...and three kids later I finally decided to install permanent gates for my children.  I have a two-story house and we've had a temporary type gate at the bottom of the stairs for years.  It's been quite cumbersome as it was difficult to operate and would sometimes come out of place.

So I went to every (pregnant) woman's dream store, Babies R Us.  My wife is pregnant with our 4th child and we decided to install a better gate at the bottom of the stairs and also install one at the top of the stairs.  Things were easy with two young ones.  Then when the 3rd one came along, it still wasn't too bad because the first two were old enough to know about stairs.  But in July we'll have a 7-year old, 5-year old, 2-year old and a newborn.  So sturdy gates at the top and bottom of the stairs seem like a great idea.

So I went to work and installed the gates.  The are metal and actually match our current railings.  It gives us a little more peace of mind.  If you have a two-story house, please consider installaing these gates.