Dreambaby Chelsea Hallway Auto-Close Baby Gate L790B

Todo perfecto…por poner una pega, lo he comprado dos veces y los dos envoltorios venían en mal estado…. Aunque por dentro sin desperfectos

JUNE 2014:
Credit to Dreambaby, where it’s due. I reported this to them and they fairly quickly sent me a brand new gate. I’m keeping the rating as a single star because of the horrendous potential consequences of a safety gate collapsing, no matter how unlikely. Ufortunately, this entire episode has also tainted my view of Dreambaby products in general…I’d certainly think twice about buying another DB product, if the failure of which could have such serious repercussions.

FEB 2014:
My original review is below and all of that still stands but after having this in use for about 10 months, last week had a rather disturbing development.

The actual gate part of this item has a handle mechanism on one side and the other has a pivot point at the bottom corner which is placed into a hole in the gate’s frame section (the part that is fitted to the walls); the top corner of this same side has a small screw which holds the metal ‘gate’ part into a plastic fitting which, in turn, has a pivot mechanism…this is what enables the gate to be opened both inwards and outwards.

I didn’t know this screw existed (you’re not required to ‘assemble’ this part of the gate as part of the fitting process) but I certainly was made aware of it when last week, my wife went to open the gate after we’d just put our 2yr old to bed, and the entire gate mechanism fell away in her hand and landed on the floor, halfway over the top step of the flight of stairs this was supposed to be making safe. On further investigation, the small screw I spoke about above, had fallen out which meant the left side of the gate (the pivot side) wasn’t tethered to anything. I assume that the screw had worked itself loose from the couple of hundred times we’ve opened and closed this gate since it was fitted…essentially, normal usage. The thing is, as far as I can see, the gate didn’t need to be held in place with a screw and could have just been molded or welded into the same part of the mechanism which it was attached using this small screw.

I dread to think what would have happened if my little girl had been pushing and pulling the gate like she sometimes does. From now on, I’ll be checking this screw every day or so to make sure it’s not working loose again…may even put some thread-lock on it. The other gate I fitted at the same time is fine (exactly the same make and model) but this is almost certainly because it’s hardly ever opened and when it is, it’s only opened one way because it had to be fitted one step up from the ground.

I urge anybody who has bought this gate in the last 6 months or so to check that this small screw is very tight.

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ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Very easy to fit (even comes with a ‘DVD’ but personally, I didn’t watch it) and seems to do exactly what it’s supposed to.

The gate mechanism can be opened with one hand (very important), can be opened either inwards or outwards and automatically swings shut as it closes.

It also comes with small, plastic cups which can be screwed to the woodwork (or the wall) in which the pressure pads sit into…this means that effectively, it can either be a pressure fit or ‘permanent’ fit gate. It’s recommended (for obvious reasons) that pressure fit gates aren’t fitted at the TOP of stairs, but I’ve fitted one of the 2 of these I ordered at the top of my stairs and used the extra cups screwed into the woodwork; trust me, I’ve put a lot of pressure on it and it doesn’t budge – it seems to me that a child would literally have to throw themselves at this gate once fitted with the screw-cups in order to make it move.

I ordered this gate for my 8 month old son, who is wanting free-reign of the house now. I needed something for the bottom of the stairs and this worked out GREAT!

When I first received this gate, I was concerned that it would be difficult to install. It came with paper instructions & an installation DVD, which never worked on my DVD player. But you can go to the company’s website and watch the install video there. From that I realized how easy it would be to install.

I installed the gate at the bottom of the stairs…(it’s NOT recommended for the top of the stairs.) The install was simple enough. I just made sure everything was level, placed the little cups on the wall, which adds extra stability. The cups come with adhesive tape, which is nice and strong or if you prefer you can use the included screws, but it’s not required. I then tightened the 4 posts and it was done!

I especially like that it closes automatically. I have a 7 year old daughter that is constantly up and down the stairs and she is often forgetful. With the automatic closing gate I can rest assured the gate will always be closed. The gate works perfectly.

It’s easy to open for adults and my 7 year old (who had a little trouble at 1st)…but it’s def. secure for little ones, who don’t possess the strength or dexterity yet to operate the gate.

One of my biggest considerations for this gate was the way it did open…many pressure-mounted gates open with a lever type action, that relies solely on strength. You life the handle up wards and then to close you have to push down…I have heard about people pinching their fingers in these types of gates. Knowing I had my 7 year old that needed to be able to operate, I felt that those types were too dangerous…

This gate has a little button you pull back on, which pulls the lock out of the top of the gate, then you lift the door up wards, releasing the lock from the bottom of the gate and swing it whichever way you need…then in gently closes behind you. I felt this gate was not only highly rated, but was the safest gate, not just for my baby, but for my family who have to operate the gate.

Overall, I highly recommend this gate…I have done alot of research into different companies of baby gates and Dream Baby seems to be one of the best, if not the best company of Baby Gates…I am very impressed.

When our daughter started crawling around, I wanted to find a gate that would mount at the top of our stairs. I read reviews on Consumer reports, but none of the gates they reviewed would work for our very wide staircase (it is 4 feet wide). After checking the dimensions on this gate and reading the (mostly positive) reviews on amazon we decided to purchase this gate, in spite of the fact that it is more expensive than many of the other gates. In reality, this gate seemed to be the only one that would meet our needs. Once we received the gate, the mounting did not take too long- I helped my husband and it maybe took us… 15 minutes tops? We have had the gate for over six months and it has held up well in spite of a seven-year old who LOVES to open and close it more than needed. The opening in the gate is wider than some others that our friends have, so it is not impossible to go through the gate when holding bulky items such as a basket of laundry. When potential buyers came to check out our house, they liked the gate so much that they wanted it included with the house. As a result, we are now buying our second dreambaby gate for our next home. Definitely recommend this product- oh, and the black gate looks pretty classy and goes great with our decor. (Not a must, but definitely a perk).

We have owned at least 4 other styles of gate, and we now own three Dreambaby swing close gates. This is a five-star review because I absolutely love theses gates, but there are four things that make you should know before you buy:

1. The gates are more than a little tricky to get installed, since you need to first get the cups that adhere to the wall or are screwed into the wall in just the right spots, and then you must get the tension just right on each of the four contact points. The process has inspired a bit of frustration in our house. That said, once they are in properly, the installation is very solid and the swing gate works like a charm.

2. The gate has a lip you must step over, so until you get used to the gate you can expect a few stubbed toes. The lip is functional, though, and is part of why the gate is so sturdy, so it is unlikely this will ever be “fixed”.

3. There is no way to prevent the gate from closing when you actually want it open, short of propping it or rigging something up with a bungee cord or string. You can remove the whole gate to open up the doorway, but you probably won’t want to go through the hassle of getting the pressure just right again, which leads me to number 4:

4. These gates are ultimately pressure-mounted, but unlike other pressure-mount gates, these are designed for permanent installation, and the most sturdy installation actually requires a little bit of hardware installation. If you are looking for a gate to cart back and forth between doorways, or one that merely makes contact with walls, this is not it.

Even with these four provisos, I can easily say that these are the best gates we have owned.

What I love about them:

1. They are very sturdy. Our rambunctious child has never been able to push one over or defeat the gate itself. I don’t worry about the gate failing like I do with other pressure mount gates.

2. The installation, once correct, does not need to be adjusted repeatedly, because the pressure hardware is essentially a bolt with a disk that you grip and spin until it is pushing out sufficiently. We had them installed for 6 months in one spot and never had to mess with them, unlike other pressure mount gates that seem to lose pressure and require frequent adjustment.

3. The gate itself is pretty simple to open and doesn’t slow me down much, but our 17-month-old son has not figured out the mechanism and is not likely to do so soon.

4. They cause considerably less damage to the property than traditional hardware mount gates, because the cups can either be attached to the wall with adhesive or with small screws that don’t require the drilling of large holes.

All in all, these are worth every penny. I think the functionality and sturdiness easily outweigh the initial irritations.