I set Eli in the basement yesterday so I didn't have to set up a baby gate, since he hasn't (ahem, hadn't) made it past the 2nd stair yet. Not one minute later he was happily playing with his toys at the TOP of the stairs. Whoa, buddy! I suppose gates are a fact of life for a while, then... 
but when to let him learn on his own? Patrick didn't have any stairs to practice on until we moved into this house when he was 18 months old, and the first day we lived here he fell down them, head-over-heels, pancake-style. So this is new territory, please let me know if you have any suggestions! For now, gates - he gets enough tumbling thanks his big brother wrestling him!
but when to let him learn on his own? Patrick didn't have any stairs to practice on until we moved into this house when he was 18 months old, and the first day we lived here he fell down them, head-over-heels, pancake-style. So this is new territory, please let me know if you have any suggestions! For now, gates - he gets enough tumbling thanks his big brother wrestling him!
5 comments:
When we first moved back here we mostly worked on teaching Kalena that she wasn't allowed to go up the stairs without an adult. That way we didn't have to worry about a baby gate all the time. She was a little over a year, but you could probably work on that sooner.
I have plenty of stairs in my house and have never owned a baby gate.
My kids figure out pretty quick (after the 2nd fall) not to come down the stairs.
Nathan also trains them to crawl belly down so they dont smack their face. This takes about 2 weeks.
Good Luck with what ever you decide. We have never baby proofed our house.
I agree! We never got a gate either, mostly because Jacob learned quickly- we also have a lot of stairs so he got a lot of practice. And sometimes when people get gates it causes more accidents. I think they could still be helpful but give him plenty of practice and he'd probably master them in not too long! Good luck :)
We keep a gate at the bottom of the stairs because Espen learned quickly he wasn't supposed to go up there without a grown up so that was the first thing he would start to do when he was tired/ feeling naughty. It was tough to watch him all the time and get anything else done so the gate's been a life saver. As for down the stairs, we taught him feet first and on his belly for a long time. Now he holds our hand or the wall (because he can't reach the banister yet) and walks down step by step with us.
teach them how to go up & down the stairs - well I guess down - then you can take away the gates. It takes a bit of work but then you won't need the darn things. we have stairs but we taught max to go up & down them so it worked. gates are a PIA!
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