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?
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
