The First Years Hands Free Gate
by The First Years
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.01 You Save: $59.98 (100%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Baby Product See more product details |
|---|
Baby Products Reviews of The First Years Hands Free Gate
Customer Review: Love the gate! Takes a lot of abuse.
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, let me explain I only give 5 stars to great items! This is a great gate. We've had it over a year and its still going strong.
When looking for a gate with baby #2, we wanted something our older one could open but the little one could not. Now, this one has a foot pedal you have to push down on, and also push open the gate at the same time. Its tricky for kids. My 3 yr old neice couldn't do it, but my 4 1/2 yr old got it down pat with a few days of practice. It holds up really well - she has to jump up and down on it and push the gate at the same time before it will open - it requires enough pressure to open where a younger child wouldn't be able to open it. (And if she just stands on the foot pedal, it doesn't move. It needs more force).
I love that its hands-free, just step down and use your knee to push it open. Its swings either way, and I love that it will stand open and not auto-close. Sometimes you don't want it closed! It is sturdy - it stands up to being slammed 10 times a day by the older one and several more by me, plus being shaken by the toddler, PLUS the 40 lb puppy running into it and trying to push it open at least 4 times a day.
I have found only 2 small complaints - 1) We have had to adjust it a couple times when the locking mechanism gets offset. Honestly, I am pretty sure that is due to my older one slamming it in the same direction every time. Its a quick adjustment with the plastic wrench and voila! 2) While it has not yet happened, I am concerned the knee knocker feature I love so much will become a place for the toddler to put his foot and try to climb over. Of course, he won't be able to actually get over it, and really if a toddler is climbing that much any gate will be a problem. :)
A few people have complained the swing-thru gate opening is smaller than other gates. I honestly hand't noticed, and I have rather wide hips. I clear it just fine.
All in all, this gate is convenient, stylish, and takes a lot of abuse. Well worth the money in my book.
Customer Review: Worth it's weight in gold!
Summary: 5 Stars
Originally purchased October 2002
It's easy to follow instructions with regard to installation, comes with it's own tool. Goes up in minutes, I also didn't need the extension.
We purchased the gate for the entrance into my kitchen, so imagine how many times we've used it over the past year...countless times. It's still holding up. YOU CANNOT break this gate! Made of a durable metal (not sure if it's aluminum) - the finish hasn't chipped, the hinge is still in great condition, it still looks new. The only problem we're experiencing with it, is because of constant use and my 11 year old daughter always leaning on it before she swings it open, the rubber grip that's on one of the adjustable pieces that sit on the wall is ripped. Once they are removed the gate cannot sit on the wall securely. I'm going to contact the company and ask for a replacement. But keep in mind the abuse we've given the gate in the first place.
My son's a very active 31 lbs and 29 months old boy and is still secure outside of it. So don't hesitate, go ahead and buy the gate, it's worth it's weight in gold with regard to your child's safety. Just think of how many gates you'd have to buy to hold up to the abuse that this one took, let alone having the hands free feature. I can cook in my kitchen and never worry about my son being between my legs, possibly hurting himself. Good luck with your decision and I hope this helped.
Update: 4/05 - We still have the gate and are still using it! I wanted to post an update because I contacted the manufacturer right after posting this review and without hesitation they replaced whatever rubber pads needed replacement at no additional charge and without any shipping fees incurred.
I still highly recommend the gate - just remind the kids because it's not screwed into the wall not to swing on it.
Customer Review: worth what it costs and quite sturdy
Summary: 5 Stars
This gate is very simple to install, but time-consuming to get the perfect fit. I'd say it took me a solid half an hour the first time. I recently moved it to a doorway and spent just 15 minutes (since I am now an experienced baby gate installer). It is tension mounted with no hardware or tools required. It does come with a little plastic wrench, which is useful for the final tightening once you have the gate in place. It does take quite a bit of elbow grease as well.
I expected the gate to swing closed more easily. You have to stop and use your hand, foot, or knee to push it all the way closed - at least on mine. I do find myself using my hands most the time to make sure it's closed, but if I do have my arms full it can definitely be operated without my hands.
My baby girl is 8 months old and spends a lot of time standing at the gate (and pulling on it). I like that if she has her hands on the gate, there is nowhere for her fingers to get pinched as I open it. Well, there is one place she could; if she ever messed with the foot pedal near the bar that it's connected to. I have found that if I get my foot too close to that bar when operating the foot pedal, I get a good pinch.
I am using the gate in a doorway and the door is able to close normally. The braces come off the doorjamb just ever so slightly, but it is still secure.
I have also used it in a hallway with one extension. In the hall, the top two braces were affixed on the wall, and the bottom two on floorboards, which come out about 1/2" and I still got a secure fit. The hall is 38" and one extension did the trick, but the extensions are about $16 so it could get expensive if you needed to make it wider. The manufacturer recommends only going up to 44". When I removed the gate from the hall there was damage to the wall under one of the top braces - it removed paint and texture.
Customer Review: The Best Gate-a Must Have!
Summary: 5 Stars
We have two of these gates for different areas of the house and they truly are the best. You can walk through this gate literally hands free; I can carry my daughter and a plate of food or other object and not have to set either down to pull/push a lever, you use your foot and knee to get through the gate.
We also have another walk-through gate but it's not a "hands free" gate like this one. You have to pull up on the walk-through part itself and then swing it out. It's inconvenient but still better than stepping over it. We had to buy this kind because this particular doorway was too wide for the hands free gate and the extensions wouldn't make it wide enough. That's the only draw back; the gate doesn't extend wide enough even with the extensions to fit my 46" wide doorway. I wish they would make one that does (maybe they do but I haven't seen it??)
I think it would be a perfect baby shower gift even if the person didn't ask for it. I didn't even know these type of gates existed (the gates I had were hand-me-downs and the kind you have to step over) until I found this one at a thrift store. After installing it, I immediately went on Amazon and ordered another. It's easy to install too!
****December 1st 2007, over one year later and still going strong! I have had no problems with these gates. They haven't fallen apart, my toddler still can't work them herself and they have kept her out of rooms but not us adults. This really is the best gate--so very easy to install (we've moved them about over the year to different door ways) and very stable. I've run into the gate and my daughter will stand at the gates shaking them like she's in jail but they don't budge or if they do they can easily be tightened. They have never fallen over and they must get used 20 times a day walking in and out of a room.
Customer Review: Best Gate Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I had gone through about 8 types of baby gates, including 5 or 6 for the entryway that connects living room and kitchen. Part of the problem is that the entryway is extra wide--over 50 inches--and we had trouble finding gates wide enough just to fit. After several frustrating attempts at finding a decent gate (including resultant trips back to the baby store for refunds/exchanges), we finally bought this foot-pedal operated gate (with 2 extensions) and it works awesome. It's absolutely the nicest gate we have ever bought. Although our son (18 months, ~28 pounds) has an idea of -how- it works, the foot pedal requires far too much pressure for him to get it to open. This gate should be usable until he's at least 35, if not 40 pounds. In addition, since it's made of metal bars and not some sort of crisscross pattern, my child cannot stick his toes in it and try to climb over--all he can do is step up on the bottom metal bar, which is only about 3 inches off the ground.
As an added bonus, the gate is tall enough to keep kids out but not so tall that my cat can't jump over it easily.
Only caveats I can think of:
+ You have to tighten the tension screws periodically.
+ The gate opening is a few inches narrower than would be ideal, so if you're "wide" like me you have to get used to kind of side-stepping through it.
+ By default, the gate makes an audible "click" when it closes, which can wake a light-sleeping child; but with a little practice, you can get it to close soundlessly.
+ The wrench provided for tightening is plastic, and once the tension screws get tight the wrench tends to slip off them a little too easily.
All in all I would definitely recommend this gate to anyone. I only wish they made a hardware-mounted version for the tops of stairways.