As a father of five and a professional childproofing professional for over 15 years, on Saturday evening, I received one of the worst calls I can receive, “When is the soonest you can come to my home, my baby fell down the stairs today.” The message made my heart sink. They were clients of mine that had decided NOT to put a gate at the top of their stairs because they were intending to move in three months and felt they would not need the gate. Fast forward 8 months from that initial conversation and her twins were walking.
My client’s 14 month old boys were playing when one of them fell down the stairs. The baby lost consciousness and the mom had to call 911 and have an ambulance take her baby to the hospital. Thankfully, the baby was ok.
On Monday, I went over and installed baby safety gates at the top and bottom of her staircase to prevent this accident from happening again. PLEASE do not put yourself or your child through an incident like this. If you have a baby or toddler, be sure to have a safe and proper baby gate installed on your staircase.
Here are two examples of baby gates I recently encountered at customers homes that were either NOT appropriate or NOT installed properly:
This Safety 1st Pressure gate is NOT certified for the top of stairs and should NEVER be used as such. Toddlers can easily climb or push through this type of baby gate and they pose a hazard for adults because they do not have a doorway and are usually stepped over.
This KidCo model G20 gate is a very good quality gate but is not mounted properly. The screws are not properly mounted into studs and the gate is mounted six inches off the ground which can allow a baby to crawl under the gate or a toddler to get their head stuck.
Need help choosing and installing the right baby gate for your staircase?
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