When Did You STOP Using a Babygate on the Stairs?

My daughter was climbing up the stairs at approx 10-12 months, then gradually worked up to walking up and down the stairs by 18 months. She's now 2, and though I trust her to go up and down the stairs on her own, we still use the baby gate at the top of the stairs at night so that she stays upstairs after bedtime and so that when she has night terrors she doesn't fall down the stairs.
I also have an 8 month old, so we are keeping it up for him too.

My daughter is going to be three in only 4 months, and we are still using a gate at the top AND the bottom ofthe stairs. She can navigate the steps by herself, BUT htere are still times we don't WANT her to be going up or down without us. I would say we will be keeping the top of the steps one up until the little brother is at least 4 or 5....he is only 6 months, so we have quite a while. The downstairs one is debateable, but at least till he is 2.

Definitely get a real "top of stairs" gate - not a cheapo pressure mount - one that really screws in place. Try to find one that is easy for you to open with one hand.

Good Luck - Jessie

My kids had stairs mastered (crawling up and down) between 15-19months....before this time I would just watch them closely. For example, during the day I would always let them "walk" up and down the stairs to play and up to bed at night, with me bedside them of course. The only time I used the gate was when I wasn't in the room with them, like doing dishes etc. Hope this helps =)
S.
Mama to sons 8,6,4 and 2 months and daughter 2

B.,
I'd say if these are stairs you use often, go for the pricier one - for the top of the stairs, you need a nice gate that actually screws into the wall - otherwise it could easily come loose and fall down with your child. You can actually screw in some of the cheaper gates, but who wants to risk their lives trying to crawl up and over those things all the time? If this is a well used staircase for you, it's worth it to spend the extra and get one with a door, or one that opens easily like a door. Your 11 month old may not walk for some time yet, and she may take awhile to master stairs. My guy didn't walk until 17 months (ouch!) and didn't master stairs until a month or so after that.

Amy K

Hi B.,

I have 3 children ages 6, 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 and we registered for a wooden gate when I was pregnant with our first. With a wood gate, it was able to move with pushed hard enough so we invested in a stronger one that is mounted to the wall. The gate we purchased is very sturdy and we have had it for 3 yrs. I think it is a Safety First, but I don't remember as it does not say on it. When the gate is all the way closed, it can fit a space that is 61 inches. There are 4 sections of the gate. The gate we have is definitely childproof and sometimes adultproof (haha), but I am very happy with it. I think we purchased it at Babies 'R Us. I do recommend using a gate even if it is for a yr or 3 because falls can happen so quickly and you want to use safety with your children.

I am a sahm who has been married for 10 yrs next month and really enjoy watching my children grow and do new things.

I also have a Savannah! :)

We have stairs in our two story house and we use the gate at the bottom of the stairs and none at the top. We "taught" our son to turn around his crawling at the top so he goes down on his belly, feet first obviously, and we've never had a problem. He's got it down pat and he is 14 months old. The problem is our living room is at the bottom of the stairs and as soon as he sees the gate is gone he's crawling up the stairs. So, I guess I'd suggest spending money on a nice one to go at the bottom rather than the top, unless he spends most of his time upstairs. - To keep our dog in our kitchen we have a "the First Years" hands-free baby gate and I love, love, love it and would highly recommend that if it would fit on your stairs. It doesn't work with ours cuz our stairs have a pedestal on one side. Hope this help!

I think it depends on the child. We actually never got around to buying a gate for the top of our stairs to the basement and now that my daughter is 18 months, no need to bother. But with a sunken living room with just two steps, our daughter used those steps to become an early master of navigaing them and realized what happens if you don't. She also learned quickly that going down meant turning around and scooting down rather than trying to step down like mom and dad do. (Luckily, she only fell on the two steps a few times and never the flight of stairs to the basement.) Like one other mom said, if they were cement steps, I probably would have gotten a gate, but carpeted flight of stairs with a landing mid-way, I wasn't as worried about it.

Try looking at it as the investment outweighs the risk. You can get really good ones for $60 or $70 at Babies R Us or Toys R Us, and can (should) be kept up for 2-3 years. Stairs can be deadly.

My youngest is 21 months and we just took down the baby gates. We wanted a nice wood one also, but our openings were odd, so we built our own. If you or your husband are handy... it wasn't very hard to do. If you are interested, I can send you pics of ours.

We took our gate down just recentlty.Our children are 19 months-daughter and son-3 years old. We never took the gate down with our son even beforethough he could tackle steps very ealry on before because our children our 22 months apart. Our daughter is doing great with the stairs. Good luck. I would defintely wait until she is walking really well. Has decent balance.

We live in a bi-level house and never used a gate. It is almost a full flight of (carpeted) stairs down to the basement (with carpeting at the bottom) and a half flight from the upstairs (beds and bath) to the main floor (living, kitchen, dining). He definitely fell down the stairs sometimes, but he also learned NOT to play on them quickly. And, as I said, the carpeting made a difference. If they had been wood, or a cement floor, it might have been another story. I don't know when we would have stopped using a baby gate, but by 16 months, I know my son was working on walking down the stairs--not crawling, not on his belly, not on his butt--walking, with no assistance--down the stairs. (He later bit it on our front stoop, and regressed a lot...) For us, the frustration of having to go over a gate constantly to get to his room (changing table) and the only bathroom was NOT worth the gate, and it was a short period of time that we were worried about him truly falling. He started walking just prior to 11 months. For us, I'd do it that way again--we have an open stairway and it would have totally ruined our woodwork to attach a gate, and the pressure mounted ones not only didn't fit right, but when we bought one for his room, it didn't keep him out either (he learned to lean against it and push it out). I'm sure this isn't most people's approach, but our son is quite confident physically, and he really needed to learn fast to get around our house--trial and error was the fastest way.

We have a plastic swinging gate that cost around $20. Totally worth it to avoid you getting caught on it and falling down the stairs. We stopped using the gate when the baby figured out how to climb it. That amount of time will totally depend on your baby.

.

Definitely get a better one. You may not think so right now, but those cheap ones are easy even for a baby to push over. It just takes one time for a bad accident to happen and it could change your whole life. My son had to go to physical therapy for his neck and I met a woman there with her 3 year old girl in a wheelchair. Her daughter had fallen down the stairs and hurt her back, lost the use of her legs, and could not talk anymore. Freaked me out enough that I will forever be careful with my son on stairs- that kind of thing could happen to anyone at any time. I still use the mounted walk-through gates every day [my son is 20 months] and I will use them until he starts to try to climb over them...and then I may install a second one on top of those. Nothing is more important than safety. He can go up and down the stairs on his own already but I always walk in front of him and always hold his hand.
The gates I have I got off of craigslist for $10 for two of them. You can always buy used.

Hi We had a great retractable gate (by kidde I think) on the top of the stairs instead of a swinging gate which seemed like a different kind of safety problem. We used it until she was about 2 yrs old and could listen to "No." She is 2 1/2 and we have had no issues. I would replace your gate as soon as you can with one that achors with screws into the wall as the pressure gates are not approved for above stairs because they can be pushed loose and then the child will be in danger of falling.

I would say it is worth it to spend the money on a good gate. Our daughter just turned 2 and is pretty good at navigating the steps if we are right there. But, now we use it to keep her from getting to the front door. She has learned how to unlock the doors and open them. We try to keep the deadbolt locked, but that sometimes gets missed if we are coming in with an arm load of things. I'm sure we will keep the gate up for several years (especially now that we have a newborn).

I purchased a see thru "no climb" swinging baby gate from Walmart for about 30 bucks a while back. Even though my daughter could be trusted at a certain point, it was nice to still have the gate when others visited with their small children. I think the "no climb" feature is a must at the top of stairs.

A baby gate at the top of the stairs is important and well worth a little extra money to get a good one. We bought one that screws into the wall and banister. We had to do this because the two were not aligned straight across. It was about $90. We are still using it and my son is 26 months. We use it more to keep him upstairs when we are all upstairs. His in home day care had one that was a pressure mount and one day my son leaned up against it hard enough that he and the gate went sliding down the stairs. Scary! Anyway, I would suggest that you don't worry about how long you will use it, get something that will protect your child from getting hurt!

My daughter is almost 2 1/2 and I still have a gate at the top of the stairs. Since she moved to a toddler bed I feel more safe at night with the gate closed. She hasn't gotten up and out of bed but it still makes me feel more at ease that she can't go downstairs in the middle of the night. I have a wooden retractable gate that I secured with screws to the top of the stairs. I didn't like the gates that are just held through tension. I was worried that she would push against that type of gate and end up falling down the stairs.