With the gradual growth of children we are forced to take care of their safety in a new way. Unpleasant incidents may occur especially on stairs, which need to be properly secured. Functional railings and entrance gate are what we should take care of. What to remember about when ordering such security measures?
A staircase railing or gate is first of all a guarantee of your child’s safety when he or she becomes mobile enough to climb the steps without any problems. Of course, you know that you have to look after him all the time, but sometimes a moment of inattention is enough to cause a dangerous situation
Sometimes you can use the stair railing in a slightly different way – here, too, it will serve the safety of children. It can also be used in the threshold of the room. Then its role will be to designate a space for the child to play. Sometimes such barriers are used to separate the child from places and objects that could be dangerous for him. We can place it, for example, in front of the fireplace.
What are, in practice, the tasks posed to the barriers on the stairs? We can talk about two functions performed by these development elements.
It is quite obvious that the railing is supposed to help restrict children’s access to the stairs. It should only appear in this place under our supervision.
However, the point is that the protection should be a compromise between preventing the child from entering the stairs and not making life difficult for himself. The lock in the case of such a building element should be too complicated for children who want to force it, but quite simple to operate for ourselves, so that we can smoothly get on and off the stairs. It is recommended that such a gate can be opened and closed by us with one hand.
For proper functioning of a gate or a staircase railing it is important not only to have a lock, but also to make sure that the staircase railing will not fail us in case of need. What are stair gates for children made of? The most common materials chosen to make such items are:
Each of them has certain advantages. It is important that such a barrier does not have too angular or sharp elements that could be dangerous for children. Very graceful and popular, because the natural material for creating a gate is wood. Items made of it can fit well in combination with stairs and handrail
How high should be the railing that protects children from trespassing on the stairs? As a rule, it should be between 70 cm and 100 cm, so that it is suitable for the height of a child of about three years. The width is often adjustable; there are also barriers that work on the principle of a retractable net or roller blind.
Different types of baby rails on the market sometimes make it difficult to choose a model that we can be sure will be safe for our child. So it is worth looking for certified products – we will be sure about the way the barrier is made and the functions it performs
>> See also: Types of railings for stairs
How to mount the railing that protects the stairs against the entry of children? The most popular is to attach it to the stair railing. Sometimes it is necessary to take care of additional stabilization of this building element. In the absence of such a barrier, it is mounted to the wall. It is worth noting that you can install one barrier at the bottom or two – at the bottom and at the top of the stairs. Then we can be sure of the safety of the toddler also when we will be with him on the floor.
