We have a pretty cheap one. SuperGate III on sale from Fred Meyers. It does the job. Not great looking but not as bad as the first one you posted. Make sure she can’t climb on the gate. I wouldn’t do horizontal slats if it were me. We need another one for the top and think we’ll get the same one. Noah is terrible at going down the stairs, always tries to go head first. My VT suggested making going down the stairs fun. So I help him turn around and then pull him by his feet (gently of course) and cheer all the way down. He has fun and hopefully he’ll learn soon to slide down backwards.

i like meagan’s thoughts. i’m trying to remember when i took the gate down for my kids. my youngest is 2 1/2 and i took it down a while ago, maybe at the end of last summer when he turned 2. i’m pretty protective though. another friend of mine has the same long stairwell as me and never got a gate for her little ones. i just like to have the whole house safe for my kids for if i need to step away for a minute or something.

i would consider the permanant gates that can swing open by stepping on a lever or whatever for the areas you’re going to be going through most. my dad made gates at his house for the grandkids. don’t know if i can explain it well, but in essence, he put two pieces of wood on the doorways (doors could still be closed) then had a thin peice of wood (like ply wood but finished and heavy, don’t know what it’s called) that we would slide in- drop in from the top. he cut them so they were shorter than traditional gates and not as difficult to climb over. when the kids were big enough to get over the gates we figure they are responsible enough to not need them. at the top of stairs though, you’d want a gate to be high enough. good luck on your move and setting up the house!

also, i start training my kids on the stairs by putting the removable gate a few steps up from the bottom. that way they can experiment on a couple stairs and not fall very far if they do fall.

NO GATE! :) Make her learn! My oldest, who is 3, never had a gate but figured it out REALLY quick and we never needed one! No hopping over gates, worrying about them falling down and the baby tumbling. Plus, when we went to others houses that werent baby proofed, we didnt have to worry. That being said, we do gate our dogs into the kitchen daily and I WISH, we would have just invested in the bolt into the wall gates that have a door that you can lift to open to get thru. I wouldnt personally go with the cheap again because it wears on the wall with the indents and the scratching and then where to store when not using for the moment, the hassle of the up and down with the gate….but honestly, you have a mini genius on your hands, she will catch on QUICK!

They learn stairs very fast! We used to spend time “playing” on the stairs every day until she figured it out and she became a pro very quickly. There were only like 2 months where I was worried about leaving her alone. I do have a gait (Safety First brand, nothing fancy) for the kitchen–so much easier than baby proofing the thing–and it does the job just fine, but I can definitely see why you would want a more expensive gait, it looks waaaaayyyy better than mine!

You know me. Cheap-O.
But wow. Option number two is gorgeous. I can see the allure.

We have one of the cheap wood ones from Walmart. The best advice I can give you, is maybe invest in a better gate for ones that you’re having to climb over ALL THE TIME. The one at the base of our stairs stays there the WHOLE time. When we are upstairs, usually only at naps and bedtime to play, read books and then go to bed, I’ve taught Brinley to WAIT for me at the stairs if she starts running at the top wanting to go down. She can now climb down the stairs, but I don’t let her just do it herself. She is really good at waiting for me at the top. She just stands there with her hand out waiting for me to walk her down.

The ones that I’ve liked, when I nannyed two girls, was at the top of the stairs where they had their bedrooms and playroom and spend most of their time there was one of the opening and closing ones. Which sounds like the best idea if you’re having to go in and out constantly.

I don’t think you really need to spend HUNDREDS on a gate. There are great ones at Target or Walmart that will do just fine. The problem is when they get loose, but as long as you keep them tight and secure, even the cheapest will do fine. As we’ve seen with our $10 one. It has seen a lot of action and hasn’t broken. And if it does, it’s only $10 to replace instead of $100? ya know?

Anyways, you may just have to try it out and see what ones you like. I’m glad we only have ONE gate. I can’t imagine all those stairs. it’ll be a nice work out for ya everyday!!!