what do you when your two year old's can open your stair gates

Charlene - posted on 10/23/2012

Such a scary thought! My 22 mo doesn't even touch the gate and even stands at least a foot away from it when she waits for me to come up. I would find something to completely cover the latch so that they have no access to it at all. Your twins are amazing! Lol! I have a hard time opening the gate with my own fingers and can only use my right hand as my left hand is too weak to push the springy thing down hard enough! Maybe you can cover the latch with something or maybe shop amazon for hard to open baby gates. I just purchased a new gate which an alarm sounds when it is opened. I have not yet needed to use it so it is still in its box. Good luck!

April - posted on 10/23/2012

I'd suggest just forgetting about the gated all together. I don't even have stairs at home (although there are at both grandparent houses and at church) for my kids to practice on, but my 2 1/2 year old does fine on stairs. If they haven't had much practice and you don't trust their abilities yet then watch them closely and be ready to catch them, but they should have it mastered in a short time.

Tamie - posted on 10/22/2012

First off, im right there with you. I have 2 year old twins and the gates were useless by the time they could walk at 12 months. Theres 2 of them to think of things. I had to finally just get rid of them (the gates that is). Y fight with them when they arent doing anything, but get in your way. After talkin and talking and time outs that didnt work. I let them just do it. Eventually they got that they couldnt do it by themselves.

Sherri - posted on 10/22/2012

Buy one that automatically closes behind him. Mine closes automatically once it is let go.

Emma - posted on 10/22/2012

Did anyone work out a good way of locking stairgates? My son is 3 and keeps forgetting to close stairgates behind him, nothing I do seems to make him remember. We've already had a couple of near-misses with my 13 month old daughter on the stairs and I've no idea how to lock them more effectively without making it really difficult for everyone else to open them. Would be good to know if anyone solved the problem!

Katie - posted on 08/25/2011

i agree with lauren there, my lil man can open them all and can go up and down stairs with supervison fine. but i defo dont want him in kitchen and coming outta his bedroom if poss at night. So i can sleep with ease knowing he safe. hes mastered the stair gates and now im trying find a solution. but what lol.

Lauren - posted on 05/08/2011

this post may be old but it really wound me up since when did kelly ask about advice for stairs and behaviour lessons ? she was simply asking about how to STOP their TWINS from OPENING the STAIRGATES (not just used on stairs you know) i use them to keep the kids out the lounge and kitchen.

Rebecca - posted on 09/20/2010

Been there!! I was having the same problem with my twins -- there wasn't a gate they couldn't open. I ended up buying an extra tall metal gate by Summer Infant. Because it was extra tall, they couldn't reach the mechanism to open the gate (plus, because it's metal it's a little heavier to lift). It wasn't the cheapest gate on the market, but it 100% solved the problem. I agree that teaching them to climb the stairs is smart (if they can't already); however, I am well aware that with twins, you have to be able to contain them to a certain area --- they can get into too much trouble otherwise. My sons are 2 1/2 and we still have the gate up even though they can go up and down at will. We also had to install "hotel" locks on all our exterior doors because they defeated every childlock we bought for door handles. Two brains working together can solve a problem much faster!

Amber - posted on 09/19/2010

new ones that are harder to figure out! If that doesn;t work, teach them to use the stairs safely, using the hand rail. My daughter is 2 and 9 months, and she has had to learn how to use the stairs up to my apartment because I am pregnant and I will not be able to carry both her and a carseat up those stairs after baby is born, and she does great! :)

Michelle - posted on 09/09/2010

Depending on how your stairs are they are probably old enough to go up and down stairs. My first kids(twins) had baby gates, but had to get rid of them for basically the same reasons as you. My next two children I had never had baby gates and it was fine.

Heather - posted on 09/09/2010

So buy a little chain and lock, or find out if you can somehow Lock the gates? There's always a way to do it. Some Padlocks should be big enough to use alone. You will then have to walk around with a key in your pocket or around your wrist, but it sounds worth it to me!

Lesley - posted on 09/08/2010

yeah i agree with everyone else teach them how to do the stairs safely my grand-daughter has been goin up n down the stairs for a few months now so i no longer have stair gates at the house well not for the kids its just to stopt he dog gettin in the rooms

Tina - posted on 09/08/2010

We invested in a retractable gate- you install and hook it in- the key thing is that the unlooking mechanism is on the top of the roller- to high for little people and it stores out of the way.
It works like a seat belt- once it's taught you have to unlook it to get it to budge...would not recommend it for the top of the stairs though if you have steep stairs like we do.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q...

Clair - posted on 09/03/2010

My daughter hasn't needed a stair gate for almost a year now. She knows how to crawl up and down them efficiently and to stay away from them. I would just teach your child how.

Kylie - posted on 09/02/2010

my son (21months) has been able to open the stairs for about 8 months, but we taught him that he can't go up or down the stairs with out holding our hand. He will often open the gate, come and get me, and the we go upstairs together.

Bonnie - posted on 09/02/2010

Yeah I say that by 18 months to 2 years of age they should know how to go up and down the stairs. Both my boys learned how by going down them backwards. Yes they had fallen a few times here and there, but that's how they learn and it just makes them be more careful the next time. My youngest just turned two and he has fully mastered the stairs now. Sometimes gates aren't all as good as they are played up to be anyway. We use to have one up so you thought you didn't have to be too careful around it and then my son would fall into it and it ended up falling down the stairs with him. That was actually the last time we used it because it's a lot easier to get a child to be more careful around an open staircase than it is to be near a gate.

Nicole - posted on 09/02/2010

My daughter is 15 months. She can go up the stairs just fine but I still am cautious when she goes down because she refuses to get on her butt and slide. She's a big girl and wants to walk down like a big person. With that being said, we still have a gate at the bottom of the stairs so she doesn't go up all the time. Its a gate that you push the buttons and push down at the same time and the door swings open. She has figured if she pulls hard enough she can get it open anyway. We have resorted to putting a cabinet lock on the gate, one that can just loop. She knows what it is and cries when we put it on but it stops her from pulling on the gate until it's time for bed.

Corinne - posted on 09/02/2010

It's time to teach them to do the stairs! Stair gates should be gotten rid of when they're about 12months old anyway, as they have a habit of climbing them and then falling down stairs (according to my health visitor). I still use mine at night, so even if they come out of their rooms, they won't come down. Also, teaching them not to touch would be a good idea. Just as you wouldn't want them touching a plug socket or opening the front door or going in the cupboards, it's something they'll have to learn.

Rebecca - posted on 09/02/2010

I agree. It's time to teach them how to do them!

Sherri - posted on 08/29/2010

Can they not do the stairs? My youngest was going up and down the basement stairs at 15mo's we never had gates. I say it is time to get rid of them. Not sure why at two you need them anymore.

Rebecca - posted on 08/29/2010

We have stairs in our house and my son can do them all by himself. We never had gates or anything. If he wanted to master the stairs we were going to let him (not without supervision of course). He can now hold on to the hand rail and do it himself with someone either in front of him or behind him depending on which way he is going. It has made him more conscious of his body and how he is really in control of it.

Hannah - posted on 08/28/2010

You could teach them they are not allowed to touch the gates, only adults can touch the gates. This is very simple to do as your girls at two are old enough to understand basic discipline.
1. Explain to girls that only adults may touch the gates. For children it is a LOOK ONLY!! No touch, LOOK ONLY!! HAve a whole conversation with them about this, asking them if they are allowed to touch the gate, etc. When you feel they understand and you have made enough impact they should remember, move on with your day.
2. First time one of the girls touches the gate, gently remove their hands, remind them of the rules, and tell them if they touch it again they will go on time out.
3. THEY WILL TOUCH IT AGAIN!! I promise you this. :) So you quickly, without warning, without fighting or yelling, put them on time out.
Depending on how much they want to test you, depends on how many times you are going to have to do this. Trust me though, they'll figure it out.
OR you can do as Michelle suggests and teach them to go up and down the stairs. :)
My two year old son knows how to climb up and down the stairs, AND not to touch the front door knob.

Michelle - posted on 08/28/2010

my daughter is only 16 months and she has completely mastered going up and down stairs. If I were you I would teach them how to go down the stairs on their bum or backwards so at least you know if they open the gate they will be safe on the stairs.