Evenflo Position & Lock Gate Review

We bought this gate (it came as a set of two) for a really good deal.  I don't have stairs to worry about, but I wanted them so I could keep our daughter out of the pantry where we keep the trash, the kitty litter and catfood bowls.  I thought I could use the spare to keep her inside when we left the front door open for the cats in the summer.  I never really had to use it for the second purpose, however.

What I did wind up trying the second one for was to keep her in her room when she began climbing out of her crib and we tried switching her to a toddler bed.  Our determined little girl climbed right over it, and when we raised it a little higher to keep her from climbing, she squeezed herself under through the little gap between it and the floor.

But, that is not a product issue, we just had a very active tot who did not appreciate being contained at bedtime while we were still awake.  Looking back, I'm quite impressed that the thing never toppled or shifted with her weight.  She was, and still is, a very petite child, but still.

The gate is a bit tricky, my husband could never figure it out.  I was always the one to position it in the doorways.  There is no easy way to explain in writing how it works.  It has a long lever at the top that is what keeps it locked in position.  I would spread it as far as I could in the door jam and I even tested it and it would take a lot for a little one to even budge it.

I'm only 5' 2", so the other annoyance is having to hop over it.  I can just get my leg over when it is raised a bit off the ground.  The one in the pantry had to be raised so the cats would crawl under it, because they didn't figure out how to jump it right away.  Unless you are willing to remove it and replace it each time you are walking through the doorway, you are going to have to scale it.  It is much easier to just swing a leg over the thing than to replace it, in my opinion.

However, I do not have any other gates to compare it to.  If I lived in a two-level home, I don't think I'd be using it at the top of a starecase.  I don't think any gate would be good for that purpose unless it could screw into the wall and locked securely to prevent it from popping out of place.