The First Years Hands Free Gate

Great gate!
This is by far one of the best investments we've made since having a baby. This gate was super easy to install, and is very sturdy. I really like that this gate is pressure mounted, so when we need to take them down, there will be no holes to fill in the walls. The foot pedal that releases the gate is very easy for adults to use (once you know that you have to push on it like you mean it!), but not too easy as you wouldn't want any escapees! We also have two small dogs (Yorkie and Shih Tzu) and it holds them where they're supposed to be as well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this gate. If we ever decide to gate off another doorway, we will definitely buy another one of these!

Easy Installation, Sturdy, Almost like Jail Bars
Before buying this product, measure and look at your floor boards! You may or may not need the extension if you have a wider area to cover. And I had to remove the lower moldings along my floors in order to install this gate properly. Make sure you're okay with doing that if need be. If you don't have a flat, flush surface to mount this gate with, I don't recommend getting it. I first tried installing it on the molding and it was simply not smart.

I'm pretty sure my 8 month old knows how to open this gate. She always goes for the little gray step. Thankfully, the amount of force you need to apply to press it down is pretty great. It's challenging for an adult to press down with one hand, let alone a baby.

The gate works as advertised for us. We have two of them in our home and each uses the extender. They're firmly in place and sturdy. Need a good-looking, sturdy jail door for your wandering youngster? Look no further.

Didn't work for us.
I ordered this gate last week and just received it Wednesday. My 2 1/2 year old opened it 5 minutes after it was installed. He stands on the pedal and jumps up and down until the gate pops open. Obviously if we're right there we stop him, but sometimes mom needs a bathroom break. We ended up going to the store to buy a different type of gate. Too bad since on the economy we have to pay in euros. :(
Guess this gate is only meant for kids younger than 2 1/2.

Great Buy (but not great for the stairs)
I LOVE this gate and would buy it again. I like how it swings open both ways, opens with a foot pedal so it's hands free, and is incredibly sturdy though it's pressure-mounted. My ONLY disappointment with this gate is that it doesn't fit well on our stairs. We live in a small apartment and the wall doesn't jut out far enough from the bottom step in order for the foot pedal to work. Instead, I mounted the gate in the doorway of our baby's nursery, and it is working out GREAT.

Gate broke after 6 weeks, video review on breakage
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R38Z3KZ0W3CSS0 One caveat to my 2 star review: I purchased this as a dog gate, and not a baby gate. Though I do have two small children (3 and 6, out of the baby gate stage), perhaps it was not used as intended, and maybe they were too rough on the gate trying to open it? It's basically impossible for anyone under 6 to operate this because they aren't heavy enough to push on the pedal. Even for adults, you have to push pretty hard to pop the gate mechanism open.

That being said, the gate broke after just 2 months of use and you can see on my video review exactly where the gate broke. I started recording the video when the gate began coming apart, and by the end of the review it was totally broken/separated. I had several gates when my children were babies a few years ago, and this was my *least* favorite of all of them.