Customer Reviews

Safety 1st Lift And Lock Security Gate

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

It seems sturdy enough. I'm using it for a pet...I'm not sure I'd be comfortable using it for a toddler though!

Take note, you can't use the swing feature unless you mount the gate. If you use the pressure thing, you have to just step over the gate or move it out of the way entirely.

I bought two of these gates, as well as 2 more expensive metal gates that open and close for our hallways. These gates were purchased to keep our twins off the stairs going upstairs and downstairs and wouldn't be used very frequently, probably less than once every 2 weeks. So I thought these would be perfect. They were at first. They stayed in place and were secure. Then as we started taking them down every now and then, like I said, less than once every 2 weeks, they became less and less reliable and seemed to "strip" out and wouldn't hold securely. If you are going to put these in a doorway that won't be used much, then these might be ok. But for blocking stairways, which could be very harmful for kids, then I would not recommend this gate by Safety 1st. I would go with a more secure metal gate, as I am now shopping for!

I LOVE my other two metal gates with the one-hand open/close gates, both pressure mounted. They are perfect for high-traffic areas. They have been in place about a year now and are used many, many times a day. One of these is the Evenflo Simple Step in taupe color and the other is by Dreambaby.

This gate is awkward to open with two hands and nearly impossible to open with one. That leaves the third hand for the baby.
The main problem is the design of the lock. Instead of a latch, which most hardware mounted gates use, there are 2 rods with rubber pads on the ends that push against the door stops, which are mounted to the wall. The rods are moved in and out of the door by pulling on the large white handle at the top of the door. When the handle is down, the rods are pressed against the door stop, and when the handle is up, the rods pull back into the door. Unfortunately, the rods don't fully disengage from the door stops and there is still friction as the door opens. The handle itself has quite a bit of friction as one lifts it. The door itself is made of flexible plastic, so the entire door twists as one attempts to lift up on the handle while overcoming the lateral friction of the rod/door stop assembly. It eventually opens, but not without an incredible amount of two-handed difficulty. I have used many doors, and this has the worst design. I recommend a latch mechanism instead.

As mentioned in other reviews, this gate is not very user-friendly. I have only used the pressure mount option as I am a renter, the handle does not life up easily, the two panels are very difficult to slide, and once you have it mounted, you better leave it alone. We've had ours for less than a week, it's already bending somewhat from one side to the other. It is extremely inconvenient to step over especailly when you are carrying a baby. I would recommend going with a more expensive unit and stay away from this one.

We used the previous model of this gate for several years until the release handle broke off. We were using it on a kitchen door to the outside to keep our dog outside while still being able to keep the door open for airflow, and to be able to see the dog. Now we need one to keep our toddler inside the house (when it's not time to be outside playing with the dog). I was very happy with the previous model, as it fit well in the door frame and the big, round pressure pads held the gate firmly in place. Also, the handle slid up and down easily and it was easy to get the gate in place, even with one hand.

The newer model requires two hands to put in place, the handle is very hard to push down, and the pressure pads are much smaller. Unless you hold the gate in place, one pressure pad will invariably get left out. Finally, even though the gate is adjusted for maximum pressure, it's still easy for a dog or a child to push the thing over completely. So it does not breed confidence. On the plus side, we're able to close the door with the gate in place. I'd really prefer having the old style, but this will have to do for now.

Update: I've been using this for about six months now, and the spring pressure has gotten weaker. I open and close it a few times a day (sometimes I just step over it), and at this point it's mostly just a visual barrier. The kid can push it over with little effort, and the dog will pull it down on occasion. If only my landlord would pay to install a screen door...

I bought this gate for four reasons: it looked sturdy, it looked portable, easy to use, plus the price was right ($20 at Target). Well, it is portable, and was reasonably priced...but that's it. Since I can't find the receipt...it's now in my basement waiting to be donated. My husband doesn't mind it as much as I do, but it's just awkward, hard to use, not sturdy and even has some sharp plastic edges kids could cut their hands on. Also, my kids have already knocked it down (my husband said I didn't have it put in properly), but if I didn't, it's just too much of a pain to have to deal with when used as a pressure gate. The good old fashioned wood gate is better in that regard. That's what I'm using now. One other note, it's acutally not very tall so if your kid is taller than about 34" they might be able to climb over it.

We live in an older home with uneven doors and originally bought a cheaper set of 2 (don't remember the brand). That's when we found out our doors are uneven and had to return those.
We love, love, love this "gate" (our is the clear model). It comes with a mounting option, but if you don't want to screw anything onto your doorframe, it still works great without the mounting, you just won't be able to swing it open. If you choose not to mount, the gate suctions easily to any doorframe and becomes more portable to use anywhere else in the house.
Another reviewer rated this gate on the fact that it can't swing if not mounted, that's common sense. This is a great gate and you don't even have to spend a lot!

My husband installed both gates in about 15 minutes, we chose to use the hardware and hang it from the wall, since these types of gates tend to loose some of the pressure with time (having used them with 3 other children) Overall its a great gates, and serves its purpose very well

I bought a couple of these gates a year ago just before my baby was born. There was a dual purpose behind this gate. 1-to keep the dogs out of the areas the baby was going to be in. 2-to keep the baby out of places he shouldn't be.
So far I haven't had too many issues with it.
The "worst" part I would say I have with this gate is that it's difficult to push down sometimes. The handle requires a little bit of pressure to get it into place-but it's not too bad.

Sometimes I have problems pushing the gate into place. It sometimes doesn't want to sit perfect against the wall. The way we remedy it is by putting our foot under the bottom, then pushing the handle down. It usually takes care of whatever problem it's having.

We haven't mounted it-and don't plan on it. It's been great the way we use it. It's quick and easy to put it into place and take it out of doorways. It usually gets put into place and taken down at least 5 times a day (in between the kitchen and the living room)

I don't understand why other people don't love this gate, but I do.

I purchased this item to keep a small puppy confined in a room while I'm not at home. My main worries were that the item would be a hassle to take down/put up and also that, being a curious sort, my dog would chew apart the gate. After a couple of weeks, neither of these are still issues. My dog hasn't tried to chew the gate at all and, more importantly, it is very simple to move from open to shut when using the pressure lock. I grew up in a house with a lot of baby gates (my mom has a home daycare) and they were all a pain in the neck (hard to open/shut, flimsy, broke after mild use). I'm not sure if this gate is merely representative of new models of baby gates or if it represents the best out there. Regardless, I'm very happy with my purchase!