HELP! 11 month old climbing stairs. Need ideas asap!!!

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amother

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 5:53 pm

My baby just learnt how to climb stairs up, but cant come down. I keep on finding him halfway up, and I'm terrified of him falling!
Recently moved, so didnt have this issue with other kids. My stairs are railing on one side and wall on the other.
Need a practical idea of some kind of temporary protection, like a gate or something, but I don't want to drill or do anything permanently to my walls.

Experienced mamas, please help me!

English3

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 5:56 pm

Until you get something you can slip a folding chair through the rail

amother

Sand

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 5:59 pm

You need to spend time teaching him to climb down. & get a pressure mounted gate.

amother

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:00 pm

English3 wrote:

Until you get something you can slip a folding chair through the rail

ooh thank you, never thought of this!

amother

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:01 pm

amother [ Sand ] wrote:

You need to spend time teaching him to climb down. & get a pressure mounted gate.

Trying, so far no success. I feel he might be too young to learn the skills of climbing down.

amother

Seablue

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:10 pm

You can get a pressure fitted stair gate which doesn't need any screws. You ideally need a stair gate at the top and the bottom of the stairs.

amother

Periwinkle

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:12 pm

At 11 months he can learn to slide down. Gently pull his legs down and say yay you are sliding. I would pull my kids down on their stomachs so they understood what I wanted them to do. Each time he goes up instead of saving him, show him how to slide down.

WhatFor

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:18 pm

You can put the gate starting a couple of stairs up. It's good for him to keep practicing this skill on two or three stairs. Have you demonstrated yourself how to go down?

bsy

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:24 pm

I have a pressure mounted gate mounted between banister and wall.

amother

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:31 pm

bsy wrote:

I have a pressure mounted gate mounted between banister and wall.

We all end up going up and down a lot all day, is it complicated to remove and put back on?

bsy

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:32 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

We all end up going up and down a lot all day, is it complicated to remove and put back on?

I left it up. It opens and closes easily. Company is regalo

Beingreal

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 6:43 pm

Get a gate so he won't go up the stairs.

amother

Opal

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 7:49 pm

We just bought a gate. I’m actually happy about it since guests kids won’t go upstairs if the gate is locked.

amother

DarkPurple

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 8:07 pm

As soon as you see her going up just pick her up an put her down on the floor. After a couple days she'll learn she's not allowed to go up

I believe there are gates that are suction so you don't have to drill a hole

imasinger

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 8:13 pm

Another vote for devoting the time to teaching him to go down. It's the most practical solution.

Set him a few steps from the bottom, and both show, and help him move in the motions of going down backwards. Get the other kids to demonstrate and teach, too.

He's not too little.

amother

Lightgray

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 8:55 pm

Just pointing out that pressure mounted gates shouldn’t be used at the top of the stairs, there really should be a drilled gate there.

Also I’m a newer mom so I could be wrong, but I would think gates should be on the stairs for several years? I don’t think it’s that temporary.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 9:03 pm

amother [ Lightgray ] wrote:

Totally agreed. If a child pushes on a pressure mounted gate at the top of the stairs, the whole thing, child and all, will come tumbling down. Pressure can only stand so much, and then it will give way. A pressure gate at the ground floor is not anywhere near as dangerous.

Believe me, you are going to be wanting these gates in even when your children are 3 or 4 years old. If they come out of bed in the middle of the night, you don't want them wandering around the rest of the house and getting into trouble.

I taught DD how to come down the stairs by sitting her on her bottom. I sat next to her on the steps, and we scooted our bottoms down the stairs one step at a time. It's by far the safest way to learn. She mastered it on her own, on the first try.

amother

Cinnamon

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 9:26 pm

We tried a few options, but then put in a gate that you have to screw into the wall. My two youngest are 2 years apart, so the gate has been useful for the past almost three years. My kids' safety is more important to me than a wall with holes that can eventually be patched/repaired. Even if I'd teach them to go down the steps , I don't want an under 2 year old roaming around the house as she pleases. I've heard so many stories of toddlers that fell down stairs at really young ages, for goodness sake, toddlers can't be trusted to do steps unattended

Sewsew_mom

Wed, Feb 02 2022, 9:32 pm

He's old enough to be able to go down. I've sat over a weekend practically by the steps all day with my little one going up and down. Best decision I made. I never had an issue with my baby going down steps in someone's home. Everyone else was so afraid putting gates up around and yelling where's the baby??? Mine went up and down flawlessly.
Sit there on the steps teaching and while he practices...

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