Poor Dexter. He got an unbelievable shock this morning when I carried him past the white thing at the bottom of the stairs. Naturally I whisked him straight off for a bum change and some porridge before he’d get a proper chance to explore it, but I can testify he spent his entire time in his high chair staring through the wall at it like Superman.

Stair-climbing is a recent hobby for my little guy. It’s actually my fault as one morning I left my make-up bag (a.k.a Dexter’s favourite toy) on a bottom step. Learning that mounting stairs is perfectly achievable, he’s set about trying to get up them ever since. A safety gate was definitely needed. Cue the brilliant guys at Lindam and the Sure Shut Orto!

We have L-shaped stairs which are incredibly common in old terraced houses. This mean the width of our walls on our landing are dramatically different from those at the base. With this being also a rented house, we needed a pressure fit gate that didn’t involve us drilling into (and thereby Craig ruining) the wall. With Lindam having some 20 years experience of providing leading safety equipment for homes of every shape, I sent them all the challenges we faced and they came out trumps.

Of course Craig will want me to tell you that he fitted this gate. But this simply isn’t true as I fitted it myself (I’m expecting some serious back-patting here). I won’t gloat too much though as it was impossibly easy. The gate was already assembled and ready-to-use, I only had to pop the pressure caps on the heavy duty screws, and use a spanner to tighten the bolts. I really liked the fact that the gate had a natural gap that closed only when the gate was secure. This means I knew my gate was fitted safely before letting Dexter pound on it and attempt to fit his limbs through the bars.

There are many benefits to a pressure fit system. They’re fully adjustable (this one currently fits openings from 75cm to 82cm, and can extend to a whopping 138cm with separate extensions) and they don’t require any drilling. Given they are not physically secured to your walls, you can use just the one gate to stop budding acrobats getting up and down the stairs.

As regards opening and closing the gate, the Sure Shut Orto has a pull and lift handle that is easy to manage one-handed. This is great for early mornings when your munchkin decides they’re ready to get up at 5am. You won’t be squeezing through it either as it has an extra wide walkthrough section for us fatties!

What really makes this safety gate rock, is the fact you can open it inwards or outwards so it’s hugely flexible depending upon which cupboard room you’d like to limit baby to. It also shuts automatically and double locks itself so you can’t be outwitted by your child. Genius.

All this means I can relegate our old scary-looking gate to the garden. This rickety contraption came to us by way of eBay. Having got Dexie’s cotbed for a bargain £150, the seller threw this in for free. I’m not entirely sure if this was generosity on her part, or her just wanting to see the back of it. Either way, plans for this one involve old baked bean cans and daisies! (like this one >)

Lindam have a great video section that means you can discover exactly which gate is right for your home. You can also like them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Youtube for latest product news and offers! What a social bunch they are!

DISCLAIMER: I was sent the Sure Shut Orto Safety Gate for the purposes of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.