Pressure mount gates: Baby safety expert reveals why they are dangerous: ‘I would never do this’

An expert has revealed the one toddler safety gadget she refuses to use with her own children.

Holly is an infant and toddler safety expert who runs online and in-person safety workshops with her sister, Jill.

The Canadian duo is active on social media and regularly share child safety tips and advice for how best to care for your baby. 

In a video, Holly shared that pressure mount baby gates are extremely dangerous when placed at the top of a staircase because they can be easily knocked down.

‘If the gate is knocked down, your baby will fall down the stairs,’ she warned. ‘They need to be further into the hallway.’

‘I would never put a pressure mounted gate at the top of a staircase,’ she said. ‘I see this all of the time in people’s homes and it’s something you really don’t want to do.’

Holly explained that the gates are dangerous due to the ease by which they can be opened, and because they are trip hazards.

‘Even small babies can knock them down – so if you want to use a pressure mount gate it needs to be at least three feet back into the hallway.’

Pressure mounted gates also only work because they’re held together by a bar at the bottom which is a huge trip hazard.

The child safety expert warned that parents could trip on the gates while carrying their children down the stairs.

A safe alternative is a wall-to-wall hard mount gate that is screwed into the home and cannot feasibly be knocked down by children.

But pressure mounted gates aren’t useless. 

‘Pressure mounted gates are perfect for dividing two rooms on the same level,’ Holly said. ‘They could easily be used to block access to a kitchen or a bathroom.’

Thousands of parents thanked Holly and Jill for their advice and vowed to make their homes safer for their children.

‘We had to learn this the hard way, my husband and toddler came down the stairs with the gate,’ a mum said. Luckily, they were both okay.’

‘My one-year-old also went down the stairs with the gate – I wish I knew this before.’

But not everyone agreed with Jill’s advice.

‘My hardware gate ripped out of the wall after a couple of months but our pressure gate hasn’t budged in two years,’ a mum wrote. 

‘Okay, but I’m in a rental and it’s a small house so there’s no other option but the pressure gate.’