Looking for ideas to baby proof stairs

cubiculus

Hi all, 

I have been thinking of a way to increase the safety of the stairs from the living space to the garage. My daughter is now very mobile and I fear that she would eventually roll the stairs if one was to leave the door open.

There is a door leading to the stairs that remains closed most of the day, when we are not going to the car, doing laundry, etc... We always close the door behind us but we are worried about the event of door not shutting properly or guests leaving it open.

I did look into safety gates, but it can't be the ones where one needs to step over as would increase risk of tripping. I did buy one that opens completely, but would have to open inward. You can see the picture attached. The issue is that many times we are coming up from the garage with baby in hand, it becomes very difficult, and riskier, trying to take a few steps back on the stairs to be able to open the gate.

Do you guys think of other solutions?

I thought about: 

- Putting a spring door closer. Risk if it shuts on the little ones hands. 

- Putting some kind of electronic sound or a discreet alarm that would say something like "close the door" or at least make a sound 

- And just putting a little paper/plaque on the door and on the wall in front of stairs saying "remember to close door shut"

What do you guys think? Other ideas?

Thanks so much

TREDgirl

Hmm that's a tricky one. What about a baby gate that has several sections that you can corral off that door area. It may be a bit bulky on the interior side but would then provide 2 gates/doors for protection. 

https://www.amazon.com/Regalo-192-Inch-Super-Wide-Gate/dp/B003VNKLIY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1410202150&sr=8-5&keywords=large+baby+gate

roo1oo

I like the idea of the sign or the alarm if the door is left open if you don't want any sort of baby gate there. Have you looked into a retractable baby gate or all forms of stairway gates?

I have the same worries over our basement stairs. We have a gate between our living room and kitchen and LO is generally in the living room. If he ever comes into the kitchen I always make sure the basement door is closed. 

88sharonlee

We have a door to the basement I worry about too.
First thing I did was put the door hardware on backwards so we can lock it from the main floor side (as opposed to locking it from the basement side) and we keep it locked.

I might suggest adding a manual latch lock as well, the little hook kind, so you can see that the door is truly shut and locked.

Maybe a retractable fabric type gate, like people use for their driveways but smaller? Check out pet gates for ideas as well.

catty805

I'm not sure if this would work with the baby gate you have but, can you take it off and turn it around so the door swings the other way?

melaport

What about something like this that automatically closes door. https://t.homedepot.com/p/Prime-Line-Safety-Spring-Door-Closer-Satin-Chrome-KC60HD/100558797?cm_sp=BazVoice-_-RLP-_-100558797-_-x