Safety with stair rails inside two storey home?

Question

my mum has a stair well inside her two storey home and would like to make it safe for her first grandchild.

we can get a gate to go at the top of the stairs to stop bub from getting on the stairs that way.

but around the stair well mum has railings all around it. a lady and baby visited her a few weeks ago, and that baby CRAWLED THROUGH THE RAILS and if mum hadn't seen baby and DIVED to the floor to grab him, he would have fallen straight through into the stair well.

understandably mum is very distressed about this and would like to buy something to make it safe for children in future.

any ideas??

Answer 1

if the baby crawled between the spindles,your stair rails are not to code.stair rail codes specify that no opeing from floor to top rail may be big enough to pass a 4" sphere though

railing.

this code is primarily due to the average size of the circumference of an infant's head as not to get caught causing

strangulation ,broken neck,hanging

Answer 2

i agree with Keith he is right and you need to make it up too code for the safety of all the people that go to your pad not just your child i fell you should get a handyman in there or a contractor to fix this problem or you could run plywood around it so there is no more opens

Answer 3

Here the spacing between spindles can be no greater then 4.5 inches.

The cheapest thing that can be done would be by blocking both the top and bottom. This can be done with plywood or some type of gate hinged to the wall with hooks on the stairway post. Depending on the width of stairs, some folding gates are available. Check local hardware store.

Answer 4

You can put tie wire between the bars so the baby will not have access to the space between the bars and that tie wire will hold up