No baby gate at stairs

amother

Oatmeal

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 11:51 am

amother Blueberry wrote:

I can’t watch my baby every single second. It’s not possible. I don’t know how you all do it
With my first 2 we lived in a basement so I didn’t have to worry about stairs.
Now with my third I’m in a house and going to get a a baby gate.
I also don’t understand how people don’t have a baby gate unless they’re baby is on a leash.

If I’m not watching the baby, and no other responsible person is, I put the baby in a swing to chair or in the playroom (which has French doors so I can see what’s going on) with the door closed etc

amother

Blueberry

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 11:58 am

amother Oatmeal wrote:

Ok so you have a room where u can close the door
Makes sense
I have only open space
I wonder if that’s what the other posters do as well.
If your child is crawling btw how are they in a swing

amother

Oatmeal

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:06 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

Ok so you have a room where u can close the door
Makes sense
I have only open space
I wonder if that’s what the other posters do as well.
If your child is crawling btw how are they in a swing

So I guess at the stage that theyre crawling their in the playroom or high chair

tichellady

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:10 pm

We didn’t have one but our baby was extremely risk averse so it just wasn’t an issue. We now don’t have stairs but our second child loves to try things out so we would have one if we had stairs now. My parents don’t have a gate but we put chairs down to block the stairs before our kids learn how to use stairs safely

tichellady

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:13 pm

amother Blueberry wrote:

Not everyone has three kids or kids who are risk takers. Every situation is different

amother

Linen

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:13 pm

My mom raised 5 babies (more kah but not babies in that house) in a house with many stairs.
It's harder now when the grandchildren come then her own kids. Her kids learnt fast, grandkids that don't have stairs at home is much more risky as it takes them longer to learn.

It not just about the house looking pretty. They always jam. The kids push on them, it keeps falling down, it kills the paint and plater and railings it attaches too. It's a hassle to unlock
Yes, I've seen more than 1 brand.

amother

Hosta

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:15 pm

For all the people saying it wasn’t a big deal not to have a gate because it took their baby a month to learn and they were on top of them- I’m wondering how old your baby was when they became mobile? My babies start crawling around 5 months, 6 the latest. By 5 months they’re mobile enough to fall down the stairs and by 6 months they’re mobile enough to pull up at the bottom for he stairs and try to climb (and ultimately fall). It is many months until they are mentally/developmentally ready to even start learning to safely climb up/down stairs. So a baby gate is a must.

And for the record I am pro “letting kids learn”, I’d rather help my kids learn to handle situations rather than constantly protecting them from it. But with a baby gate I don’t have a choice. I can’t teach a 5 month old how to safely climb down the steps.

amother

Hydrangea

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:32 pm

We don't have baby gates
We have babies with older siblings who love teaching them to crawl up and down the stairs
We have babies with parents and older siblings who keep an eye out for them.
Bli ayin hara none of my babies (3 of whom were babies in our home with stairs) fell down the stairs

mommyhood

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 12:45 pm

My main stairs are carpeted and have 2 landings so no long hard distances to fall down and we’ve never felt the need to have a gate. I do have a straight set down to the basement and that we are very careful to keep the door closed or a gate on the room that leads to those stairs.

tichellady

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:20 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

No one is opposed to you having a baby gate. We are just explaining why we didn’t have one and are not neglectful parents. You should do whatever makes sense for your family

Hashem_Yaazor

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:30 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

My baby was crawling at 5 months and mastered the steps at 8.

We have half flights which is less scary but we blocked the stairs with boxes or chairs if he was in a room with access to chv falling down stairs. We worked on teaching him safe step crawling until he mastered them...

amother

Firethorn

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:34 pm

We have one at the bottom but not at the top. So far none of my kids have been even close to climbing out of their cribs, so they were in cribs pretty late, past the time they were good on the stairs. And other than sleep time, they're never unsupervised upstairs.

amother

Hosta

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:37 pm

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

My baby is currently six months, been crawling since 4.5 months, we have straight flights down to tile, even if he’s ready to climb down by 8 months, why should I block my stairs with boxes for 4 months when I could put a baby gate instead? I have other young kids I can’t trust them to always remeber to replace the boxes etc. He loves crawling around upstairs while my kids are getting baths or getting dressed in the morning. He’ll pop into the bedrooms, crawl around the hallway enjoying the action…. Why keep him contained in one room with the door closed when I can simply put a baby gate? He’s just turned 6 months he literally has no fear of the steps and can’t be taught yet to safely climb down. And even one tumble can be too dangerous.

It’s enough to manage him pulling up and standing by everything, if someone isn’t right there to help him he will eventually just topple down and bang his head…. But we are teaching him and within a few weeks he will IyH learn to safely get back down on the floor from standing by a bed etc. But steps are a different story.

amother

Chocolate

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:42 pm

amother OP wrote:

I'm not outraged.
Just asking/wondering about this.
I wonder if it's a new trend as I've only been seeing this for the past few of years.
Years ago, everyone had baby gates. I wonder if there are benefits for the baby developmentally by not having gates.

Where are you taking this statement from?
I grew up with grandparents on both sides who had stairs without gates. In fact I can’t think of a single house that I remember having a gate when I grew up. This is absolutely not a new thing. We always began teaching our babies how to get down safely as soon as they began climbing it. So have many people I knew growing up. It gets more difficult with grandchildren, as someone mentioned, but each of my grandparents have their own solution for when kids are over. They’d be extremely annoyed to have to snap and unsnap gates all the time.

I have a sneaky suspicion you are trying to make this into some kind of bashing on people with nice houses… sorry but this ain’t it.

Some people just are annoyed by safety gates and find it easier to teach their infants. Babies who have access to stairs learn way FASTER.

amother

Canary

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:44 pm

People think accidents won't happen until they do happen.

People think that their children are watched 100% of the time and yet somehow there will be a tragedy where a child drowns in a pool within minutes or runs into traffic.

Someone who doesn't have a baby gate - at least at the top of the stairs - is neglectful because there can be a tumble. Although a gate at the bottom is ideal, accidents are less likely to happen if a baby happens to crawl up.

And what I have learned from imamother is that there are a significant percentage of parents who justify taking risks with their children like no car seats. Or there was a thread in which strollers with children were left on the street outside stores.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:45 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

This is why every situation is different. My two kids so far didn’t know to climb up steps till a year (we don’t have stairs except by grandparents) .

Only one person in my family has gates at the top, the rest don’t and none of us are remotely irresponsible- back to sleep, car seats till 4/5 etc type bh.

amother

Lemonchiffon

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 1:48 pm

amother Hosta wrote:

Wow bli ayin hora I would love to see that! My 8 month old is crawling and I thought it was early lol!

amother

Burgundy

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 2:35 pm

I would think those without gates probably don't have the stairs located in a prominent place where it's easy to stumble down without noticing the stairs.

In the bedroom floor I don't feel the need but on the main floor with stairs to the basement I can't imagine not having a gate. Are those kids in high chairs/ excersaucers much of th day or in full day daycare? My babies are super active & even if safe on the stairs I can't imagine running down constantly to get them. And besides I don't keep my basement free of small objects like beads or lego so I don't let babies down there at all.

amother

Hosta

Fri, Jan 12 2024, 2:44 pm

amother Lemonchiffon wrote:

Wow bli ayin hora I would love to see that! My 8 month old is crawling and I thought it was early lol!

It’s a blessing and a curse 😆 their bodies are just a few months ahead of their brains and it’s a challenge lol. BH.