EC sent us an email: "We're in the process of babyproofing the house and one of the areas is the foyer balcony. We would very much like to keep this reading area with the chaise, but we know the hazards of children climbing up on the chaise and leaning over the balcony. We thought of using some modern screens (inexpensive if possible)to prevent the child from leaning over, but would still like the light and the view to come through. Any suggestions?"
That chaise! that window! We want to move in and live on your foyer balcony!
Railing security is tough. When we had a social worker inspecting our place (an adoption requirement in the US), one of the things she mentioned is that balcony railings should be spaced less than 4" apart for maximum safety, and that anything over 4" presents significant danger to children under the age of 10 - apparently, kids love to stick their heads through the railings. To make them safer, many people use products like the KidSafe Kid Shield. There is also a corresponding product for outdoor balcony railings.
Unfortunately for that gorgeous chaise, the general rule of thumb is to never place furniture near balcony railings. A standard folding screen placed between the furniture and the railing isn't going to protect a child who falls against it.Screens might help, but only if they are more permanent - either bolted in to ceiling or floor, with no gaps across the span of the railing. have you thought about putting in a new railing, maybe something more modern, that encorporated plexiglass in the design and was taller than the standard 33(ish)" railings commonly used on balconies?
AT readers, what do you think? Is it possible to secure this gorgeous balcony? Is babygating the whole thing off the only solution? If you have a balcony, either interior or exterior, how did you secure it?
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move that light fixture out of the way and put a trampoline underneath. ;)
Our Montessori uses a clear polycarbonate sheath on their balcony railings. Here is one product on the market; you can try searching for more:
http://www.babypro.com/custom/web/list.asp?c=25381
There's no way around it. You have to remove anything that the child can climb on top of that could send her/him flying over the railing. You'll be able to put it back after your kids are 5. Really. Better safe than sorry. Wait til you see your kids or their friends hanging from one finger off something treacherous and then you'll understand. You can wait until your kids are crawling age (7 months), but waiting too long afterwards is going to be dangerous. You'll also have to get top of the stairs gates (along with the easy to find bottom of the stairs gates) - REALLY hard to find safe ones, but the Europeans have a model. I just can't remember the name.
You'll probably want to remove the shelf/stack of books until your kids are at least 4 also.
Welcome to parenthood!!
As far as the baby shield mentioned above, I think it is solving a different problem than the one that was asked about. It won't protect a child from climbing on the chaise and doing a header over the railing.
We contacted a local awning supply place for cheaper materials for fixing the problem of stuff or toddlers going through the spindles ( http://babytoolkit.blogspot.com/2006/11/mind-gaps-babyproofing-railing.html ), but other than moving the furniture away from the banister.
One option might be to string steel cable vertically from the railing to the ceiling, similar to this Blue Ant Studio railing modification (http://nursery.apartmenttherapy.com/nursery/slinks/slinksn-slingks-surreptitious-web-links-to-other-good-sites-018254). You'd have to place each close enough that they would prevent a child from squeezing through or hurting themselves. The look might not be what you are looking for, though.
Or you could try engineering an extension to the top of the railing that makes it too high to be an issue. Check with a carpenter and see what they come up with.
The pot plant is also potentially dangerous as a stepping off point for toddlers. The only thing I can think of (other than those already mentioned) is to close off the space completely (with a rail or something similar) so that the baby can't wander in without supervision. Or set up a dedicated baby enclosure nearby, away from the balcony, where the baby can play while you read. I guess it depends on how old your baby is. If the baby can't stand/walk, yet, then the biggest issue will be the space between the balcony rails. If you have a toddler, the chaise is definitely going to be an issue. Our toddler LOVES to jump on our couch. It's almost a compulsion. And balconies? They seem built for climbing!
We have an outdoor balcony. We just don't let the toddler out without an adult (and even then, we supervise the adult because a toddler can be surprisingly wriggly when they're being carried). We have a screen sliding door and it took a lot of training to ensure our toddler didn't try opening it himself. His room doesn't have a balcony but we recently bought some storage furniture. I was going to put it next to the window until my mum pointed out that he could climb up, lean against the window screen and go right through.
So to cut a long story short...yes, childproofing a house can be tricky.
i think the clear polycarbonate sheath idea sounds good. however, other than perhaps the lamp. there isn't a single object in that photograph that my toddler wouldn't try to climb. you can sometimes kind of train toddlers not to mess with things, but it never works 100% of the time, and with a railing, you can't take a single chance.
you really will need to move things away from the railing, unless the entire opening is enclosed to several feet above the top of the railing. that's just how it goes, sorry!
Sorry I don't have a good tip for you. You could remove the chaise and get big pillows to sit on to maintain a seating area. Obviously the pillows would be very low to the ground and provide no launch pad for your child. And I agree the potted plant is risky because the pot is so tall. If you want to maintain the area then gating it off is your best bet-until of course your child figures out the latch on the gate (happens sooner than you think). It sucks butyou may just have to dismantles the whole area for a while. Even if you have a child that understands not to climb on the chiase, think about playdates when other kids come over. This is why I don't want a balcony or a pool while my children are young. Too much angst.
To the Powers That Be: more posts like this would be greatly appreciated. Tips on how to maintain a stylish and livable home with children that don't revolve solely around buying expensive/trendy gear.
Thanks everyone for the comments. It looks like we're just gonna have to either move everything out or block the area away from the child. Thanks for the input!
Here's my "pitch"...
How about using netting, like at baseball fields to catch fly balls? It would take some tinkering, but might be enough to keep it safe?
Just trying to think outside of the... diamond.
I second, and third, etc.. regarding moving all of that furniture away from the railing. No way is your child not going to climb and or bounce on it. The pot looks heavy, and even if not climbed upon, could be pulled over to create it's very own hazard. The same with the book tower. My parents house is similiar to this and she bought a large plastic fence type enclosure for my baby- it makes a free standing enclosure when put together- but when not attached to itself it is a very long gate. I attached it using large zip ties. It is shorter than that railing, and makes it impossible to fit through those holes. With no furniture nearby, it is a safe way to contain my child.
Mine may be the callous parent approach, but I don't think protecting from every potential hazard is necessary, and I wouldn't do most of the things suggested above. Protect from life-threatening things, and stuff you don't want broken, but bumps are excelent teachers and seldom serious.
This isn't a child-rearing discussion, but I often wonder how our actions as parents on stuff like this may be an insight into our philosophy on raising kids in general. I don't want to protect my daughter from everything that may hurt, and I don't want to rubberize my house either.
i take your point, jared, but i would consider these pretty basic precautions - my toddler careens into furniture, trees, etc, and trips over little things every day, and he's had his share of scrpaes and bumps - but i don't want a bookshelf tumbling down on him, and i don't need to spend hours a day preventing him from gently scooping dirt of a potted plant onto the carpet! i also don't want to be cleaning up messes any more than i already am.
we have a large bookshelf, but it's bolted to the wall. and potted plants live outside, where the dirt can be scattered about.
With a similar balcony space (but it's our bedroom), we opted to move all the furniture away from the railing, remove furniture our daughter might be able to drag over herself, and put up frosted plexiglass we got in Chinatown. We also extended the railing taller.
We got a retractable gate from One Step Ahead, which works really well and doesn't take up too much room or look junky when it's not extended.
Now we're working on a renovation and we'll put in a wall of 3-Form eco resin. It'll let light through, and have two small windows high in it, but we won't worry about falls.
Hmm... I'm not sure that post totally made sense.
The retractable gate blocks off the stairs, so she can't try to go down by herself because the stairs are very steep.
We added more wooden framing to make the whole railing taller. Then the plexiglass is screwed to railing to prevent her from putting her head through, and more often, to prevent her from tossing toys down.
The plexiglass also once served the important purpose of keeping the blind old dog from wandering between the wide-set posts.
Jared I hear you on the overly anxious pareting that seems to go on these days (i.e the obsession with anti-bacterial soaps and such) however, protecting a child from a balcony fall is not overly anxious, it's just the smart thing to do. Scrapes and falls, bumps and bruises do not equate with falling off a balcony. You wouldn't leave a pot of scalding hot water in the middle of the floor and hope a few second and third degree burns will teach your child not to mess with anything they see steaming. You take your chances as a parent with a lot of things and my kid actually dismantled most babyproofing we attempted. Nothing is safer than supervision. I just think that balconies and stairs (though some would argue against the latter) should be guarded since the results of an accident are too scary to think of and the guilt you would feel would be tough to overcome.
Um, am I the only one who thinks the MASSIVE TOWER OF BOOKS might also pose just the *tiniest* threat?
What is all this talk about baby proofing? Back in the 60s & 70s there was no baby proofing. We weren't in car seats, nevermind seatbelts.
When I was a baby I took a 10 foot drop off a non-baby-proofed balcony and survived!
Perhaps we should skip the babyproofing and raise a nation of kids with stronger survival skills?
What's with the nursery post on the main AT page? I thought the kids/baby stuff was going to be segregated so as to avoid offending the non-breeders.
Benedita
Offended non-breeders can skip the random nursery posts on the main AT page just as I skip any posts regarding DWR or Eames chairs. And Benedita, why are you offended by those with children? I'm not offended by those without.
"what is all this talk about babyproofing?"
ummm... are you serious? if you're actually offended by people discussing how to prevent their babies from falling from balconies (on a baby-oriented site, no less), here's a suggestion: skip over the post. just like i do when i see pets postings. easy as pie!