Stair Gates
Once your baby starts to become mobile, ensuring they can only crawl and toddle within safe areas of your home becomes a priority. Your inquisitive little ones will appear to have an inbuilt sat nav directing them to all the high-risk places such as kitchens and stairwells or maybe through the cat flap to explore the great outdoors! Even the most alert and hands on parent/carer will at times need to attend to more than one thing at once, and times of distraction are often when accidents happen in the home.
A safety gate provides the ideal solution by creating a protective barrier between child and potential hazards, whilst still giving the space to learn through exploration of the remaining child friendly environment. They allow the adult to continue to pay attention to their child when they also need to carry out a task at the same time as supervising, by reducing the risk of harm or accident. For example, a parent can be cooking in the kitchen and singing nursery rhymes, whilst their child is joining in on the other side of the safety barrier out of reach of hot stoves, sharp knives and the odd dropped chilli pepper.
It is worth planning the positioning of your baby safety gate well in advance of needing it. In this way, you can carry out thorough research on the type of gate that best suits the chosen location, match it to your décor even, and install it before your baby crawls. This gives family and visitors time to practice using it because it is notable that many accidents involving safety barriers are due to the user not ensuring the gate is properly closed. This is also the ideal opportunity to include any older siblings in the care of their little brother or sister by educating them on how to operate the gate safely and the importance of keeping the gate shut. Some gates have a colour indicator which shows green or red, depending on whether the gate has been shut properly – a simple feature which assists children as well as adults to operate the gate safely.
Most families opt to purchase at least 2 stair gates, and this is to protect their child from falling down the stairs. Safetots would only ever recommend a screw fit gate at the top of the stairwell with the door opening away from the stair treads. No other type of gate provides the same level of security on impact should your toddler accidentally run into it during a fun game of chase for example. These gates are secured into position using screw fixings into a wall or woodwork and have no trip bar at the base when the door is opened. As there is no danger of falling at the bottom of the stairs and the gate’s purpose here is to stop a child climbing up the treads, the gate chosen for this position may be any style including pressure fit gates which do not require a permanent fixing.
When installing a gate on a staircase make sure that surfaces for any assembly fixings are secure and in good repair. General stair safety would include repair of unstable bannister rails or spindles and ensuring any floor coverings are in good condition, non-slip and clutter free. If your staircase has spindles, it is advisable to think about the size of gap in between them and whether your child could squeeze through – many parents or carers choose to board them in during these early years as an extra precaution. As your crawler develops into a toddler, start to teach them how to walk up and down the stairs in a safe manner – safe would include using a bannister rail if there is one, walking slowly and holding an adult’s hand, and not carrying anything in their hands. As an adult, remember to use the stairs in this way as your child will learn through observation, and when carrying a child on a stairwell, always have one hand on a bannister rail or secure surface to help avoid tripping.
Common areas to position further gates would be entrances to kitchens and other rooms with heat sources such as an open fire or log burner. Some people select gates with an optional stay open feature for lounge areas as this doorway tends to be a high traffic area, whilst gates with an auto close feature are very suited to kitchens which most parents/carers would wish to permanently restrict access to. Many families also choose to place a safety barrier across the doorway of the child’s bedroom to create a safe space for them whilst baths are being run or nap time is being taken for instance. Retractable gates are a popular choice here as they can be neatly tucked away when not in use.
Having selected the right safety gate for your needs, there are some general safety aspects to consider.
Important Information
The safety standard EN1930:2011 gives the following important warnings:
“WARNING – Read the instructions before installation as incorrect installation can be dangerous”.
“WARNING – To avoid the danger of death or resious injury never stack one barrier above another in an opening”.
“WARNING – This safety barrier must not be fitted across windows”.
In addition, if the safety barrier requires wall cups (pressure fitted gates): WARNING – Never use without wall cups.
‘WARNING: To avoid the danger of death or serious injury never stack one barrier above another in an opening.’
Children’s safety barriers are designed and tested for domestic use only, being suitable for children up to the age of 24 months.
Fit your gate in a strong and secure opening and ensure the surfaces are dry, solid and clean. Safetots recommends the use of appropriate types of fixings depending on the surface available: wooden screws for wooden surface, multi-use plug and concrete screw for concrete surface, plasterboard wall plug and screw for plasterboard surface, metal screw for metal surface
Safetots recommends that the space around the gate’s location is checked for anything which could be used to assist climbing; nappy boxes make great steps for example and your tot will quickly get them stacked against the gate ready for their grand adventure. As tempting as it may be to dangle and tie toys to the bars of the safety barrier to stimulate play, these pose strangulation and entrapment dangers, and nothing should ever be attached to the gates that is not part of the assembly fittings. Finally, even the most securely installed gate is going to take some bashing in the general course of home life. Safetots recommends that all gates installed, and surrounding surfaces, are routinely checked for any damage, loose fittings, and that the open/close mechanism is sound. Damaged gates should be replaced.
All Safetots’ safety barriers designed for children up to the age of 24 months have been tested and comply with the safety standard EN 1930:2011 when fitted in accordance with the instructions.
Safety Testing
When buying a product to help keep your child out of harm’s way, Safetots believe it is worth investing in one that has been tested to a professionally approved level of safety using rigorous testing methods.
For this reason and where applicable, our products are tested to a British Standards Institution (BSI) standard and/or equivalent international standard. Each standard that our products complies with has been drawn up by a group of experts in the field. Not only do they have extensive knowledge about their product and credibility in the child safety product industry, they are also fully aware of the potential hazards posed by poor quality items being used in the home where children are involved.
The British and European Standard for safety barriers is BS EN 1930:2011. You can be reassured that all Safetots’ safety gates designed for use with babies and toddlers up to age 2 comply with this standard and are retested whenever design upgrades are made, or components changed.
The title of the safety standard, EN 1930:2011 will be marked on your purchased safety barrier next to Safetots’ contact details.
What types of tests are carried out and why?
The tests carried out are designed to mimic the actions of a small child exploring a gate and its surroundings. For example, a child left to explore would attempt to climb over, through or under it, stick their fingers, arms, legs, head and toys through it, push and pull it very vigorously. Budding musicians will give it a good bash with anything to hand to make a great noise and next generation’s engineers will focus on prying apart the opening mechanism. Some children will use it as a teething aid by biting or mouthing it and all would probably love to hang onto the swinging part of the gate for a ride if given the opportunity.
The standard includes tests to check for parts of the gate which could be used as a foothold to assist climbing, finger and limb entrapment risks and stability of the gate when rattled for a lengthy period. The resilience of the opening/closing mechanism is tested, as is the durability of any paints or varnishes that the barrier has been coated in (and the safety of the chemicals within these). In short, every effort has been made to ensure that a gate complying with EN 1930:2011 will be a safe and hazard free product.
