Our gates are highly versatile! Take a look here to see if they'll fit your home.
Screw-fit, wooden:
Screw-fit, clear:
Pressure-Fit wooden/clear:
These gates go wider if you buy additional gate extensions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Support Email
Home Safety
Most parents and carers know that small things can be a choking hazard if swallowed, but very few know for sure what to look out for.
These photos might help. The mum’s hands are average size, and I suspect you know the bricks. What she is using is a Choke Tester – the small parts cylinder specified in the European Safety Standard. Anything that fits or can be squashed inside one of these is considered a choking hazard.
But sadly it’s not that easy. Some things may not fit into a Choke Tester, but due to their shape are still a hazard. Hot dogs are one of the most common cases of choking in the US due to their long slippery surface, while some Corner Protectors are a perfect fit into a child’s mouth if they fall off the edge of the table (which is why the Fred Corner Protectors are a completely different choke-proof design).
What can you do?
1. Keep small objects out of reach.
Many of the things that you often find lying around – coins (even the big £2 one), buttons and beads, drawing pins and screws, lithium batteries and pen tops, deflated or bits of burst balloons, marbles and other small toys – are all choking hazards.
You’ll doubtless be focussing on keeping your child’s cot/playpen a safe place, but as your child starts to crawl and explore they will spot things on the floor that may have rolled just out of sight. So stage 1 of baby proofing your home will be to check under every cupboard sofa, bed etc. in every room that your child has access to. Then each time you drop something you’ll need to pick it up straight away – and keep on checking! Even before your child starts crawling check the sofa – it’s so easy for coins, buttons, sweets etc. to fall out of a pocket and a baby to find it while cuddling on the couch.
2. Educate older children, siblings and carers
This is where having your own Choke Tester will really help – if you don’t really know the size of a choke hazard, how can you explain ‘small’ to anyone else? By showing an older child which of their toys will and won’t fit in the Choke Tester, they can work out for themselves what to keep away from the new baby. Helping the whole family to ‘think safe’ in a fun way is a great way of avoiding accidents.
You will find a Choke Tester in the Fred Safety Check Tools Kit which also includes a finger probe (to help understand what is and isn’t a finger-trap), and warning stickers to place in potentially dangerous areas of your home.
3. Don’t give children under 4 small, round food items.
Just because it’s food, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to eat. Until they are 4, children don’t have the ability to chew and manipulate foods as an adult can, so chop food to approx. 1cm pieces, and keep them away from;
• Nuts, including peanuts
• Hard raw vegetables such as carrot sticks
• Whole grapes and other round berries and vegetables. Babies often love grapes, blueberries, tomatoes etc. so simply cut them into quarters
• Sticky foods such as raisins or peanut butter that can clump together in their mouth
• Boiled or other hard sweets
• Soft sweets such as marshmallows
• Whole hot dogs and sausages. Cut them lengthways first then slice nice and small
• Chocolate eggs with toys inside (these are designed for older children)
4. Choose well-made toys from a responsible manufacturer that have the CE mark and are the appropriate age range
If a toy has small parts which are a choking hazard, they will be marked with this symbol and kept well away from the under 3’s. As any toy becomes loved and well used, you’ll need to check it regularly for damage – something may come loose and represent a risk.
5. Don’t let your children run around with objects in their mouths, and that includes food!
It’s far too easy to choke on something (or break those lovely new teeth) running around in the usual rough and tumble toddler fashion. Keeping them sitting while they eat has a double benefit – far less mess to clear up!!
6. Don’t let your child eat or drink lying down
You’ll know yourself that it is difficult to eat or drink lying down, so don’t expect your child to! Toddlers having a night-time drink in bed, should be made to sit up, and babies should never be left with a bottle.
7. Keep watching
Choking happens very quickly, so as with everything else, it is important that your child is properly supervised at all times. Avoid giving your child anything to eat or drink in the car as by the time you have stopped safely and got them out of their car seat it may be too late.
8. Be Prepared
Follow this link to the Red Cross site for their advice in case of emergency. If your child chokes, you won’t have time for a Google search, so please read this NOW.
A child dies every month in the UK from choking, and hundreds more require hospital treatment (RoSPA accident statistics). By understanding how small is ‘small’, and child proofing your home, we hope that this shockingly high accident rate can be reduced.
There are a number of relevant safety standards including; EN1930 published in 2011 for safety barriers including stair gates, EN16948 for locks and latches, published in August 2017 which governs all consumer fitted child resistant drawer and cupboard locking devices. Also EN16554 for door stoppers, published in 2014 for devices to prevent fingers being trapped in doors.
Relevant Fred products meet these regulations and the entire range is tested to the relevant clauses of EN71 Series, the toy standard, and Fred is a founding member of GACS, an organisation working towards higher standards of safety.
We always design our products to promote best practice in our industry and are constantly fighting to raise awareness of the potential hazards of using poor quality alternatives which can end up posing more of a risk than the original danger they were designed to protect against.
Pressure Fit Gate
It may seem odd, but it's all about safety!
Yes, the pressure fit gate will need wall cups to stop it slipping if you child falls against it. These need to be firmly attached to the wall.
Wood is the best surface to fit your gate to as the adhesive works the best with wood. You can fit it to other surfaces such as wallpaper and paintwork however this isn’t the best.
Yes, skirting boards are easy to work round with pressure gates.
Yes, the pressure fit gates can be removed very easily. They can be taken out during visits and then put back after with ease.
A pressure gate pushes hard into the wall and therefore can leave damage. They leave 4 large dents corresponding to where the wall cups were pushed onto the wall. To avoid damage to plasterboard walls, ensure the Wall Cups are position where there is a wall stud behind the plasterboard.
A pressure fit gate must NOT be used at the top of the stairs. This is because pressure fit gates need a bar across the bottom to keep them secure. This creates a trip hazard which, if fitted at the top of the stairs, can become dangerous.
Therefore you can only fit a pressure fit gate at the bottom of the stairs or the inside of a door opening.
Measure the width of your opening to calculate the number of Gate Extensions you need.
When the pressure fit gates arrive with you there is a cable tie holding the Extenders, frame and handle together. Cutting this cable tie makes it easy for the gate to unlock and it will appear that the frame no longer fits. Please note this is completely normal the frame of a pressure fit gate is designed to push out so that it is as secure as possible once fitted. If your gate becomes unlocked in this way, simply pull the lock and frame together and lock the gate. You can re-secure the gate with a 30cm cable tie, or simply be careful to keep the gate locked while you fit it in the normal way.
Safety Gates FAQs
The nature of safety gates mean they get small dirty handprints etc on them. To clean your gate simply wipe with a soft, damp cloth. Do not immerse in water.
Scratches and other surface damage is not covered by your warranty and should be avoided where possible.
We’re sorry to hear that part of your Fred gate has broken. If you don’t know what part you need then the below diagrams might help.
You can also find a helpful guide of all the fittings included in each gate attached.
Parts of Pressure Fit Gate (Clear or Wooden)
Parts of Screw Fit Clear Gate
Parts of Screw Fit Wooden Gate
Our gates are highly versatile! Take a look here to see if they'll fit your home.
Below, you can see the fitting information for our gates. If you're unsure, please feel free to send us photos of your opening with as many images as possible and we'll let you know what we would recom
mend. You can submit your enquiry here.
See below for the dimensions of the Screw Fit and Pressure Fit safety gates
Pressure Fit gates - 82cm H and fits openings between 76-96cm wide. Using the Gate Extensions it can fit openings 124cm wide
Clear Screw Fit gates - 83cm H and fits openings between 75-100cm wide
Wooden Screw Fit gates - 83cm H and fits openings between 76-105cm wide
If you need further advice on how to fit your Fred Screw Fit gate here is an easy to follow video of how to fit them here.
You can also find another easy to follow fitting video for the Pressure Fit gate here.
Should you have any further questions regarding fitting your Fred gate you can contact our Customer Support team here.
The different gates have slightly different heights.
Pressure Fit gate
Screw Fit Wooden gate
Screw fit Clear gate
To comply with safety standards, all stairgates can only advertise suitability for children up to 2 years of age. Children over 2 are dexterous and adventurous. They will work out how to open a stairgate and/or climb over it. It is therefore not possible for ANY stairgate, including the Fred gates, to necessarily prevent accidents when your child is over 2 years old. Parental supervision is the best form of security at this stage.
All Fred products are made from engineered high-performance materials. Installation is deliberately quick and easy, using adhesives wherever possible.
Easy Fitting – each product comes with it’s own tools to help you get the perfect fit first time and every product can be fitted in a matter of minutes.
Performance Materials – we use the highest grade materials available. Our plastic won’t snap or bend and all materials are tested to ensure they comply with and exceed the recommended safety standards.
Trusted by Parents – you are protected by our no quibble, money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. Fred is the only home safety brand this has a fully compliance babyproofing range.
Stylish design – products are designed with your home in mind so they blend seamlessly with your interior design scheme.
Screw Fit Gate
Reassuringly child-proof
- 77cm of height that a young child won’t climb over
- Manual 2-way child-proof magnetic locking system
- Visual colour alert for when the gate is left unlocked
- Top quality, strong materials to withstand heavy impacts
- Bite-proof materials and lick-safe finishes throughout
Simple to fit
- Uniquely simple Fast-Mount™ wall installation
- 180° mount allows a perfect fit, even where walls are at an angle
- Screws, fitting and even a mini spirit level included
- Designed to fit walls with our without a skirting board
- Simple width adjustment – can be fitted on the outside of an opening or straight across the gap
Unbelievably practical
- Use just one hand for opening and closing
- Built-in lift to make opening even easier
- Gate can swing in either direction
- Optional 1-way swing setting to prevent opening over the stairs
- Gate quickly removed (and replaced) when not required
Unbeatable design
- Clear acrylic blends effortlessly into your home
- A sheer barrier without steps or snags
- Elegant, unobtrusive fittings with finger-safe hinges
- No trip bar to get in your way
- Meeting and exceeding safety standards
Pressure Fit Gate
Reassuringly child-proof
- 77cm of height that a young child won’t climb over
- Manual 2-way child-proof magnetic locking system
- Visual colour alert for when the gate is left unlocked
- Top quality, strong materials to withstand heavy impacts
- Bite-proof materials and lick-safe finishes throughout
Simple to fit
- Accu-Fit™ indicators show when the gate has been installed correctly
- Screws, fitting and even a magnetic spirit level to ensure the perfect fit all included
- Designed to fit walls with our without a skirting board
- Fits openings 75-124.5cm wide by adding up to 6 extensions. 2 included, additional ones available as accessories
- Screw-fit or adhesive wall cups for additional safety
Unbelievably practical
- Use just one hand for opening and closing
- Slam-shut auto-lock function to make opening even easier
- Gate can swing in either direction
- Optional 1-way swing setting
- Gate quickly removed (and replaced) when not required
Unbeatable design
- Beautifully carved Poplar wood, soft to the touch
- Glow-in-the-dark anti trip strip to illuminate the bottom rail
- Elegant, unobtrusive fittings with finger-safe hinges
- Colour option available to blend with your home
- Meeting and exceeding safety standards
Your big choice for a safety gate is to decide between a pressure gate or a screw-fit one. Find out more here.
General perception seems to be that screw-fit gates are a hassle, so most choose pressure gates, but is that right?By its very nature a pressure gate has to have a bar at the bottom to hold everything in place as the gate opens. But that’s a trip hazard – so you can never fit one at the top of stairs, and fitting a safety product that introduces an extra risk into your home seems a bit crazy!
Screw mounted gates on the other hand have no trip bar, leaving the way clear and open for everyone, including wheelchair users and kids on wheeled toys.
Fitting-wise a pressure gate HAS to be installed with wall cups to stop it slipping if your child falls against it. To work, these need to be firmly attached to the wall. The Fred team have worked hard to look at how these can be safely attached. We have found adhesives that are powerful enough when stuck to wood, but no adhesive can be truly reliable on other surfaces (plaster can be crumbly, paintwork flaky and wallpaper is never stuck on firmly enough). So to be safe, the 4 wall cups will often need to be screwed into place – so no advantage there compared to a screw-fit gate such as the Fred ones that only need 4 screws nb: screw-fit gates often need 6 or more screws so choose carefull.
Skirting boards are easy to work round with pressure gates but can be more tricky for screw-fit gates. Luckily, it’s really not that hard. Your options are to either choose a screw-fit gate that has the bits included to work over skirtings (such as the Fred ones), buy a Fred Skirting Kit that will allow any brand of gate to fit over skirtings or do some minor carpentry.
Removal is often cited as another advantage of pressure gates, so that grandparents can take it down between visits, and parents between children. But a Fred screw-fit gate can be temporarily removed (and replaced) even faster than a pressure gate.
So what about damage to the walls? A small screw hole is very quick and easy to fill, and as discussed all gates are likely to need at least 4 screw holes. Frequently, a pressure gate also creates 4 large dents corresponding to where the wall cups are firmly pushed into the wall. On wood this is particularly difficult to remedy – far more tricky to disguise than a small screw hole. There are no wall cups with screw-fix gates, so no big dents…..
All in all you’ll find that fitting a well designed screw-gate at the top of your stairs much easier than you might think – so much so that you might decide to forget pressure gates altogether!
Ps: If a pressure gate is still the best option for you, don’t worry, we have incorporated a unique glow strip on the pressure bar to draw attention to it at night and hopefully stop you tripping over it – just one of the safety features that make Fred gates exceptional.
Pressure Fit Stairgate Accessories:
Y-Spindle
The easy way to fit a Pressure Fit Gate to staircases with rounded stairposts, newel posts and balusters without having to screw in to your staircase or wall. Fits all Fred Pressure Fit Stairgates and is for posts up to 75mm diameter
Extension Kit x2
Easy-fit way of installing Fred Pressure Fit Wooden and Clear-View Stairgates into wider stairways and openings. Extends gate by 7cm (2.8") each. Simply push into position. Use maximum of 3 extensions either side of gate to protect openings up to 124cm (48.8") wide.
Universal Stairgate Accessories:
Universal Stairpost Fitting Kit
Flexible, no-screw solution for installing a Safety Gate. Working with any brand and any type of safety gate, this kit will fit against stairposts (newel posts and balusters) of all sorts of shapes and sizes - even metal ones! Attached with straps, there is no damage to any woodwork. Made from bite-proof, lick-safe materials for extra peace of mind.
Universal Wall & Skirting Kit
Creates a flat, vertical surface against which any brand of safety gate can be fixed. Designed to fit over skirtings, or against slightly sloping walls to provide a sturdy surface against which both Pressure or Screw Fit Stairgates can be fitted. No damage to skirtings, simply screw into the wall above - particularly great for tiled skirtings
No. Stairgates, in common with other safety equipment such as car seats and bike helmets should be disposed of after they have been involved in an accident. If you purchase a second-hand stairgate, without knowing its full history, you risk purchasing a product that has had someone falling heavily against it. Therefore, although it may look as if it is in perfect working order, it may have been damaged and fail if one of your family falls against it.
Screw Fit Gate
If you’ve purchased a replacement Main Gate Top Hinge for your Fred Screw Fit Stairgate, see the instructions below for fitting guidance.
**Please be advised this fitting guide is only for the Main Gate Top Hinge, if you have another Screw Fit replacement part, please get in touch with our Customer Support on help@cheekyrascals.co.uk for further information.
The screw holes are easy to fill and leave minimal damage.
Screw fit gates do not come with a trip bar. This helps with allowing wheelchair users to go through the gates with ease and children on wheeled toys.
You can temporarily remove the screw fit gate.
Yes, it is a bit more difficult than for pressure fit gates, however it is still possible.
You can fit a screw fit gate either at the top or the bottom of the stairs, in a doorway opening or outside the doorway.
The gate only opens through 110°. Pushing/forcing it to open further can damage the hinges so that the gate does not provide an effective barrier.
The gap between the gate and the floor is 6cm