Stairs and baby proofing

[egishere]

Do you have a gate at the top and bottom of the stairs? We are trying to decide if we need one at the bottom.

[beaver12]

We only have one at the bottom. We spend most of our time downstairs, so the gate keeps DS from wandering upstairs on his own. We taught both our kids to navigate stairs early. He just turned 1, but I fully trust him on the stairs. He knows to go down feet first on his belly.

ETA: stairs are fun for babies. If you spend a lot of time downstairs and don't have them gated, you'll spend a lot of time climbing up and down with the babies.

[mrshandy]

Yes, I don't understand how you wouldn't need one at the bottom.

If the your LO starts climbing up the stairs and then decides to go back down, they could easily fall.

We'll probably be taking them down soon since DS is 2 and can walk up and down the stairs pretty easily.

[ijack]

we just have one downstairs.

[birdmom]

We have one at the top, and one at the bottom. The one at the bottom is one of those retractable ones so that when we have company we can close it and it doesn't look like we have gates all over the place. DS is getting to the age where he "respects" the stairs a little more, but we need the gates for the puppy.

[mollybrown]

We never had a gate at the bottom, and didn't need one with DS. He only was allowed up the stairs when we were with him. We had the living room gated off with a baby gate, and that was the only room we left him in unattended. He did not have access to the bottom of the stairs unless he was with a parent, if that makes sense. DS could safely go up the stairs long before he could walk, so we weren't terribly concerned.

We're moving to a home with a more open floor plan, so we might have a gate at the bottom of the stairs for DD. There won't be any way for us to put up a gate downstairs so that she can't slip past us and climb the stairs unattended.

[egishere]

Ok thanks for the feed back! I think we will just do one at the top for now-we are gating off the family room and kitchen so they won't be able to get to the stairs without supervision.

[Deleted]

We just had a gate at the top. Their playroom is at the top of the stairs. I could manage to keep an eye on them on the main floor.

[bunch]

We have one at the bottom, but we don't have any rooms gated off

[h]

We only have one at the top, so that they don't accidently wonder down the stairs in the dark at night. During the day we have just always done a lot of running around after the kids.

[Mrs.Syntax]

We don't have any baby gates. We taught DD not to go on the stairs without our help and I'm able to keep a close eye on her, so it's never been a problem. She's still in a crib so there is no danger of her wandering at night. I might gate the top of the stairs soon when she moves out of the crib.

We may get baby gates for both the top and the bottom when Kid #2 becomes mobile. I won't be able to watch 2 kids as carefully as I watched DD, and this kid may not be as obedient as DD was.

[thatgirl2478]

we have one at the top - but honestly our DD doesn't go near them - she's terrified of them and I'm not sure why since she's never fallen or anything.

[slug*bug]

I think we could've gotten away without for DS, but DD is a climber extraordinaire: she loves anything that she can climb and the stairs are a magnet for her. Combined with a very steep staircase to our second floor, we're going to do both for peace of mind.

[Redpoppy]

No gate top or bottom. We either used a gated pen or supervised in the living room and gates his door upstairs and shut doors as needed. We have weird wrought iron ones and too much effort to get a gate up. The railing over the stairs is also climb able so I preferred he not be out there wen crawling.