Child safety gate

[Grunty]

In a house where the handrail meets an upright post at the bottom of the stairs, the post is otherwise attached only at the bottom.  When the safety gate is tightened, it just pushes the post sideways.  Does anyone know of a solution, preferably without structural work?

[Hammer]

You could try a gate that screws into the wall / post.

[ann_h]

Instead of a pressure sprung one.

[GuavaHalf]

Mothercare used to sell some plastice widgets that you could use to convert the sprung type to a screw in the wall type. Might be worth a try if you already have the gate.