For those LO's not in the crib anymore, how long did you keep a gate at the door?

grlmom16

Or did you even put a gate up in the first place? My DD has been in her toddler bed since a little after she turned 2. Also since then I have kept a baby gate at her bedroom door so she can't get out of her room, even though she can get out of her bed. She's potty trained and can go to the bathroom by herself, (climb up on her stool, pull down pants, flush, etc) and I am wondering if it's time to lose the gate. I am just a little nervous about her waking at night and roaming the house when we are asleep, not that she ever even wakes at night, but I just don't know. How are y'alls LO's rooms set up? DD will be 3 in a little over a month.

Mindi_Campbell

I never had a gate on there room, my two boys 4 and 2 1/2 yrs old. and they have been fine. no issues. they hardly ever come out of there room.

TriciaandSean

We have no gate and never have but my 3 year old is short and can't open the door to his room to get out.  He never gets out of his bed anyway.

memali26

We never put up a gate. DD1 moved at 23 months, DD2 at 20 months, and neither has ever been a "roamer" at night. We keep their door closed while they are asleep, and while DD1 has been able to open it for quite some time now, she has never gotten up and left in the middle of the nights.

BrideMay2005

We didn't use a gate at DS's room, but the bedrooms are on the second floor of our house, so we close the gate at the top of the steps. If he does come out of his room it's to use the bathroom or come into our bedroom.

chickaboo1974

I just removed the gate from my boys' room- and that was because they figured out how to open it on their own.  Oh and my guys are not potty trained at night yet... but they are good about going to bed and staying in their bedroom until morning.

mrslucid

We've never used a gate, though my daughter hasn't figured out how to open her door yet.  She is on the smaller side, so she is just getting to where she can reach the door knob.  I'm not worried thought, she never gets out of bed when we put her down for nap or the night.

Cherryblossoms07

We never used a gate for DD because we lived in a house without stairs until she was 2 1/2.  Our new house has stairs but we didn't put a gate up then because she was really good about not wandering around the house at night (we are more afraid of falling down the stairs at night than wandering).  DS was just moved to a toddler bed at 18 months and we put a gate on his door due to the stairs.  I only shut it at night.  At nap time I leave it open.  I am not sure when I will take it down.

RayRay007

DD moved to a big bed a few months ago. We never put a gate at the door or closed her door. We had a gate at the top of the stairs at first, but found she never got out of bed, and she was playing with the gate in the daytime and was going to fall down the stairs during the day if we didn't take it away. There seems to be some magical forcefield around her bed and she doesn't realized she can get out.

CopperT0p

We never had a gate at the door, but DS has never so much as gotten out of bed since he's been out of a crib. We have a gate at the top of the stairs that we put in before we put him in a bed.  If he was a wanderer we would have just done up the gate at night so he would be limited to the bedrooms and bathroom at night. 

kgs0505

I don't have a gate, I have one of those knob covers instead.  We have a house with stairs, and although he is pretty good on the stairs, I can see him doing things like messing with the computer, or climbing up on chairs to get at things he's not supposed to.  I just don't want him to get up before he's supposed to and go exploring.  I'm worried I wouldn't hear him.

grlmom16

Thanks ladies! Sounds like I was in the minority on the gate thing, haha. I am going to take it down & give it a go. I really think she would call for me before coming out of her room anyway. We'll see! 

BeanNut

We use a door knob cover.  She is potty trained but is able to hold it for very long periods of time so it's never been an issue.  I will continue to use it for quite a while as a safety precaution.

BelhurstBride

Never gated or otherwise contained her to her room. She's always known she can come get us if ever she feels the need. 

We used to gate the stairs, but don't even do that anymore. 

ncbelle

Never did - I didn't feel comfortable with them not being able to come to me if they needed me.  They always came straight to us if they woke but you could always gate off parts of the house you are worried about roaming in.

erbear

I never did one for DD1, but she's a rule follower. I told her she couldn't get out of her bed, so she didn't. 

We have one for DD2. She's naughty  I plan to leave it until I trust that she won't wander.

jlpev

We just shut DS's door. He usually hollers or knocks at the door if he needs out or anything.

teshy1

I think DD only ever tried to get out of her room once since we moved her to her toddler bed (about 5 months ago).  DH felt strongly about DD being able to get out of her room if there was an emergency.  DD is perfectly happy amusing herself in her room in the a.m. when she wakes up, with books, her stuffed animals, etc.  Occasionally she will call for us, but most of the time, she waits for us to come get her.

islelily

We have a gate for DS's room. He'll be 3 in November and not PTd. We've taken it down a few times when he's been sick, so he can see us if he's up. However, he's started randomly coming into our room in the early morning (3am) and just laying down and sleeping on our floor. We bring him back to his bed and he stays there until morning. Don't know when we'll take it down for good!

We also have a gate installed at the top of our stairs that is closed at night.

JMU_Bride09

We still have the gate up, but it'll probably come down when DS1 starts to potty train.