other children planned, then baby gates are usually not needed anymore. Although they are great for keeping your dog off limits too! Not to mention if an inquisitive toddler is coming over to visit.
Basically these gates can be classified into pressure mounted ones and hardware mounted gates. Obviously the pressure mounted ones are great as you dont have to put any holes in walls or banisters. No brainer that these are the most common. These gates can be economical and they are also portable which is a good feature if you know you will be regularly visiting friends and family whose homes are not baby-proof.
The hardware mounted gates are attached to the door frame or wall with screws. They are becoming more popular and they are very sturdy and cannot be pushed open. Of course you will have hole marks in your wall or door frame but when you eventually remove the gates, a bit of putty in the holes will do the trick and next time you paint, these holes will be covered.
Another feature to check is whether you child can use the gates in any way to climb up or whether she can hurt herself by putting her feet/arms through the bars. Some gates are built with mesh for this reason.
With research, check with friends and family and at the store as well as online, you can definitely find the best baby gate for stairs for your purposes.