Question for those of you with banisters

[Syrreal]

Our house was built in the late 70s and has banisters with huge gaps between the bars. We have a split level and the banisters are up and down the stairs plus in part of the living room where there isn't a wall. With having a baby soon and trying to see our options so that we can get the house baby safe before the kid starts moving around on his own, I was wondering if anyone else had this kind of issue in their house and what they did to fix it.

TIA

 

[LaraK]

Used Crisco when DD got her head stuck between the posts. We told her not to do that!

Seriously, DD did get stuck a couple times, so have a plan for how to get a kid's head out. To make sure that the kids didn't take a nose dive from the upper level to the lower level we put gates at both the top and bottom of all stair cases in our house (we also have a split). We also have gates on each of their doors for a second check at night. We believe firmly that good baby gates make good babies.

In addition, and I've been flamed for this before, but it worked for us, we invested in two "baby jails"...I think the real name is "Super Play Yard"...it makes a big circular play area, but you can also hook and unhook the pieces in sections. We have a huge brick hearth in the family room along with the bar, the computers and two sets of stairs. We needed to confine the kids, so we created a great big baby jail surrounding the couch and play areas...my kids obay the baby jail rules to this day...they've never known any different.

 

[dis-happy]

I've dealt with this issue too. You can buy some net sheets that tie on and keep little ones from poking anything through. I believe I've also seen some clear plastic things you can attach. A cheap solution (which I've used at our beach house) it to take large pieces of cardboard box and weave it through the rails. It's not super attractive but it works. There are some companies that cater to baby safety items, but my mind is blanking out (mommy brain!). Maybe someone else will post or you can try a search. Congratulations....

 

[DisneyBrat]

my dad cut them off and replaced the bottom board and painted it.... opened up the living room and looks great!

 

[princesspwrhr]

I bought the mesh from Babies R Us. It's made by Safety 1st, and was fairly reasonable price wise considering the cost of other products out there. We didn't tie it on though - we used a staple gun, it was much more secure. Our house had a loft sort of area with banister railings, that's where we put it. We didn't bother putting it on the stairs down since we had a gate at the top and bottom. you sound like you have plenty of time to find it, but if you can't before you need it - the cardboard works too!

 

[nancy drew]

we had a contractor add spindles between the other ones to fill in the gaps. he stained them a matching color, and although the bottoms are slightly different, you dont notice unless you look closely. it looks so much more modern with more spindles, and it has made the whole banister more stable (it used to wobble).

 

[alloyd1170]

I believe it was One Step Ahead that carried the mesh guards as well. I have also see in their catalog what looks like fiberglass attached to the railing. You might be able to do this on your own vs buying a kit. You could get fiberglass panels, drill holes in them and use tie wraps to attach them to your rails. Not the prettiest way (ie having more spindles put in), but might be on the cheaper side. Id worry the mesh wouldnt stop my little one.

alison

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

We live in a bi-level and instead of banisters in the living room or going up the steps, someone, before we moved in, put drywall up instead of the banisters...so we have like a half wall, understand? I actually like it much better, never have to worry and I have pictures sitting on top of it.

 

[Syrreal]

Thanks for all the advice everyone I really appreciate it

 

[fan_of_small_world]

We used mesh guards as well and wire tied them on. In our first house we had a much smaller area to deal with, so DH bought plexiglass and installed it across the opening.

 

[Not so Dumbo]

now that our DD is starting to crawl, we just started to think about this same issue. She's our 3rd kid and to tell ya I don't know why we didn't do anything about it with the other 2. Luckily, we didn't have any problems. we'll probably do the net thing across the bars. It sounds like the most cost effective.

 

[GatorGal]

The problem with the slats on cribs being too far apart is that the body cold fall through and the head would get stuck. Couldn't you apply part of the same logic here? If the head gets stuck when you try to pull it back, try turning the body so the shoulders fit through and push the body through the way the head went first.

I am all for preventing such a thing in the first place, really. I got some mesh as a shower gift to put on my deck for th same reason. Safety First I think was the brand.

 

[rt2dz]

NOTE--have not read beyond the OP, so might be a repeat.

Our house was built in the mid 90s, so the slats are pretty close, but our kids have all thought throwing things downstairs is a great game. We bought heavy plastic sheeting (stronger than mesh guards and not the kind you knock down easily) from either Home Depot or Lowes. It is exteremly durable and can not be knocked down, all 3 boys have tried their best & failed. It goes from one side of the rail to the other and is held up with those plastic cable ties. It was a pain to get the holes into it where the spindles are, but has held up for 6 years and tons and tons of abuse. We just have gates at the bottom & top of the stairs. It is always a breeze to clean, just a little windex, and isn't really that noticable from downstairs.