We've made a lot of progress on the baby-proofing front lately, as our little one has moved up to full-fledged mobile toddler. You may remember that
last time, we put in a tension-mounted gate to separate the living room from the hallway, magnetic locks in the kitchen, and TV straps. The most important - and hardest - change to implement was the gate at the top of the stairs. Thanks to a recommendation, we went with the
KidCo Angle Mount gate. Unlike the gate on our main floor, this one had to be attached to the wall (accidentally dislodging it on a level surface and falling to the ground is a big difference from accidentally dislodging it and plummeting down the stairs). It also couldn't have a threshold that we grown-ups could potentially trip over. This option seemed like the only one that we could use - especially since with the bannister and having to install into studs, we needed the option to install it at an angle (i.e. not perpendicular to the mounting walls).
This was definitely a two-person install so thank goodness grandpa and grandma were there to help watch the baby and assist. D had to be especially careful because one of the studs was also very close to wiring for our hall light. There was a lot of leveling and measuring and tweaking to get the sizing right. The gate width was just slightly too big at one setting and slightly too small at the other, so we had to try both more than once, and keep adjusting the bolt on the lock (4th picture) to see which fit was better.
It works, and after a week of struggling to get the hang of opening and closing it smoothly, I think I've got it (I sneak out in the morning while it's still dark, usually with things in my hands, so it was quite a challenge). It isn't as easy as our main floor gate that has an easy spring and automatically swings shut, but then again, it is a completely different design with a different purpose.
The annoyance for me is that when it is unlatched, it swings back and blocks the door to the nursery.
When it's closed, you can see that we installed it at an angle to get it under the bannister and into the corner stud on the other side. We installed it above the wood trim and made sure before we screwed it in that the cats can pass underneath (but the baby can't). We didn't want them having to jump a gate that was on the steps - they're pretty coordinated but I don't think they could handle that.
Now we can let her play upstairs while we get dressed and straighten up without fearing for her life. And if she should ever manage to figure out how to escape her crib, she can't get far. Huge sigh of relief.
