When did you take down the gates?

My kiddos are 20 months old, and e have a split-entry tri-level type home, not a very open floor plan. I have three gates up that allow me to contain the kiddos in certain areas so that I don't have to worry or chase them around constantly. They can walk up and down stairs just fine by themselves now, and I am wondering, are these gates a crutch for me? My friend with one child has no gates anywhere in her house and he can go anywhere. I can't imagine that in this house with twins, but I would love to know what all of you did or are doing. When did you take gates down?

TIA,

Sheila

 

We have a 2 story and have 3 gates up 1. at their door 2. base of stairs, movable on to small room with a fireplace.

We DID have the living room gated off but have since stopped using that gate and we had a basement stairs gate (bottom only since the top has a door) but have removed that one.

I DO NOT want them to fall down the stairs- they have been very good at going up/down but still falter at times and I woudl never want them to sneak up them and fall. We leave the small fireplace room gate up so that the dog can 'get away' from the twins and they can not climb on the fireplace. The room door I will leave for a while since I don't want them climbing out of their cribs and going downstairs....

I would leave them up as you feel comfortable or remove them durign the day and put up any you want at night. If we had a ranch- we would only have their room gated for safety reasons.

KC

 

We took down the gates that closed off the kitchen just after their second birthday. We still have a gate at the top of the very steep flight of stairs down to the lower level (we live in a "raised ranch" style home).

 

we're supposed to take teh gates down?


LOL!
My boys were 3 in June and my home is still gated! Maybe after Christmas.

 

We're not quite 19m, and I was just considering removing a gate we have blocking access to one side of the kitchen/nook. However, I am nowhere NEAR ready to take down the gate at the top of the stairs.

My boys have started climbing the gates, but they haven't yet made it over. I think when they get to the point where they can fully scale them I will have to consider taking them down (or moving to a rambler ). We live in a split level and really haven't allowed or baby proofed our downstairs at all. They have free reign of the upstairs.

 

We took down two of the three gates once my kids turned two. We live in a three-level townhouse and still have the gate up that goes to the first level and the front door. We only have that one up to give us a fighting chance if they head out of the front door. My daughter cannot scale the gate but my son has already taken it out of the wall once by leaning on it.

 

We just have one gate- it is on the lower level of the house (where we spend most of our time)- where the stairs go up. I am pretty sure we will have that there quite a while since the babies have just started stair-climbing. It'd be a long fall with ceramic tile at the bottom. Better safe than sorry for sure!

 

If I were you, I'd start leaving the gates open part of the time and get them used to full access gradually. Believe me, the cold turkey approach is NOT FUN. I wish someone had told me this.

We haven't taken the gates down yet but they're open most of the time now. They climb right over them so the only reason to close the gates is as a reminder that we're staying in the living room if I'm in the room with them. I close the gate at the top of the stairs in the morning when we're getting ready and after they go to bed to keep the dog out of their room but it's open the rest of the time. They're very good on the stairs and frankly having them climbing over it is more dangerous than leaving it open.

 

We have 2 gates up. One blocks the hallway leading to the front door and stairs and the other my oldest DD's playroom. So basically Emilie and Trevor can only go in the kitchen, breakfast room, and family room right now. I'm not sure when we'll take the gates down. My oldest DD has so many toys with small pieces, it scares me.

 

We have a gate at the top of the stairs and another one at the bottom. They are really good with stairs but can still be careless. Just a few weeks ago Sofia rolled down 4 steps before I caught her. I'm just not ready to have them going up and down on their own.

 

We just did at 22 minths and am so happy we did it! My girls are pretty much stick by mommy kids though!

 

I kept the gates up until they were almost 3 years old, and we also took gates with us to the in-laws' until then. I saw no good reason for them to be in the kitchen or upstairs in the bedrooms/bathroom when I wasn't with them. They've had plenty of time since then to have their freedom and explore the house, knowing how to do so safely.

 

We still use our gates, and I don't see us getting rid of them anytime soon. Maybe around 3? We have one off on the door to the laundry room, which is also where we have the cat food and litter, so honestly, I see no reason to take those down until the girls are actually old enough to feed the cats and scoop the litter. :laughing:

We also have one gating off the kitchen, and for me, that is as much for my sanity in the kitchen as it is for my sanity. My husband would probably like to have a gate for me, because he hates when I am underfoot in the kitchen while he's cooking, LOL.

So anyway -- we are still going strong with the gates. They have two full rooms that are 100% babyproofed and they can be in all day long, so I don't feel like they're getting deprived or anything like that.

 

I never took them down, because we never put any up. We do live in a two story house, and we did buy a gate. It sat in the box for 1 1/2 years before we returned it to Babies R Us. I do think it would be a good idea to start like someone suggested and just leave them open.

 

We never really had gates -- we had a superyard that we took down at about 16 months. However, our house is one level and is pretty small, so they can't get that far away from me. I just close the doors to the bathrooms and our bedroom if I need to be doing something in the kitchen and don't want them wandering around in there.

We have also been pretty lucky so far in that our girls are not very destructive. Some kids are just naturally more inquisitive and rambunctious than others. For instance, we have a floor lamp (I know, childproofing hazard #1) with a cord that runs straight across the floor (hazard #2) and they have never tried to mess with either of them (yet). They also aren't really climbers. If they were more likely to get into trouble, I'd have to contain them a lot more.

 

We took ours down at around 20 months. We had used superyard sections to block off the kitchen. I would agree with a pp that cold turkey is not fun. All that new territory made working in the kitchen very difficult at first. Our issue now is the telescoping arms the boys seem to be developing. I have what I consider to be fairly tall kitchen cabinets, and still anything not pushed to the very back is libel to wind up on the floor in a puddle!

We also have to have "child-proof" knob covers on every interior door in the house, keep the front screen door locked at all times, and wedges on the sliding doors, because the boys have been able to open any door they want for a very long time! I say "child-proof" because we have to duck tape the seams of the knob covers since Owen figured out how to pop the pieces apart within a week of putting them on!!

Even with the extra child proofing that we've had to do, I don't regret opening up the space. The boys are much more content and are learning "slowly" what is acceptable and what is not.

O.

 

We still have a gate up to the room we use as an office/spare bedroom. There is just too much they can get into in
there if unsupervised. It gives me piece of mind if I am busy in the kitchen, knowing everywhere they can go they will be safe.

 

Don't compare your parenting style to a singleton in this aspect. I didn't even own a gate with my oldest. Just didn't need it.

Then there were 2!!!

I had gates everywhere. We moved into a new home right after the babies turned 2, and gradually got rid of them. We suddenly had stairs, which they mastered very quickly. Also, this floor plan was completely different, so some of the gates didn't work in the same areas, that took some getting used to. I started using the door knob covers & kept most rooms off limits to them doors closed. We still have the door knob covers on all the exit doors, my older son's bedroom, the office & the laundry room. I know those are going to lose their effectiveness soon, but I'm milking it for all it's worth.

 

We just have one actual gate up at the bottom of the steps. Our downstairs is childproofed very well and we only go upstairs to take baths or go to bed. We've had to move on to "better reinforcements" LOL :lol: My DS,Matthew can scale just about any gate we have. We have resorted to putting doorknobs on backwards to keep them in certain areas of the house. We have sliding locks at the top of all the doors leading outside also. Our playroom has french doors that have sliding locks on both sides at the top---that's where we spend a lot of time. The kids even joke "time for lockdown mom????" My house truly is Fort Knox and I'm guessing it will be this way for at least 3 more years!!!!!

Crystal

 

Still using the gates! We're in a one level, but I keep them gated in the kitchen/family room area. Just better that way