On the subject of gates...

Carifly

am I the only one who doesn't have any up yet?  We have two flights of stairs in our (tiny) house, but haven't put gates up yet.  Right now we just watch her closely or keep her in one room with us and shut the door.  She can never be unattended anyhow because we have so much stuff everywhere that she could get into. 

I actually bought a gate to put at the top of the stairs a while ago but it is still sitting in its box.  Now I'm thinking we might not use it until she can get out of her crib or is in a toddler bed.

Am I crazy? She is not walking yet so maybe this is something I need to think about before she starts?

suh5969

Once they can walk they get fast QUICK!  You should really consider it in case she breaks out.

MrsKellyOrBust

Yes you are crazy. Seriously though, we could NEVER risk it with our son- he is infatuated with the stairs. We have gates at the top and bottom. He knows how to go up and down with ease but now likes to go down like a big boy (holding onto the railing rather than on his tummy) so that would be disastrous.

johnsoar

We have 2 up but your not crazy.  I think it depends on the layout of your house.  We have a tri-level.  We needed them because the stairs are right across from the living room and we didn't want her to roll down, crawl down or fall down the stairs.  Also, when I cook she usually plays in the living room (around the corner) and I don't feel safe without a gate. 

We also have on going up the stairs so she can't climb up. 

franciscaz

I wouldn't be risking it... you are playing Russian Roulette.  If there is one thing I learned about once Harmon became mobile overnight he just did thinks I couldn't imagine (like he moves the dining room table chairs so he is able to use it to climb on to the dining room table).  Baby proofing is a pain but for me, it is worth the extra pain just to be risking it.

tigerlilllies

We have hardware mounted gates at the top of the upstairs stairs and the basement stairs. We have a pressure gate near the bottom of the upstairs flight of stairs. We've had them up since she was crawling. So far that works for us.

(Now if I could only figure out my parents' house...lol)

nosoup4u

If it's working not to have the gates, then who cares - we're in an apartment, so no stairs, and we close doors to rooms we don't want DS to go into by himself. You can always add them later if need be...

Temp174496125006552

We don't have any up either.  We have a door at the top of our basement steps that we keep shut whenever Ben is awake.  We don't have one at the bottom of the steps for upstairs (the main floor of the house) because the bottom of the gate would need to be more narrow than the top and I've yet to find something that will work there (most gates are 38 inches and that's too wide).  We just never leave him out of our sight.  As far as upstairs, he is not allowed to walk in the hallway.  He is either in his room with the door shut, or in our room with the door shut. 

Agrippa

We didn't have a gate at the top of the stairs for a long time because DS was always attended up there.  Then, one day, he bolted for the stairs and fell down two before I caught him.

We've had a gate at the bottom of the stairs since he was about 8 months old, because he loves to climb them.

Renee070806

ds crawled for the first time a few weeks ago..and then two days later fell in love with the stairs and began crawling up them. 

we now have a gate at the bottom & top.  i had a hard time b/c we have a very wide staircase and awkward railings... but bru has a ton! (they have skinny ones for the pp)