We purchased this gate by The First Years when our son was getting ready to crawl. At first, we were very happy with the gate. This gate truly is hands free, which is invaluable when you are toting around a baby (or two!). However, our happiness was shortlived, as our son learned how to open the gate very soon after he learned to walk. Now, the gate is completely useless and we will have to throw it away.
Overview and Gate Operation
The First Years Hands Free Gate is a pressure mounted gate, meaning it attaches to your doorjams or hallways by pressure alone. Nothing is nailed, screwed, or otherwise permanently attached to your house. This is a nice feature, as I did not want to destroy the moldings around the house with nail holes everywhere. Pressure is achieved by first placing the gate in place, and then turning knobs on each side until they are so tight, they cannot turn anymore. As long as you follow this process completely, your gate will be locked in place. I have had full sized adults try to push the gate over, but to no avail. Therefore, your toddler should not be able to push a properly secured gate over by body weight alone.
The door swings open in both directions, via a foot pedal on either side of the gate. The foot pedal seemed like a great feature at first, as it was the only gate I saw which was truly hands free. At first we loved being able to step on the foot pedal and then just walk through the gate. You could then shut the gate behind you by just pushing it with your leg. This was great, until…
My son started walking on the late side, at 14.5 months. By 17 months, this gate was obsolete. One day, the doorbell rang unexpectedly, and I left my son gated inside the kitchen so I could run to the door. I expected to have to sign for a delivery, so I wanted my hands truly free. My son could see me at the door and he wanted to be involved as well. So after watching us many times open and shut this gate, he put one foot on the gate and stood, holding on to the railings for support. The first two times he tried this, nothing happened. But on his third try, the gate opened! The trick was that in order for a baby (or anyone, I suppose) to open the gate, your movements need to be quick. I suppose most of the time, the movements of babies and toddlers are just too slow to activate the gate. But if you get an angry toddler involved, nothing is impossible!
We actually left the gate up for a month after this because we had other gates on the floor to block the more dangerous areas, like the stairs. This gate was more to contain him in a room so that he could stay in sight at all times, like when I was cooking. Or, when I was not in the kitchen, the purpose of this gate was to keep him out. It still served as a warning device, because if he opened the gate, I could normally hear him and run to get him. It was actually pretty funny to see him open and shut the gate all by himself, especially when adult visitors had such a hard time operating the gate. But, it would not have been funny if the gate was relied on to block a more dangerous area (although the manufacturer notes this gate should not be used on staircases).
Price
If this gate actually worked, I would say that the price I paid ($40) was reasonable. In terms of the market for baby gates, the The First Years Hands Free Gate was priced in the middle of the pack, but seemed to offer more features or comparable features when viewed against the other gates. But, knowing now that the gate will be trashed, I feel that I wasted our money.
Summary
I caution all parents NOT to buy this gate! If your child has enough determination, he or she may eventually learn how to operate this gate. In fact, my 10 pound dog started pawing the foot release too! I do think for pet purposes this gate would be great, as I highly doubt my dog or any other dog could master this gate’s operation. But, if you get a toddler mad enough, they WILL outsmart you!
Foot-pedal operated Gate swings open in both directions Fits all standard doorways 29" to 34" wide, and will fit openings up to 44" wide with Gate Ext...More at Amazon
No hands needed! Simply step on the foot pedal to open this sturdy gate in either direction. Ideal for containing pets and kids — it's made of stron...More at One Step Ahead
The First Years Hands-Free GateParents are always looking for a little help to make the day easier An extra set of hands would make life easier With ...More at BabyAge
Fantastic prices with ease & c...(Stock status: N/A)
Rarely does a mom or dad make it through a day without thinking they could use an extra set of hands. So First Years designed the next best thing -- a...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.