Even when you've shown your little crawler or walker hot to go up or down the stairs it's still important to secure them. It's one thing to watch your toddler climb up or down stairs with you behind them ready to step in as soon as they look like they are about to fall but another thing altogether to let them do this by themselves. So make sure you've got safety gates in place and don't remove them too early.

There are lots of baby product brands who offer safety gates such as Kidco Baby Gates, Evenflo, Cardinal, Guardian Angel, Dreambaby and many others. So there's bound to be a selection of gates at your local baby store. Make sure you measure the width of your staircase (wall to wall) before you go out to buy them. When I went to buy ours I got the measurement completely wrong and we had to go back for an extension. ... read more >>