https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 27 Apr 2026 07:09:25 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs/page/2#post-2614446 Thu, 01 Sep 2016 05:40:38 +0000 Adira 2614446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lilyofthewest: Your story is terrifying as a parent!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs/page/2#post-2614352 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 20:11:06 +0000 LovelyPlum 2614352@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lilyofthewest: WHOA. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs/page/2#post-2614220 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:40:29 +0000 HLK208 2614220@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. I make sure they're latched every night and DH does too. I'm not worried about my 4 and 7 year old since they know how to open them but the gates are so loud that I can hear whoever leaves even if I'm asleep. It's just a sliding latch so easy enough if we need to run down stairs for whatever reason.</p> <p>Oh, and I always close the gate when my 2 year old is upstairs! She's already fallen down once when she insisted on going down without holding my hand. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614202 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:12:54 +0000 Adira 2614202@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Foodnerd81: Right?? I used to worry before having kids that I wouldn't wake up to their crying because I was such a deep sleeper. Now I can't even fall asleep if I can hear Hubs' breathing next to me!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614185 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 14:47:22 +0000 snowjewelz 2614185@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I may be paranoid over here too, but I'd totally leave the gate closed due to "you never know's"! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614182 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 14:40:08 +0000 Foodnerd81 2614182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: really? I used to be such a baby sleeper, now I swear I wake up two minutes before the kid starts crying. It's actually really annoying because sometimes they just make noises and go back to sleep but i am awake listening for them. This is without a monitor even- but very small condo and the baby is in our room and toddler's room shares a thin wall with ours. </p> <p>@Adira: same. I miss sleeping deeply. Though I can easily sleep through DH getting out of bed early, just not a tiny whimper from a kid. Stupid mom ears. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614099 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 13:18:03 +0000 Adira 2614099@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: haha, I USED to be a heavy sleeper! Now the smallest sound wakes me up!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614092 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 13:12:54 +0000 wheres_c 2614092@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: ah ok that makes sense. I'm a heavy sleeper so there's no way talking into a monitor would wake me. It was hard enough to wake up with the crying baby lol. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614062 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:50:32 +0000 Adira 2614062@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: Ohh, okay! Yeah, we still have a video monitor in Xander's room so we can hear him in the middle of the night. He often will just walk up to it and talk to me through it since I can talk to him back through it. Like on Sunday night, he was sick and threw up, and I heard him immediately and was half-way up the stairs before he even could say "I'm sick!" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614059 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:48:25 +0000 wheres_c 2614059@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: still not fully understanding but that's ok! I would never know B was sick unless he came downstairs and got me? I wouldn't hear him calling out for me from upstairs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614038 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:24:50 +0000 2PeasinaPod 2614038@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We've had LO1 in a big boy bed since he was a little over 2 and have never had a gate at our stairs. He comes into our room at least 3 or 4 times/week in the middle of the night, and we've never had an issue. We also have a full flight of stairs that lead down to hardwood floors. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2614033 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 12:18:53 +0000 Adira 2614033@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wheres_c: If Xander is sick or whatever in the middle of the night, it only takes an extra couple seconds for me to open the gate. Plus with the way it opens, it's in my way regardless of whether it's closed or not. I'd definitely prefer it take me a couple extra seconds to get to him than for him to fall down the stairs in the middle of the night! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613961 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:10:54 +0000 78h2o 2613961@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did not have a gate until the baby started crawling and my 3 year old did fine. Her room is not right by the stairs though. I might just lay a gate across the top of the stairs at night if it was super close and I was concerned. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613760 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 07:18:59 +0000 bushelandapeck 2613760@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a gate but don't latch it at night. DS is on the 2nd floor by himself but never gets out of bed without calling for one of us first. I left the gate up because of DD who is now 22 months. We use it if we are playing upstairs together. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613757 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 07:13:24 +0000 Ajsmommy 2613757@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: DD hasn't moved into her big girl bedroom yet but once she does she will have to pass the stairs to get to the bathroom and both DH and I are worried she might stagger or trip (she's a blankey girl and might drag blankey out with her at night) and fall down the stairs so we plan to put up a gate and latch it once we move her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613754 Wed, 31 Aug 2016 06:55:40 +0000 tinyperson 2613754@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD1 is 3.5 and we close the gate. It's a hard fall down to marble tile and a big window at the bottom and she's distracted on the stairs at the best of times. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613739 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 23:40:31 +0000 wheres_c 2613739@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cheesetomywhine: @PinkElephant: I meant more in the sense of an an emergency with the child in the middle of the night - if they got sick, or were scared, or something happened upstairs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613727 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 22:28:49 +0000 cheesetomywhine 2613727@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: we have a gate and we also keep it closed. All our rooms plus the bathroom are upstairs so there isn't a need for her to go down alone. </p> <p>@wheres_c: our room is upstairs as well. If there were to be an emergency we would be right the hall to get her and her younger brothers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613712 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 21:42:48 +0000 lilyofthewest 2613712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>When I was a toddler there was no stair gate, and the bathroom was opposite the stairs. I never fell. However, at 4 or 5 years old I apparently made a regular habit of going downstairs, outside, and to the playground down the street in the middle of the night. This habit was discovered when I tried to hitchhike to the lake and my would-be ride turned me in. I wanted to know why it was fine to go to the playground by not the lake...and my parents were all, "playground??" </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613709 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 21:35:47 +0000 MamaG 2613709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We got rid of our top of the stairs gate before 3 and never put it back up, even with K! :shocked: </p> <p>Oddly, C doesn't wake at night to use the rest room. She's an odd kiddo. Even now at 5, she almost always yells for us rather than getting out of bed and her room on her own. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613698 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 21:11:22 +0000 Foodnerd81 2613698@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We aren't there yet, but I a planning on putting a gate at the top of the stairs as soon as we move. Partly because we have an almost crawling baby who is fast, but I also worry the 3 year old could come out of her room confused and take a wrong turn or stumble. All our bedrooms are upstairs and we will leave our door open if she needs us. Currently she doesn't come out of her room at night anyway (sleeps in a pull up but if she wakes up she just cries for us, even though she is able to leave the room). </p> <p>Plus I think it's a good habit to always close the gate if you need it during the day- like during the day my toddler would be fine having access to the stairs but the baby isn't. But I don't know- I have never lived in a house with stairs and kids before! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613694 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 21:05:57 +0000 Corduroy 2613694@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: We got rid of Z's door handle cover about two months ago. We don't have stairs but I was similarly worried about what she might get into around the house with free reign at night. So far she's only gone to the bathroom and my room (miraculously after her OK to wake light came on). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613687 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 20:58:49 +0000 chopsuey 2613687@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DS' room is right by the stairs and he usually comes out and straight to our room if he has to go potty in the motn. We moved to our new house right before his 2nd bday and never put gates up. So far no ones fallen down the stairs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613678 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 20:48:50 +0000 jaguar 2613678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We never gated the top of our stairs. We do leave a light on upstairs at night for her, so that she can more easily go from her room to the bathroom and back, but she's always been great with the stairs. :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613540 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:28:31 +0000 Periwinkle 2613540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We actually just took our gate down last week for our 3 1/2 year old. We had no problem with it up but had the floors redone and can't justify putting it back up. LO's room is upstairs and while he's in a bed, he does not go to the bathroom by himself at night yet, so I am less worried about stairs and nighttime. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613535 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:22:31 +0000 PinkElephant 2613535@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: I'm with you. If our bedrooms were UP rather than DOWN the stairs, I'd gate them at night for my 4 year old. I have a sliding lock out of her reach on our basement door (the only stairs that go down from our bedroom level), just out of an abundance of caution. I don't gate the stairs UP to the main living level because I know she won't come up as long as there is not a light on (that means she can find us downstairs)</p> <p>@wheres_c: Our gates are tension-mounted. Without a doubt, she could kick them down in an emergency - she's done it in the midst of a tantrum before. :happy: My husband feels the same way as you do, and my response is that I don't see how having a baby gate to protect an older child is any different from having a newborn/toddler sleeping in a crib. In an emergency, how would they get out of the crib? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613529 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:07:50 +0000 Canoli 2613529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My oldest son is 4.5 and we still close the gate at the top of the stairs most nights. His room is right next to the stairs and although he very rarely gets up in the middle of the night and we have our foyer light dimmed and on I don't take any chances. It takes two seconds to close the gate so for us it's worth the piece of mind. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613521 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:01:32 +0000 wheres_c 2613521@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We moved into the house when he was 2.5 and we didn't put up gates. We leave a nightlight on. He either goes to the potty or comes down the stairs to use. Shocked at the responses of people still using a gate with a preschooler. What if there's an emergency? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613516 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:54:03 +0000 Truth Bombs 2613516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If my 3.5 year old's bathroom wasn't attached to her bedroom I would have insisted on gating the top of the stairs. It's one of those things that's really not a big deal to do, so why not take the step to be extra safe? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/35-year-old-and-stairs#post-2613507 Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:41:50 +0000 Mrsbells 2613507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Adira: our gates are always closed just in case </p>