Can't keep them contained in the living room any more... are the stairs safe?

[fryalot]

dd2 is 3.9 and I'm not too worried about her, but ds is 2.5. He's been walking for well over a year and a half, he's very steady on his feet but now he thinks that he is all grown up and he should be going upstairs to the bathroom to use the loo (he's been potty trained for a fortnight)

Our stairs are very wide, waaaay too wide for a stairgate and we dealt with this while they were little by just shutting the living room door and not letting them out of the room on their own.

Now they are bigger, they can open the door.

Do you think it is relatively safe to let him wander around the house on his own now? Or should I be running after him like the woman in the Calpol advert?

Any experience/advice much appreciated.

Also, what are the chances of him actually falling in the toilet and drowning himself before I notice he's left the room?

Don't know about drowning in the toilet but dd1 jacknifed in once when trying to copy her brother

IME both will be fine. when I moved here ds was just 2 and dd 6mths. We never bothered with stairgates on the stairs as ds toilet trained himself just after we moved, but we did have one on their bedroom door to begin with until they knew the house. I did keep a close eye on dd1 when she first became mobile, but she soon learnt to go down backwards. Dh is a bit like the calpol ads but even he learnt to stand back and just jump in if necessary.

It is worth always keeping an ear open though. As you know silence can mean they're up to no good, and my two can scrap along with the best of them, but on the whole they are fine.

Go with your instincts, and what suits your style of parenting, and your stress levels

Good luck

I'd say he should be fine, as always just keep an ear on them, if it goes quiet, they're upto no good we've just gotten rid of the stairgates and dd2 is just 2, but she's very adept on her feet (been walking since 9mths ) she can 'do' stairs no problems, you just have to watch they don't push past each other and cause a tumble.

thank you both.

I suspect that he is ok. It's just that out of the two of them, dd2 is more cautious and if she isn't confident of her own safety, she will be careful, whereas ds.... well, let's just say he's a typical BOY!

I also suspected that I was being a bit precious, but you have put my mind at rest - thank you.

My ds 2.5 is running around like crazy while i'm on here.He has been up and down stairs about 5 times in has many mins.Older 2 dd's are up stairs so he can't get up to much.lol.
While i have been typing he has been up and down 2 more times.lol