We started taking things down sometime between ages 3 and 4. We took them down as they were interfering with life in general. Our twins are 8 now and we still have some things up, like electrical plug covers (we've taken off many of the plastic plug covers, but the ones that you slide to insert the plugs are still up). We also have lever door lock handles on the two closets in the kitchen that we haven't used in a couple of years, but I'm too lazy to take the handles off to remove, so we leave them there in the open position. And we have magnetic cabinet locks. Most are locked in the open position. But the cabinet that has the electric appliances (kitchen aid, food processor, and the mandolin) is still locked. And the one under the sink where we keep the chemicals is still locked.

Anonymous wrote:We only had gates, never baby-proofed cabinets, etc. Took the gates down when the twins were 18mo and could comfortably go up and down the stairs.

I could have written this myself. Same here. Only gates and we took them off at 18 months. It was actually better for my twins too (the freedom).

The lock on two kitchen cabinets (under the sink) is still there. Kids are in college. We can’t figure out how to take the lock off without damaging the wood.

At least our dish soap is safe!

We only had gates, never baby-proofed cabinets, etc. Took the gates down when the twins were 18mo and could comfortably go up and down the stairs.

20 months is when we took down the gates (she could open them). No need anymore. My 13 month old is very physical and can go up and down stairs easily but I’m waiting.

I permanently leave the magnet on the cabinet under the sink. I don’t want a visiting kid getting in chemicals.

Anonymous wrote:Mine are still in place but I do not know why I cannot bring myself to remove them.

Once they register I or GOP.

My kids are 5 & 7 and we still have retractable baby gates up at both our DC house and our vacation house.

We never use them for the kids, but they are GREAT for our older dog. He can no longer safely go downstairs and has accidents so we use the gates for his safety and to contain him.

We will leave our gate up u til our youngest is 4. The chance of one of them accidentally knocking a sibling down the stairs is high.

When she was old enough to tell us why sticking something in the socket, drinking Windex, or jumping down a flight of steps was a bad idea. She was probably three, but all kids vary. Mine was afraid of everything, so she didn't even want me plugging stuff into the wall. My nephew, on the other hand, will probably need safety plugs until he goes to college.

DD is 3.5. Cabinet locks are still in place on the two cabinets in the house that contain medications and cleaning supplies, but I don't think we need them anymore. We have a gate at the top of our steps (on the bedroom level) because DD has a habit of getting out of bed and wandering at night, and I don't trust a sleepy DD to navigate steps alone in the dark (DH thinks I'm paranoid).

we still have our gates up, though we don't use them at the moment. DD is 2.5. I envision using the upstairs one for a little while when we switch dd out of the crib because she'd have to walk past the top of our steep staircase to get to our room. The downstairs ones will stay for a lot longer because they are useful for dog containment.

We put a house our house on the market when DS was 2.5, so we did it then and never bothered in the new house.

We removed the standard outlet plates and replaced them with ones where you have to slide them open to put in a plug. No plans to remove them, because they don't look any worse than the ones we took off!

We had a gate across the top of one stair case. We just removed that and my youngest is 2.5. After he turned 2 I started thinking about it, but I did sometimes like locking the kids on one level (AHEM). Finally it was clear we just didn't need it at all anymore and my DH took it down.

Cabinet locks only lasted a short while. Just long enough to teach them not to open certain cabinets and then they stopped.

We still have plastic covers on the outlets.

Mine are still in place but I do not know why I cannot bring myself to remove them.