When discussing stairgates, both the hubby and I agreed that we didn't want one. Neither of us remember having one as a kid and we were both fine. They're big, clumsy and if you're overweight like me, they can be difficult to get through.
With this thought armed in my head, I went to the pregnancy forum that I'm a member of to ask other mums-to-be their opinion. Well, safe to say, there's an overwhelming 'Yes, get a stairgate' consensus.
I totally get why they're good to have, but in a house as small as ours, we didn't feel it would be necessary, and at least, for us adults, more of a hazard to have. But then that got me thinking, could we live with ourselves if something happened to the baby just because we didn't want a stairgate? Probably not... This isn't about the money it costs to buy one, but the hazard they present when they're at the top and bottom steps.
After having a look at our landing we found a suitable place for one to go that wasn't near the top step, but between our bedroom door, and the airing cupboard. This would give Squidge access to their room, my room and the bathroom, and nothing else. This also eliminates the danger of us tripping on it and falling down the stairs, instead, we'd fall head on into a wall and mirror, not as bad as the stairs.
The other side of this - as parents, at least, our intentions, are to let Squidge be a child, let them get dirty in the garden and covered in mud, we don't want to be one of these people who get so paranoid about germs, that they're using anti-bacterial cleaner on every surface. Children need to build up a tolerance and resilience to different things, and they only way they can do that is to be exposed to them. That being said, there's letting your child get muddy, and the possibility of letting your child fall down the stairs and break their neck...
This all got me thinking though, aside from people who have dogs (most people who commented on the forum thread who had dogs said they just had them to keep the dogs in the kitchen), who thinks having a stairgate is a necessity, or are we being over-cautious?
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We still have the stair gate at the top of the stairs and my girls are 6 & 11....My youngest gets up sometimes in the night and her bedroom door is at the top of the stairs....I would never forgive myself if she was half asleep and fell down the stairs....I think stair gates are important to have.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair enough - but then accidents could always happen, like someone who's commented below, they could trip up on the stairgate. I want to be cautious, of course I don't want anything to happen to my baby, but I don't want to wrap them in too much cotton wool either like my mum did with me... there's a fine line I think.
DeleteWe live in a flat so haven't had this worry but may consider one when our son is walking. If we has stairs I think we'd have them for sure :) #binkylinky
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Lucinda - if we do go for it, which we probably will, it'll be one that opens up completely like the wooden one in the picture :)
DeleteI have mixed feelings on this. Our daughter fell down the stairs because she tripped on the bar on the stairgate so it's not always such a black and white issue. The only one we have now is to keep the dog out of the kitchen. #binkylinky
ReplyDeleteHuh, yeah like you said, not black and white. I'm not a fan of the ones with a door in them, if we get one (which we probably will), it'll be one that opens up completely.
DeleteWe don't have stair gates in our house, but we only have one floor. If we had two floors I would have one at the top and bottom of the stairs for safety reasons, but I like that our twins have freedom to walk around the whole house. We have safety catches on doors and cupboards so they house is 100% safe for them. Any sharp or dangerous items are put well out of reach and we don't have any cord blinds etc. Thanks for linking up to the #binkylinky
ReplyDeleteI think if (when) we do get one it'll just be one at the top of the stairs, it'd be difficult to fit one at the bottom of ours as it's curved going straight into the lounge. The one at the top would just be in case they get up in the middle of the night.
DeleteI had a whole of 3 stair-gates in the last house. One for the kitchen, one for the bottom and one for the top of the stairs. It was necessary as we didn't have a door to the kitchen and I believe children should be able to explore their world without too much hinder. :)
ReplyDeleteNow that we have moved we only have one up at the top of the stairs to prevent the small ones going upstairs to the bathroom/bath and doing mischievous things hehe. I can't lock the bathroom door since my daughter is out of nappies and still too young to work a lock by herself safely.
I do have child door locks though: Kitchen, fridge, freezer, hallway and our bedroom. hehe
#binkylinky
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personally I think stair gates are a good thing within reason! one at the bottom or top of the stairs when baby starts moving is more than enough I think.
ReplyDeleteCatherine x
We have one at the top of the stairs that we still close at night incase my eldest gets up and turns right down the stairs instead of 2nd right into our room and I also close it when i'm showering to keep my toddler upstairs so I can hear her. We have one in the kitchen too so I can run to the door/loo when the hob is on, knowing they can't get near it, those are the only times we use our gates now that my girls are 2 and 4.
ReplyDeleteI refused to buy gates you have to step over for safety reasons, I think they are dangerous at the top of the stairs, we bought ones like your post pic and have never had accidents. #binkylinky
(Sarah h from lovinglifewithlittleones.com)
When I was younger we had stair gates because we had those space saver stairs, as we lived in a bungalow and my folks put in an attic room for me. Obviously they didn't want me to try and use the stairs myself, but one night I managed to climb over the gates and down the stairs to end up in bed with some visitors we had. I don't know how I did it but I didn't injure myself but I never did it again x
ReplyDeleteI didn't have a gate until Zachary started walking (10 months), as with crawling he wasn't fast enough to climb stairs without me noticing :) When he started walking, we got a gate for the bottom of the stairs and kept blocking the top with a set of drawers we had on the top landing, just in case :) Even though Zachary slept through the night in his cot, blocking the stairs made me feel less paranoid.
ReplyDeleteHe is 3 now, we moved house and we only have a gate at the top of the stairs - it's the type that opens up completely, without any bars etc. It's really good and doesn't put me at risk of tripping and falling down the stairs. The one we used to have at the bottom of the stairs in our old house had the bottom bar and it was very narrow in the middle, so I had a few accidents with it and had tons of bruises on my legs all the time :/ I wouldn't recommend it. I don't feel the need for a gate on the bottom, because I am with Zac at all times, plus the door to our hallway is closed anyway.
Just like you said, you would never forgive yourself if something happened to your child, so it's better to get a gate in a place that suits you best. We can let them be kids during the day, when we can keep an eye on them, but you never know what can happen in the middle of the night, when they are half asleep etc.