Baby proofing the staircase

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CEN62O?psc=1

Thanks for the link! I was going to put a 2x4 in to mount the gate but this will make it looks much nicer.

Don't place furniture (sofa), that kids can climb, against the glass. Beautiful room!

definitely no sofas or any sort of chairs there. I was thinking about a cabinet that have no shelves that the kids can step on or perhaps no cabinet there at all?

Even with a staircase gate, sofas and chairs should be positioned so the staircase entry can be seen by you. Depending upon the age of child they are curious in nature and love to find ways to go into the forbidden zones

I think other than a gate there is nothing else to do. I agree do not put anything against the railing that can be climbed on.

Stairs as already mentioned, place furniture away from balustrade, ensure no easy push toys, chairs can be pushed up against the balustrade (half wall), child proof lock cupboard for dish washing tablets or powder or store in any over cupboard that may not be in picture. Check blind cords for strangulation risk, you can buy fixtures to neatly wind them out of a child's reach. Put a self closing latch on balcony door. Great to be kid safe, most accidents happen in the home, falls, poisoning , burns..I think in that order in aus, can't imagine not universal

I totally agree with the comment about teaching children how to negotiate the stairs. When my sons were crawling, I took each one to the stairs and turned them around and put their legs down on the lower stair, one at a time. They looked as though they just had a brilliant thought. Once apiece was all it took. We never needed those gates.

The best safety measure is to not leave your child unattended, out of view, even for a moment. The moment they become mobile, teach them NO, YUCKY, and be stern, make an angry face, a feeling they will not like and not want to experience again.
Then my first plan of attack is to crawl around my home on my hands and knees to get the rugrat's point of view...what could I yank on, chew on, push on, etc. A lamp cord could be yanked on, with the lamp coming down on the child. So many chewable items, not just the ordinary, but dropped and forgotten items, such as under furniture. Floor lamps! Yep, topple hazard. Ya want one, put it behind furniture or find a way to anchor it. Furniture that can be rocked and tipped over, you hear about the TV stand and TV nightmare too often. Anchor tall and top heavy furniture to the wall. Most furniture now comes with these anchors. A child discovering they can rock a piece of furniture gets up the same momentum as when you are on a swing, pumping back and forth with your legs.
They say if it can fit into a toilet paper roll, it can choke a child to death. Keep that empty TP roll handy. Balloons, cellophane from packaging....tasty...and deadly.
Child items with netting, such as a playpen, I have seen a child in daycare who had twisted the netting around their finger, their finger was almost black, and no one noticed. Yep, I found new daycare!
That oversized blanket on your couch can be pulled down on your little darling. Cords on blinds need to be secured by any one of a dozen options out there.
Outlets are a curiosity. I took off the plate and put a piece of scrapbook paper over unused outlets, then put the plate back on. Sharp corners of furniture legs, just crawl around and look, feel.
Be careful with what you clean your floors with and especially your carpet with. Not only is there a possibility of allergies, the chemicals, over time, can be unhealthy.
Follow the same process by walking around on your knees. Mmmm, plants, dirt, the tv remote....
Use a plastic container with a tight fitting or locking lid under the sink for all cleaning product, even ones you have not yet opened, scrubbing pads, and such. The extra time a child takes to figure out how to open it is the time you need to spot what is going on. Sharps should be kept in a similar container up out of reach. Ever see a child stick a sharp knife in their mouth or try to figure out what scissors were for?
Put you curious child mind in gear, make it safe for the child and workable for you. Think outside the box. I have seen garden lattice used to make a barrier between the child and a wood burning stove. So cute, not at all distractingly intuitionally. Make your safety measures attractive and easily used, you are more like to keep them in practice.
There isn't a need for spending a lot of money. And this is not forever. Teach them NO, YUCKY. The next child is easier, because the first one will become your watchdog! Hey, what kid doesn't like to get the new sibling into trouble, Right?
Have I overwhelmed you? Once you get the hang of it, it all becomes so much easier. Make it the responsibility of every adult who is around your child to be part of the safety team. They need to reinforce your NO, YUCKY, angry face.
And yes, you'll miss when you no longer have to do this.

Teach your children the word NO, or, put them up for adoption.

lol: Right. If your kids are to dumb to understand NO, put them for adoption. The army is another alternative

A normal home for her kids would be a better choice. A place where they can fall, cut themselves, bruise themselves, make mess, learn to swear and still get some rough love is going to see them grow into worthy citizens more likely than unemployable woosies.

And from a normal home to a normal school would be nice...not one where tag is forbidden because it is too aggressive, where it is better to throw a child's lunch away than to let them have it free of charge, where teachers are not bound by so many restrictions because of political correctness and the impressions of perversion, where a morning prayer or the pledge of allegiance is seen as a violation of someone's rights, where children are pushed through the system so rapidly that they graduate with a grade 3 reading level, cannot tell time unless it is digital, and cannot make change without the cash register counting it out for them. The best of homes raising good citizens cannot guarantee that the child will not be unemployed or a woosy. The world we brought our children into has not been normal for a very long time. Society has put baby bumpers on all the learning experiences.

In my open-plan home, I just made sure that everything within reach was safe to play with. Toys down low, books up high. Tupperware, pots and pans down low, glasses up high. Instead of a regular TV cabinet, I use a tallboy so it's up much higher. A balance of supervision, teaching no, and being sensible.

We don't use the word No...it's the same word used for pets. Our girl is not our pet and we want her to start early hearing the reason why if she doesn't understand it now. We may say Not for touching or not for eating moving into her proximity. She moves away. Consistency from all adults or siblings is key. She's 10 months old and is doing great. Yes we have to repeat ourselves at times but that's understood knowing baby's brain and stage of development. Other than that I think suggestions covered here. And...your windows are going to be slobbery...I just accept that bc I'd much rather have my daughter than worry about something petty like her marks on the window. It's my reminder of how much I love her! Spring cleaning will be here before I know it anyway. :)

I found my 2 year old son on the top of my refrigerator! He also scaled a 6 foot daycare fence and started walking home at 36 months. I learned quickly that it's tough to out plot a toddler. You have to teach the kids how to navigate the stairs safely. Invest in the stair gate. Even without a piece of furniture in front of the railing, they can push a toy over there and climb. Everything toxic must be in a closet behind lock and key. Safety locks on a kitchen cabinet are not enough. I only had non-toxic dish soap on the counter in my kitchen. NOTHING underneath. Make sure that you have alarms on all of the patio and balcony doors. Switch to key locks on doors. You could do something fun with sheer white drapes mounted on the ceiling at the railings. It could be pretty and become an implied visual barrier. Don't let them make a game out of throwing things over a balcony railing.

Hi, If you would like a walk through and list of all actions and products I would be happy to arrange something. kathleen@hoppingfeet.com

Not knowing how old the Children are....Kids are always going to try to get where you don't want them. If the kids are toddlers and this is the first time for "stairs"...Teach them how to go down the stairs. A babysitter taught my toddler to go down stairs, on hands and knees BACKWARDS...or butt down on hands and knees. Up the same way. NO FEET. He never had an accident. That said....YES you have to GATE the top of the stairs. I also would block those beautiful plate glass windows...at least 4 feet up. Kids throw things....especially when you teach them not too. Make that area; after its Protected ....a play area...pad the plywood....or let it be a giant area for artwork...or paint plywood in Chalkboard paint and give the kids chalk to make their own artwork to look at and work with. Turn it into a Play area for them and you. IF you are more concerned about "what" people with think about that area that would be visible to the "family" area block it off from view with folding doors...or make a temporary wall until the kids are old enough and don't need it any longer. Personally, KIDS are part of the whole picture...so blocking off for me is not in the equation. They should be seen and heard. That way they will be openly supervised and visible by everyone sharing the space. It is a beautiful space. Lots of possibilities.

People don't teach their kid the word "no?" So what do you say when they are reaching for the hot stove or running toward the street? "Stop?" What happens when they ask their boss for a raise and he says "no" -- are they going to run off pouting saying their boss treated them like a dog because mommy said only the dog gets told "no"?? Good heavens. Where are people getting this stuff. Ever tried living with an entitled teenager??? That'll break them, but it'll be too late by then.

Sorry I went off on a tangent. To the original poster: Your home is just beautiful. I would invest in a gate that matches your tempered glass surround that is already there. But I do agree with the poster who advised teaching your kids how to go down the stairs. Another concern is the dishwasher. My kids were fascinated with sitting on my dishwasher door, no matter how many times they were corrected -- more a danger to the dishwasher than the child, but still something I personally had to deal with when my kids were small.

Nothing will prevent a child, of any age, from doing the most incredible, frightening and often stupid things. Sometimes the more obstacles you put in the path the more determined they become. No distraction, no padded cell, no 99.9% monitoring will keep a child safe. My husband once joked we should nail one of my sons feet to the floor to allow him to pivot in a circle for exercise.

The one instant you forget to close that gate, such as grabbing groceries, you will have a problem.

Please teach your child to be safe in all things. Use the word "Danger" teach them about "Inside Voices" and damn right say "no" you have the right as a parent to give an ultimatum no questions asked. Give them the freedom to explore but temper it with caution and be smart about what's around that could cause an issue. BUT don't go crazy.

A child should learn to respect your space and your wishes as equally as you respect their space and wishes. A child should be able to go visiting a different home and understand limitations. I never had/have an issue bringing my littleone and hopefully the new littleone anywhere.

Criticizing parents definitely doesn't demonstrate an ability to show respect for others. I've taught grades K-5 for over 15 years in the most affluent county in the U.S. and coming from experience, can tell you that entitlement doesn't come from not telling a child a one worded NO. We have an epidemic of children not being raised to problem solve bc they're spoon fed everything expected to believe without ever being expected to problem solve on their own. Problem solving comes from seeing it modeled by family (learned behaviour). So yes, we do explain why we are saying something is dangerous instead of just No... and yes, we will say Stop or Watch out if she runs in the street after we've already EXPLAINED why she shouldn't run into the street. What boss do you know just flat out says No without a reason why? Thankfully I choose not to run in those circles bc it sounds like a bunch of unhappy, disrespectful people. That's the last thing I want my child to emulate.

Reasons can come after the child has stopped trying to play doctor with a kitchen knife in the younger siblings ear. Or trying to see what happens if they plug a fork in the socket. "No" is what you use to save a disaster from happening.

Has this all come down to timing and semantics? I'll not waste any more of the author's original intent for this comment thread. The forum is a place for all people to share ideas so individuals can make an educated decision, not judge or prove if someone is right or wrong. If you like someone's comment, use the LIKE feature. If not, then don't.

As much as this conversation has gone off topic and the original question seemed to be about the safety of putting furniture against the stair rail (we all seem to say no to that)...
- I have never used a safety lock on any of my kitchen cupboards, and I have broken more things in the kitchen than my 2 yr old since he has been mobile
- Super-sharp knives and glassware are well out of the way on magnetic strip and high cupboards respectively. Even if he got a chair up to the counter and climbed up, he still couldn't reach them
- I have taught him how to use knives safely (nothing that could pierce the skin) so he can chop his own bananas and spread the butter on his toast
- He has is own drawer in the kitchen (lowest one) and that has all his own cups, plates, cutlery, etc. That way he can get stuff for himself.

If you set up the environment so that you can say "yes" to more things, then the "no" will be more effective when required. Teach how to do things safely, and explain what can happen if instructions are not followed (when the child can understand). Of course emergencies will require a simple "no" or "stop."

Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the advices! Got lots of good ideas here although it's gone a bit off topic but I can see the points. My concern is over the furniture against the railings which everybody seem to agree. We'd definitely put a safety gate there. Luckily the railings are quite high (120cm) but definitely will teach the baby about safety. We are teaching her to get off the sofa and the next step will be the stairs. Luckily all the windows can be key locked and quite high up. We have a small pantry behind the open kitchen with overhead cabinets and that's where all the hazardous items will be located. Good point about the dishwater and will have to see what to do about it. The oven and the stove have a safety switch over the counter top and if the switch is not on then the oven and the stove will not turn on.

I agree that too many Nos will lose its sacred so we'll try to make the environment as safe as possible. I've been saying No too many time the past month but the more I say the more she wants to do it. She's 10 mos old so it's still too early to understand the danger and the consequences of her actions but once she's old enough we'll definitely teach her those things.

Please do not put any climbable funiture near the stair railing or windows.