Once your baby gets on the move, your life changes. We knew that the stairs were going to intrigue the boy, simply because we stopped him going anywhere near them. So, in typical Eddison fashion, the one place in the house he longs to be is near the stairs. Our place has a particularly nasty drop on the stairs (I’m not sure any stairs make for a comfortable fall) so a good stair gate was a must.

Researching stair gates was a bit strange. There isn’t tonnes of variation out there if I’m being honest and from first searches, I struggled to find something our little animal a) wouldn’t be able to break, b) something he would get stuck in and c) something that wasn’t ugly. After a bit of a hunt I came across the Fred. Clear-View stair gate – a gate made from crystal-clear professional grade acrylic.

The wonderful people at Fred Safety sent me over the screw fit option and I’ve got to say, I’m hugely impressed with it.

First Impressions

The gate is a work of art. It’s simple and sleek and comes in just 3 parts (two wall supports and the gate itself). The body of the gate is adjustable up to 100cm which was perfect for our slightly wider than normal staircase. At 77cm tall, the gate isn’t ungainly, although I must say, it feels pretty heavy on the first lift – that’s pretty advantageous though and I’ll explain why later. The fitting kit consists of a variety of screws to allow you to fit the supports to pretty much any surface.

Fitting

With 3 main parts, fitting is straightforward. The kit comes complete with a plethora of spacers, screws, plugs and fittings to allow the perfect set up – no need to faff buying spacer blocks and different fitting separately like many other gates. Realistically, fitting took about 20 minutes and in that time I changed my mind on where I was putting each piece, so it is honestly pretty simple. Originally, I put the hinged side of the gate against the wall with the clip on the banister side. Once I had the gate on, I changed my mind and decided to put the hinges on the banister. As I mentioned before the door is quite weighty so I didn’t really like the idea of it bashing against the wall when I open it. So fussy. I whipped the supports off and started again. Once I had the supports in, it was just a matter of popping the gate into the Fast-Mount hinge and adjusting the width of the gate. Done.

Usage

Now, something might look good in the box and be simple to fit, but what so many people are asking me on Instagram at the moment is, “is it any good?” I have to say I think it’s mint…something I thought I’d never say about a stair gate! Asthetically, it blends in with the house seamlessly and practically, it stops the baby falling down the stairs. Win. What I love most about the acryllic gate is that he can’t get any limbs caught – and trust me, if it was possible, he would have done it by now. The top mounted handle means that his beady little eyes can’t see how he can open the gate and the weight of the body becomes clear (excuse the pun) once you start using the gate. The weight provides sturdiness and rigidity, meaning even with the baby leaning against the gate he’s totally safe. The graet thing about the screw in option is there is no bottom frame, making it perfect for the top of the stairs. You don’t want a step at the bottom of the gate when it’s at the top, especially when you zombie walk as much as I do!

Overall, we are well impressed with The Fred Clear View – when it comes to stair safety, you’ve got to get it right and they really have.