BabyDan Guard Me

Absolutely great product. I fully endorse as a brilliant, versatile, clever, auto retractable, one handed, stair-gate. Really smart stuff the way it fits together and really neat looking and unobtrusive when fitted. They are very robust and I have no issues if the dog jumps at them. I almost tried the mesh ones but reviews about them ripping easily put me off. VERY happy with these. I need x2 of these to keep my dachshund either upstairs or downstairs - depending where we are. All other gates we tried were either trip hazards or difficult to open/close one handed. You can see from the pictures that the openings/staircase are challenging due to the spindles - but these did the job, top and bottom, due to their versatility. At the top - although the instructions don't suggest it - I used the adaptability of one side fitted straight on - but the other using the sideway attach. Don't be offput by the instructions - they are actually very simple.

This is an excellent product. I was slightly unconvinced about using this rather than one of the traditional wood jobs but my wife and I are both very pleased with the decision we made. We have a bit of a non standard location we want to mount the gate, which means that the fact it folds into itself rather than just swings out is pretty useful. Let's be honest, this gate is still going to be on my wall when the kids are 20, so at least it's unobtrusive. I didn't find it very hard to install and the app instructions are excellent - lots of nice pictures / movies to show how to install it. I do have quite a bit of DIY experience tho it must be said. The ability to customise the gate to the correct width is also very good. It's also easy to open and shut one handed, which is useful whilst you're holding a baby. Sturdiness wise it's resisted our children giving it a good wiggle and kicking so far. One thing to note is that it would to be hard to mount at ground level if you've got skirting boards - this wasn't a particular issue for us, as it'd be pretty impossible for our son to wiggle under it and then round the first step (if he can do that he's not going to have an issue with the stairs!). If you did want it low down, you'd either need to mount on some wood packers or cut a bit of skirting board out.

Very pleased with this stairgate. Very easy to open and not difficult to fit. Two helpful hints.... 1. I found the instruction manual rather difficult to understand about expanding the width. Essentially the procedure is to remove some of the original panels of the stairgate and insert one narrow one between each of the wider originals. There is a tool to push in the lugs that hold the panels in place. 2 I found it a bit difficult to close so I made a small modification..... I used the device supplied to help take panels apart as a little handle. Drill a 4.0 mm hole opposite the locking mechanism, about 6-7 mm from the edge of the mechanism and push the device into the hole to make sure it fits and sits closely against the edge of the locking mechanism (trim a little off the device if necessary to give a perfect fit). Mount it horizontally so the force goes through to 'pin' and doesn't rotate the device. Then superglue in place. Hopefully the photo will show it better than my words!

The gate is a great alternative to those with bars running along the bottom, saying our toes a little! It is great for covering a wider space. The release mechanism is great. Only dropping to 4 stars because it's a little challenging to close with one hand, which is fine unless we're carrying our little one. Overall I would recommend the gate!

This seemed like the ideal gate to put across doorway to the room in which the little one will be playing. I read the Which report, that rated it very highly in their tests. This is a a safety gate which folds back on itself in a concertina fashion, rather than a standard open-and-shut gate with bars, which can make it look like the cherub is in jail. Note, it is fixed into position by screws, so be prepared to make holes. All the screw are provided, though I actually used my own, as some were bit long, so would have gone through the frame and hit brick. I found it easy to install the gate. I have a small gap at the bottom. Aligned one side and then using a spirit level ensured that the other side was at the same height. Screwed that side in, attached the appropriate part to the concertina section, popped it in place, screwed it together (there I used the ones provided) and voila, all ready to go in about 5-10 minutes. It is not fabulously robust against adult assaults however I am confident it is more than strong enough for our little one for some years yet. The gate will fit a gap between 55cm and 89cm, and needs a flat surface to attach it to. An extension is available to buy separately which will increase the gate's width to 113.5cm. If you are going to be putting it where there are skirting boards, you will either need to pack it above, to make it level, so install it over the skirting board or alternatively, if the skirts are not too high (as they never should be), put it in place above them. The double lock means you slide the top, then push it down to open the latch and the concertina section springs away. It is an effective way of preventing little ones from opening the gate, though it means for those with weaker wrists / hands / thumbs, it could be tricky. Closing however is a doddle, just pull the gate in to place and it locks in to the opposite side easily. This gate's wipe-clean surface is easy to keep clean and the non-pinch hinges help stop fingers from getting caught. The things we like most are: 1) It folds almost completely out of the way when open. 2) There is no trip hazard, as with all the pressure fitting gates. Something we definitely do not want when carrying our most precious cargo. 2) It is wipe clean, for when our cherub inevitably decides to add something to its aesthetic. 3) It was easy to install. 4) It does not make it look like the little one is in jail. 5) It seems to be robust enough. 6) It does not get in the way, don't need to step around it when it is opened. 7) It springs out of the way when released. 8) It is easy to close. Things we don't like as much: 1) The double action opening can be tough on weak thumbs 2) It will leave holes 3) It is more expensive than the fixed swing style gates. On balance, the negatives are minimal when one considers why you have the gate in the first place. Holes can be filled easily, it isn't so pricey as to be silly and it is a lot better than being hit by a swinging gate or tripping over the bar when carrying your baby. Please give this review a like if you find it helpful, thank you for reading.

We are extremely pleased with the Guard Me baby gate by Baby Dan. It was easy to fit to the top of our stairs and is very versatile in terms of where it can be fitted (inside and outside of a door frame / top and bottom of the stairs). Furthermore, extensions are available at an extra cost but we did not require extra extensions as it already comes with three extensions in the box! These are easy to fit using a “key”. The instruction manual is pretty simple if you know the type of fitting you require. Alternatively an online installation video is available at www.babydan.com The gate itself is self-retractable and neatly folds to one side. To open there is a secure mechanism to ensure safety. Just pull back the button and push down. Easy. It looks far better than the alternatives out there and it’s not clunky due to its design. The gate is very secure once in place and no issues with entrapment between bars. Furthermore, no worries about tripping over a bottom bar! A great design, easy to fit and use. Highly recommended.

Using this to stop our 10 month old getting up the stairs. I've got skirting on one side and spindles on the other so didn't know what I was going to do for a stair gate but I knew I wanted a retractable one so when the baby is elsewhere we don't need to keep contending with a gate. So easy to use, just screw the two posts in and screw the panels to the post. I ended up adding another part of a panel to make it wide enough for my stairs and there is a little tool to help do this - really easy to slide in and out. I ended up taking a bit out of the skirting board with a multitool and on the other side I've screwed it in at the bottom and I'm going to use cable ties at the top which I'll thread through the screws holes (I'm actually using garden wire at the moment and it's sturdy enough but want it a bit more tightly bound to the spindle). I was going to put a bit of wood above the skirting to make it level but didn't have the wood - I'll regret this when the baby's grown up and there's a hole in the skirting board!! The pictorial instructions are a bit confusing as there are loads of different ways you could configure this gate but it's so intutive I didn't really need them. According to the manual there are 'beautiful' instructions online, although I have not seen them. The mechanism to open it is a bit stiff and you need quite a bit of thumb-strength! My wife finds it a bit difficult to open so uses two hands. I don't normally write reviews like this but thought I would on this occasion because I was so impressed by how good it is - also on 'lightning deal at £33.51 so couldn't be better!

Once installed, it is magic. Fits into almost any space with loads of simple adjustment. Instead of hinging out - which for us would make for some difficult decisions and a lot of inconvenience when moving up the stairs and along the corridors. Seems good and strong and the hinges and catch are really positive - impossible for a toddler to open. Very easy to install - once you figure out how it works. That said, figuring it out was not at all easy (and I'm an experienced DIYer). They have gone for the cheap option of printing masses of languages in one manual and making you flick back and forth between the minimal instructions and the voluminous pictures. They have also included two similar products (wooden and metal) interleaved between each other which adds to the confusion. The pictures are complex with lots of decisions to be made after you have managed to interpret them. That is not easy as there is no text at all - presumably to save translation costs. A bit more spent on manuals putting everything in one language together with pictures in separate manuals so you can discard all the ones you don't use would be far better. It would also help to decrease the complexity to have separate manuals for the wooden and metal products.