The First Years Hands Free Gate

This is a terrific gate that is unobtrusive and easy to use. I would recommend this to anyone with children or pets.

We've used cheap collapsable barriers before, and they are fiddly and after time, damage the wall. We would put them on when the kids were crawling about. But now we have a new baby and the older kids can't hurdle the old barrier like we can, so we had to get one with a door. I like the fact that we aren't popping it on and off like the old one and it will just stay in place for the duration.
The older kids (twins) are 3 and a half and the lightest one (girl) weighs about 36 pounds. She can open it (with a little difficulty) by bouncing on the release, which is a relief to us since we didn't want to be lifting her over all the time. So it works well for keeping baby in, and letting little kids through.

We love this gate, it is so easy to install. I just got rid of our superyard gate. That was not very good to use because you have to climb in and out of the gate. If you have an active child like mine, you will have to go in and out a lot. Several times i trip over it and it's not fun when you bang your legs into the gate. It is plastic but still it hurts! Since we just change to this hands free gate, we are so relieved. It's worth every penny!

We love that this gate is hands free as it is in a frequently used passage to the laundry room, kitchen, garage, and bathroom. We use it with two extensions in a hallway to keep our young dog from visiting all parts of the house. I was excited that I could adjust it so that both my tiny 5 year old daughter and beefy 2 year old son could get through the gate. Unfortunately, when they stand on the foot pedal, they often put their hand on the top for support, right on top of the release mechanism. When they release off the pedal, their skin is captured and they have gotten several terrible blood blisters. It is a painful learning process!

On the plus side, once installed, it is fairly secure. If used in a wooden door frame, I would expect there would never be a need to readjust. As we use it against somewhat flexible walls, it does wiggle loose eventually and require remounting. In addition, the bottom pressure mounts do not work against shoe moulding- we had to cut a couple of angled blocks and used non-slip rug pad to hold them in place. When it starts to become misaligned, it is difficult to close and open, which is frustrating.

In all, for the price, (we had to buy two extensions) I am not happy. Between kissing hurt fingers and readjusting (which requires either the plastic wrench it came with or a real one) this gate is a constant reminder of the need for a better solution. Hopefully the pup will be trustworthy soon.

p.s. If using it for a dog retainer, a small dog (under 10 lbs) can slip through the side bars. We had to add a clear piece of vinyl on each side (sold to childproof banisters) to keep her in when she was little.

We have many gates in our house and this one by far is the best one. It was very easy to install and use. My daughter loves to swing the gate closed and she hasn't got hurt once, it is a very safe gate for little fingers. Very handy to open with your foot when your hands our full.