The curse of the stairgate!

Hi Folks,
I don't know if there is anyone out there reading any of this, but if you're a parent you may be able to empathise.

Like all 'good' parents we installed a stairgate at the bottom of our stairs. It took a while initially to find a stairgate that actually fitted the width of our stairs correctly. They all seemed to be either too small and would need to have some extensions added, which would need to be sent away for, or too big & wouldn't fit the gap.

Our first stairgate seemed to fit relatively well, with the aid of some blocks to help pack out any differences. It seemed secure enough - though our walls are incredibly hard to drill into if you don't have a powered hammer drill (which we don't!) A couple of months down the line - the stairgate seemed to work it's way out of the wall fixtures, becoming wobbly & hanging out of the wall. We tried re-siting it - but we were limited as to where we could actually place the wretched thing as the banisters don't go right down to the bottom of the stairs, but to the second step.

During the lifetime of this stairgate, I had invested in a different type of stairgate so I could keep little'n from escaping into the conservatory / garden from the kitchen. I decided upon one of those expandable fit ones that don't need any fixtures or fittings. Saying that though, I did have to improvise slightly and add some blocks to allow the stairgate to actually fit correctly.

Well, back to the first stairgate - pulling my hair out with the stairgate now coming out of the wall, and little'n wiggling the gate even more, I decided to use my second stairgate (the one in the kitchen) in place of the first stairgate. Hurrah, it fitted!
But, on tightening up the screwable fixings, I could see the stair banister was being pushed away from the stairs! Eeeeeek.

I've been able to ignore that up until now. The stairgate now has suddenly decided to become loose, and therefore I have needed to tighten it up again - but now this is pushing the bannister even further away from the stairs now.

We have another stairgate of the same type at the top of the stairs - but that one doesn't appear to be doing any damage (as yet).

It seems that these two stairgates are in a conspiracy between them! Each time I have to go up or down the stairs, one or the other of them always seems to give me a bruise somewhere on my thigh, no matter which way I go through them, they get me every time!

So, should I save my legs or my stairs?!

Besides, were stairgates around when I was small?? How did other parents manage before stairgates were invented? When were they invented?

Perhaps I should teach my little one how to come down the stairs safely, then I can do away with the wretched things! He's almost got the hang of it, but not quite.

I think I will have to suffer for another couple of months at least!

Thank you for reading. :)