Why Stairs Are Dangerous and Why a Safety Gate Is Essential

!±8± Why Stairs Are Dangerous and Why a Safety Gate Is Essential

Why are stairs so dangerous?

When children are small their centre of balance is such that their heads are the heavy part! As they start to learn to walk they have to learn to balance and because of the head their centre of balance is higher up than in an adult. This means they're more likely to lean backwards and fall over. Whilst this is a normal part of the learning to walk process on flat ground it's ok - children learn to fall and being small they don't have far to go.

On a flight of stairs though there's a huge potential for disaster here if a child falls, they're not just falling a few inches to the ground, but potentially all the way to the bottom of the stairs. This is a terrifying thought and so it should be! A large percentage of ambulance call outs for small children are related to them falling and the injuries relating to this.

Protecting your child from this obvious danger should be something every parent wants to do.
Of course if you regularly visit family members then you might want to persuade them to get a stair gate fitted too for your peace of mind.

You really only have to turn your back for a second on a toddler for them to be away. Avoid accidents by taking this simple and affordable step to making your home safer for your child.

Some parents have a safety gate fitted on to the kitchen door too and this is one way of keeping young children out of the kitchen and away from all the harm in there!
You can let your children in to do cooking with you when you're relaxed and not under any pressure, otherwise try to keep them out of the danger zone of hot oven doors and pans of boiling water to reach up and tip over.

You should have a stair gate at the bottom and the top of the stairs. At the top it should be more securely fixed on so look for a screw fitting type rather than the pressure type. These normally don't have a bar across the bottom making the bottom section of a U shape. You need to reduce trip hazards at the top of the stairs for the adults too!

A stairgate at the top means your child can't get downstairs on their own, so it is useful once they can get out of their cot or bed on their own. If you let them play upstairs then it's essential to have a stair gate to stop them crawling down the stairs.

As your child gets older, is more confident on stairs and has been taught then they shouldn't play on the stair case then you can remove the stair gate. The gates are normally suited for up to 2 years old. Some people leave them longer even though their child can open the gate themselves. Sometimes the gate works by just being there rather than being something they can't get over.

You should regularly check your child safety gate is still fitted securely on a regular basis. Make it part of your daily routine and check it more if your child is climbing over it.

Discourage your child from climbing over the gate. Explain to them it's there to stop them hurting themselves on the stairs and that they should not play on the staircase.