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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why having a stairgate is such a bad thing????

85 replies

LoveBeingAMummy · 09/07/2009 15:57

OK, moving on quickly from this being a thread about a thread , HOWEVER why is having a stairgate seen as a negitive thing? I don't get it, really, why would you not have one?

OP posts:
pagwatch · 09/07/2009 16:05

I don't see it as negative but never felt the need for one. I didn't want to imediately surround myself with YOUR BABY COULD DIE merchandise - but its a personal choice.
Why would any one get kerflumpled about whether someone else has a stairgate or not?
Especially to be so annoyed that you start another thread.....

OrmIrian · 09/07/2009 16:10

Eh? Why does it bother you?

We had one and found it quite dangerous TBH. Our children used to climb over it. And toddlers on top of a stairgate at the top of a staircase was more dangerous than no stair gate. And by and large we discarded most of the safety paraphenalia by no 2 as we found it unneccessary. But I don't suppose anyone thinks it's a bad thing per se.

DaisymooSteiner · 09/07/2009 16:10

A friend's dd fell whilst climbing over one and broke her arm. My dd slipped on the stairs and hurt herself on the stairgate at the bottom. DS1 was very careful on the stairs themselves but used to charge at the stairgate at the top of the stairs - had the stairgate given way he would have gone crashing down the stairs. With ds3 we taught him how to crawl up and down the stairs safely and never had a stairgate because we felt the risks to the older children outweighed the benefits as he was never left unsupervised near the stairs anyway.

BoysAreLikeDogs · 09/07/2009 16:11

A you live in a bungalow

B Your child is not a climber

C beak out

OrmIrian · 09/07/2009 16:11

And thinking about it, one of the few times DS#1 went to A&E was when he leant against a stairgate at my parents' house and it gave way.

littlelamb · 09/07/2009 16:12

Don't know the thread. With dd I didn't need done, she was placid and no problem. Ds is a houdini, we have a playpen. Stone me now

LibrasBiscuitsOfFortune · 09/07/2009 16:14

Is it National Stairgate day?

pagwatch · 09/07/2009 16:15

at libra

my three children are 16, 12 and 6. They all made it through without stairgates and without plug socket covers. They are small miracles....

marenmj · 09/07/2009 16:16

hee hee

The only stairgate we have is on DD's door

To be fair, tis just as much to keep the kitties out of her space as it is to keep DD in

OrmIrian · 09/07/2009 16:18

Same here pag. Having said that we did try all those 'oh my god I must make DC's life like a padded cell' things with DS#1. But as he was very adept at removing them, climbing over them, chewing them...we gave up. And all my DC are still in one piece.

posiedullardparker · 09/07/2009 16:21

The one child I didn't bother too much with stair gates was the one who fell down the stairs with two cricket bat sounding whacks... we had to call an ambulance, she didn't cry and she couldn't move her eyes which were fixed to the left, she just dribbled, it was the most scary day of my life.

My dss could climb up and down stairs before they could walk, which meant they didn't try to walk down!

Don't really know why anyone would object to a safety measure.... but people are strange.

Oblomov · 09/07/2009 16:21

Libra, obviously Anti national stairgate day.

nappyaddict · 09/07/2009 16:24

We have one on DS' bedroom door to keep him in else we'd never get him into bed and asleep.

allaboutme · 09/07/2009 16:24

god yes, no stairgates here and my kids are still alive
no carseats either, or helmets on bicycles, or any other pesky safety things and of course the fact that my kids are all fine with no safety equipment must mean that its all completely uneccesary and anyone who uses them are PFB....

pagwatch · 09/07/2009 16:25

posie - but that is the point. No one objects. Some of us just manage without.

I can see why people choose the way they do but their choice is no more my business than my choice is theirs.
There are no moral certainties here - we just try and balance our lives with bringing up our children as we see fit.

pagwatch · 09/07/2009 16:26

OFGS !
so if you don't have every piece of safety equipment ever made then you don't give a shit about your child.

Fuckwittery

posiedullardparker · 09/07/2009 16:27

Imagined the word 'object' in the OP....

littlelamb · 09/07/2009 16:29

Well obviously pag anyone without one of these is horribly neglectful

melmog · 09/07/2009 16:30

I've missed the other threads on this. We've got one at the bottom of the stairs as dd2 is learning to walk but is a really good climber already. We've decided to take it down as we keep tripping over it AND i'M TERRIFIED THAT IF ONE OF THEM DOES FALL DOWN THE STAIRS THEY'LL CRASH INTO IT AT THE BOTTOM. eACH TO THEIR OWN ON THIS ONE i THINK.

Poshpaws · 09/07/2009 16:30

Got stairgate at the top of the stairs and plug socket things in toddler-level sockets. Have been there since PFB DS1 (nearly 8) and are still there for DS3 (2.3).

Not particularly paranoid, just not top of my list to remove the socket covers or unscrew the gate. They will probably be there when DS3 leaves home ....

melmog · 09/07/2009 16:30

Ooops, wasn't shouting!

RedOnHerHead · 09/07/2009 16:31

I have a stairgate - I use it on my front door in the hot weather, so i can leave the door open and not worry about the baby escaping whilst I spend all day on mn

pagwatch · 09/07/2009 16:33

I have to go and get my DD from school now (so must pack up knives for her to play with on the way home).

I think people who buy stairgates are attentive parents doing the best for their children and are very sensible.They are neither PFB or OTT. But I retain the right to not think I need one and still be regarded as a loving sensible parent.

RedOnHerHead · 09/07/2009 16:34

Oh littlelamb! do they sell those for adults? I could do with one to stop BabyRed from hurting me with his toys!

Yurtgirl · 09/07/2009 16:37

Allaboutme - how do you manage without carsears (unless of course you dont have a car!)
I dont have a car but still have carsears as a) my kids go on journeys in my Xs car and their grandparents b) its illegal not to have them for kids in cars isnt it???

I used to love my stairgates