Evenflo Simple Step Safety Gate

This gate is by Evenflo, called the Simple Step. Let me first give some information about the gate. It is pressure mounted and is safe for doorways, hallways and the bottom of stairs. You can guy this gate through this blog, at BabyAge.

We really liked this gate. Overall it was sturdy, lightweight and of good value.

Pros:

• We liked that it was pressure mounted, this meant no hardware to install and made for very easy, quick installation. It fit the bottom of our stairs, where one side is a wall and the other a banister.
  
• It included a 6" extension panel which allowed for installation in wider than normal spaces.
• There is a one-hand slide lock that easily opens and closes the gate. The lock is also color coded, so you know for sure if it is locked.
• The gate swings open for easy walk through, no climbing over stubborn, hard to open gates! What is really great is that it swings both ways!
  
• We found the installation instructions very easy to follow, you really did not even need them, the gate was so easy to install.
• What we really loved, for the installation challenged, there is an installation demo online!
  
• We felt that this gate was very sturdy for our daughter and our cats! The several children that often crawl around my house were not happy that it was there, but it definitely stopped them from going up the stairs.
• This gate was very easy to clean, just wipe with a wet cloth. It comes in a natural taupe color, rather than hard to keep clean white.
  
• It is very reasonably priced, you can buy it for about $35.
  

Cons:

• The number one problem with this gate is that it is not suitable for the top of the stairs. I wish it were.
• Where we found it to be great for my daughter and some of the others, it did not seem a good fit for taller, heavier, older children. It states it is suitable for ages 6-24M, we felt that it is probably only suitable up to about 18M. The older, taller and heavier babies were able to push it over.
• While we love the swing gate, the opening is not very wide. While most can fit through it with ease, there are some that have to walk sideways through it to fit.

We felt that the cons of the Evenflo Simple Step gate are minimal and the pros definitely outweigh them! Aside from the fact that when the gate is closed, my fat cat can't fit through the bars, I would buy the Evenflo Simple Step gate again and recommend it to others.