At what age is a baby gate no longer needed for stairs?

Question

My son is two years old and I was wondering when the best age is for removing the baby gate from the stairs. Is it three years old? When did you eliminate your baby gates?

Answer 1

this really depends on your stairs and your child

is your child easily not only going up the stairs but safely coming down on their own?? if so then go ahead and get rid of the gate

I got rid of the gates at my friends house when my daughter was taking it down and going up stairs anyway somewhere between 18 mos and 2yrs but they aren't high stairs so no biggie

however if you have tall stairs and your child is not supposed to be up there unless supervised (aka your room is up there and his is not and you want him out of your room) then keep the gates up and if he's climbing them discipline him for it then after he stops trying get rid of it

Answer 2

My son is 2 and we still have our gate up, but to keep him out of the kitchen when im cooking. Our basement isnt finished so i just keep the door closed so he cant get down there...i would say about 3 or so depending on when your child learns not to go near the steps, w/ my sister who is now 3 my parents took down the gate about 6 months ago.

Best of Luck

Answer 3

My daughter just turned 3 and i still have the gate up. I am very nervous with the stairs. I just rather be safe. Keep it up for a whil longer.  

Answer 4

when your child can take a direct order and obey it.  If he/she listens well enough and understands when you tell them no no, or what have you, than go ahead and remove it.  But if your child is still curious about everything, like all 2 years olds, than maybe another year is called for.  my 21 month old is still into everything, and so our gate stays up.  

Answer 5

Well, upstairs it was at 4 and on the porch at about 3, but I had lots of steps in the house there was a need for the gate.  

Answer 6

When you're no longer worried about your child falling down them. Would you happily leave it open now? If not, he's not ready for you to remove it yet.

That will depend on the child and on the stairs - we took ours down earlier in the house we have now with our second child, because the stairs were not as steep as in our first house and also they didn't go round a corner (falling down the inside of a corner can be a big vertical drop).

Answer 7

When he knows how to go down them well is when it goes away. If he's two and does not know how to do it, it's time to teach him. Make sure he goes down backwards on his knees, sort of stepping backwards..You have to be there until he can do it with no threat of him standing and falling...