Gate-tastic

Since we moved into our 1975 split level home about a year ago, a few safety upgrades were necessary and since we found the Retract-A-Gate one large issue was solved. I want to sing some praises of the Retract-A-Gate (www.Retract-A-Gate.com) to make sure all who have small children and gate needs, know how cool this product is.

Our home has a beautiful layout for kids, all save for the stairs right at the edge of the living room.

Before we moved, I had day-mares about my little boy (then 1.5) rolling down the new house living room stairs. We were coming from a home that didn't have such a prominent staircase. I googled gates, read Amazon reviews on nearly all the gates listed, and finally found a mom’s chat board with mom opinions where someone mentioned Retract-A-Gate and how much they loved it. Now, it was a little bit more costly than the cheaper tension gates, but we needed a sure thing when it came to safety, and a cheap gate was not the answer. After I took a look at their website (excellent and easy to navi-gate [get it?!]) it was an easy decision. You see, our 1975 palace has a railing that is a little wobbly, and without making major re-design decisions before moving in, or putting the pressure on to replace it (it’s not broken, just not completely static) I wanted a gate that could be installed right away and safe and, I imagined a wooden/hard gate would be impossible to affix in our situation. Enter the Retract-A-Gate!

My main concern was safety and it is amazing how the simple, smart design on this gate solves that requirement in so many different situations. It is completely safe, our 2.5 year old can't get through it or push it in a way that they could fall down the stairs. Our 4 year old can in fact open and close it, which makes things a snap when you are carrying groceries! The indestructible fabric like design (this would be great with rambunctious dogs too) makes it that the gate will give a tiny bit, which is awesome for us. You could really use this gate anywhere. Why spend money on single purpose gates. If you wanted, you could buy installation hardware for all over your house, and bring the gate to each room with you. We have the one location that we needed a gate, and have plans to make use of it in other areas (like the sliding glass doors to the pool…) once our kids are older.

 Some of the features we love are the simple design, which is easy to use but not easy enough for my little one to damage or open. It was a SNAP to install. We were pretty stressed moving into this place and needed to have the gate up right away, our son was 18 months old and did not know stair safety. I like that it doesn't call your attention visually. Most gates are big and visually distracting; the Retract-A-Gate should be called the Attracti-Gate, because it is so visually appealing.

 I also have to mention that the Retract-A-Gate company actually has customer service assistance, I felt better knowing if I needed help, it was there for me.  Big box/ websites couldn't offer that.

We will be using our gate for years to come, our third baby is just 3 months old, and we are prepared for him already!