Although I had some trouble with the instructions and putting it together the first time, I love this bed rail and the ease of use. The instructions were a bit confusing but if you use common sense, you should be able to get it. All the pieces click together pretty easily. There are two buttons that you push in to ‘drop’ the rail down. When putting on the cover, make sure the rail is in the ‘down’ position so it is easy to zip up. The flat bar goes under a mattress (we used a full) with the strap going all the way to the opposite side and a plastic piece to sturdy the rail and keep it from moving or shifting away from the mattress. The height is adjustable, so you can use different mattress heights. Although it is pretty sturdy, do not leave children unattended.. my nephew thought it was really fun to roll between the rail and the mattress. We put pillows in the way but always watched him while he was on the bed. We really appreciated that it not only kept the kids on the bed, it kept the dog off the bed. It is really easy to put the rail up and down and my mom was saying that she used similar rails when she worked with the elderly (we used it for the kids). When not in use, it breaks down into smaller pieces and is easy to store.