3 year old who can open stair gates - any tips

[RedRibbons]

Add message | Report | Message poster RedRibbons Fri 18-Feb-11 21:59:08
Our 3 year old has worked out how to open the stair gates in the house and her 19 month old brother just follows her whenever she does this. I am concerned that she is opening stair gate at the top of the stairs and whilst she is steady enough to walk down her brother isn't. We just have the basic lindam safety gates and I was wondering if anyone has had the same problem and has any tips?

this is why we didn't bother with stair gates cos I'd rather the younger one learnt to use the steps properly than find the gate open one day and throw themselves down the stairs
so that's one solution - teach him to bum shuffle down them

My lovely mum unintentionally taught my DD to open the stair gate when she was about 3.5 and my son about a year old. I told DD not to do it but of course she did. It's a pain but the only practical thing is to get something else to hold the gate that she can't work out. Maybe tie it? I have to say I dealt with it by just keeping an eye and closing it and then reminding DD. The layout of my house meant that we didnt spend much time near the stairs during the day. I suppose there are plenty of people about who just dont use stair gates at all.

There is a roller stair gate, can't remember who makes it, but it's really diffficult to open

Use a belt to fasten it shut

We tried a travel stair gate which was a bit higher and didn't open. Kids were too small to climb it. However my DS did eventually figure out how to remove the whole thing which meant that we just took it away in the end and relied on vigilance.

Teach your son how to bum shuffle down or to go down backwards on his hands and knees. We've never had stairgates and DD learned very early on how to come down the stairs "safely".

At the same time, could you teach your 3.5 year old to shut the gate behind her and explain the safety issues re your DS to her? Will she understand?