Cot, climbing, and independently loo using big sibling...

[drspouse]

DS is nearly 4 and gets up in the night to use the loo independently. Would not be safe with a potty in the room, it would get knocked over.

DC2 is 19 months and has started putting leg up to side of cot - actually getting a foot on the top of the rail. I will check if while in gro bag or just when napping out of gro bag.

We used to put the stair gate on when we took the side off the cot bed for DS. We only took it off when he started to be dry at night.

There is also a stair gate at the top of the stairs so if DC2 could get out of their joint bedroom then nobody would fall down the stairs and DC2 cannot yet open doors with handles, so couldn't get into our bedroom if we wanted to shut the door, or the upstairs study, but the bathroom door doesn't shut firmly and it's hard to keep all bubble bath etc out of reach, DS has a step to climb on the loo so DC2 could climb up.

I have no idea what we're going to do when we need to take the side off the cot!

I wouldn't be taking the cot sides off for a while yet - it may well create more problems than it solves.

When the time does come, teach DC1 how to open the stairgate and put the bedroom stairgate back up.

He can already shut it but then becomes frustrated because he's stuck and can't open it again!

How old roughly are people's DCs when they can open them? My DN aged 9 was visiting and couldn't do it but they don't have them in their house as she's the youngest.

Oh you should be able to teach him now, at 4 years old. Certainly within the next year.

It is not unusual for a visiting child to not know how to open a stairgate, but that doesn't mean they can't be shown and taught.

We'll give it a go, but not just yet! May try gro bag for naps as I have checked and there's only karate style leg flinging without the gro bag.

I am pretty sure DS would not be able to do the pressure style stair gate as e.g. my DM cannot even with many demonstrations but it's the screw in the wall style on their room.

Tbh I would just not bother with gates. Just teach youngest to wait in bedroom for you or move bubble stuff out of reach. Surely they will also need to use the toilet shortly also ( by 2 years).

Not at night Art, it was a year between day and night training for DS and it's at least 6 months till even the start of day training I reckon for DC2.

There is absolutely nowhere in the bathroom to put stuff, and anything on the edge of the bath is reachable to a child that can climb out of a cot (because they can climb into the bath, and you can't put stuff on the far edge of the bath anyway, so everything we use day to day is on the near edge of the bath).

It's all very well saying "teach them" but you can watch them and tell them if you are awake but not if they can get up and climb into the loo in the middle of the night WHEN YOU ARE ASLEEP.