A small triumph after a few months of having the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs hanging loose and not closing properly: it now works properly! Originally it was a little too small for the opening and after eventually finding the voucher that came with the gate for an extension I ordered a filling piece. As Bethany had torn the voucher I thought I would phone the number rather than post the slip that offered one extension free with only postage and paking of £3.50 to pay. Apparently, when I called, the offer was out of date and it would cost £8 for the extension but as P&P were free I thought I might as well splash out. On arrival I attached the extension but without much success as I struggled to tighten the gate up and close the gap. As Bethany has worked out how to open the latch at the bottom this was not really sufficient for its purpose.
   However the other day when I collected Bethany from nursery I noticed the same gate across one of their doors and they had some fittings the other way round. Feeling rather foolish I finally set it up properly earlier today and now feel smugly satisfied to have a fully functioning safety gate - just in time as she is hitting the climbing phase and has used the cushion chair to climb onto the coffee table and makes a start for the stairs round my parents house.