Munchkin BRICA Push to Close Extending Metal Gate Review

08/10/2015

I’ve always enjoyed Munchkin products, and was so wishing this gate came out when my littles where at the exploring stage.  We definitely struggled at our house with finding a sturdy, easy to open/close and somewhat esthetically pleasing gate that would keep our littles safe.

While my kiddos are just past the stage of needing gates up around the house, a local momma to one adventurous 14 month old was happy to give her feedback on this great gate!

I had the pleasure of installing (with my husband) and having our little guy (and cats) test out the stability of the Brica gate.  Installation took an evening and a drill, but we managed!

Pros: The gate is very well constructed, and sturdy when installed. It is a huge improvement from the plastic gate we had installed before. The swing system is easy to use, and safe enough that I’m sure our baby won’t be opening it himself. Unlike my previous gate, there is no risk of pinching fingers or the latch not securely closing, leading to an unsafe situation, which is very important at the top of the stairs.  The gate extends past the “normal” length of standard baby gates, so was able to fit the wider width at the top of our staircase (I imagine it would be perfect as well for wider entrances to rooms also).  The metal finish of the great improvement over the classic white plastic gates we had before!

Cons:This gate was a bit of a pain to install. They tried to make it as easy as possible, but it just wasn’t. Having said that, I’ve yet to find a hardware install gate that wasn’t a complete pain to get in, so maybe we can forgive them that 🙂
Just be aware that because the gate is extendable to cover larger areas, like those tricky stops at the top of stairs, or wider room entrances, the gate itself swings out quite wide when left open, so you’ll have to get in the habit of closing gate all the time to keep hallways clear 🙂