removal of gates on stairs

Hi,

When do you remove the gates of your stairs ? bottom and top at the same time or separately?

I'm still worrying about rough housing when they have good time going up/down the stairs together without us ...
Not sure if I should spend $$ to swap for better fit bottom gate for our 3yo girls.

Thanks much for the feedbacks!

 

Honestly we moved when they were 2.5 and just didn't bother with gates. But the stairs have carpet and a turn so it's not too bad. We had one accident though, but it was because we had guests and our dog (55lbs) got excited and pretty much dragged DS off the stairs. I'd say it depends on what kind of stairs you have really.

 

I may be the odd one out but our stairs were never gated. We practised navigating the stairs safely right from the beginning (long before they were walking) and were strict about no playing, running, roughhousing etc. on the stairs or in the hall next to the stairs. This worked well for us.

We did have a gated and thus safe area upstairs and downstairs though, so we could shut them away from the stairs and other dangerous areas for a few moments if necessary. We removed the last gate, their bedroom gate, around their third birthday and never looked back. By then, DS was a much too accomplished climber anyway.

So, I would not invest in new gates for 3year-olds, but rather remove the gates and work on some basic stair safety rules. GL!

 

We moved into our house with stairs and a turn when they were 2.5 and didn't gate it. Now with our 1 year old I do gate it- she can go up independently with us but I want to know about it. The top of the stairs we gated this weekend so I can leave our doors open and she can see me working in my room folding clothes but not come in and mess them up.

 

We have a split level and removed our big gate that blocked off 2 stairways when they were 2.5. We had a gate at the top mainly to stop the younger one (now 19 mo) from going down by herself, but moved it a few weeks ago when we got our carpets cleaned and she's done pretty well. We do have a cheapo wooden gate that we use when we don't want her to go up the stairs and the twins (nearly 4) can climb it with no problem.

 

When one climbed over it before they were 2. And proceeded to unlock the deadbolt (our stairs are by the front door) and I found him standing on the front porch butt naked (he had ditched the diaper on the way out the door). All while I was changing his twins poopy diaper. Our door chimes so I knew one had escaped.

We only had a gate because we have a landing with slots in the posts that would allow a small child to fall from the upstairs to the basement.

 

We removed the stair gate like when they were 2, and kitchen gate when they were 30 months. We never have any problem. The more u forbid them to do something, the more they want to do it lol. U just need to tell them not to do it and don't make a big deal when they do it.

I remember when we still had the kitchen gate up. Cooking dinner was like hell. They climbed over the gate (we had iron and tall gate) or sat next to it and cried. It tortured me. After the gate was off, they came in the kitchen and I just had to tell them "mommy is cooking and u 2 are not allowed to be in kitchen. It's dangerous. And I might get booboo." Now I cook and they play in their playroom. They come in and ask for things that they need only. Gl

 

Oh gosh - I can't even remember when we stopped using the gates but I know it was a loooong time ago. They were both navigating the stairs well, and we don't allow playing or laying on the stairs.

 

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