The balcony is a major danger zone for a curious toddler, and whether you have a balcony in your home or not, the chances that your little one will encounter one is very high. More and more we are seeing people turning to apartment living in the UK with luxury apartments and flats now a real option for growing families with multiple children, as opposed to being solely for students and young professionals. Our message is to be prepared and think ahead! Balconies and decking areas pose a number of dangers to children, not least the danger of climbing over the rails or becoming stuck in the rails if not properly supervised. Even if you don’t have a balcony in your home you could have a decking with rails, or if not there may be a balcony in a relative’s house or on holidays or while visiting.

 

Take a look at these key considerations when planning ahead for your child’s balcony safety:

 

The balcony should be on lock down.

Regardless of the precautions you take on your balcony for your child, a balcony is not safe for unsupervised children. We recommend locking it down with at least 2 locks – the lock built into the balcony door counts as one and you can either have a second lock or latch fitted available from a DIY store, or if you have a sliding door you can take a look at our sliding window/door lock here which is very handy to install. If your balcony is regularly used by others living at your house it’s important to highlight the dangers to them as keeping it locked consistently may not always happen. Making it out of bounds for everyone is an option but if that’s not possible it might be worth considering an extra-large safety gate or room divider to section of the area completely as an added layer of security.

 

Is it climbable?

You would be amazed at the climbing skills of a toddler. If you’re in doubt about the ability of a young child to climb a balcony don’t be!  It's not wise to underestimate their skill or desire! While we don’t condone in any way allowing a child to do what the child in this video is doing, we thought it was an excellent example of how skillful a young child can be at climbing. You will gasp at the below video, afterwards take a look and read on at ways you can prevent your child from climbing the balcony:

 

Railings

There are lots of different shapes and sizes of balconies and each could present a different climbing hazard. What size is the gap between rails? If the gap is larger than 4 inches or you think your child could realistically fit through or try to fit through its probably a good idea to find a way to block the gap. Horizontal or crisscrossed bar balconies are as easy and as good as a climbing frame! Fit either Plexiglass or deck netting on the inside. Ensure none have a grip and be careful that deck netting is secured tight and well so that a tiny foot can’t mount the bars.

 

 

 Furniture & Toys

If you have table, chairs or any furniture on the deck or balcony we recommend removing it. Young children are little geniuses! It won’t be long before they put two and two together and realise that they can reach something high by dragging a table or chair over and climbing it.

There are two considerations about toys on the balcony a) can they be moved and used as a climbing step and b) can they be thrown off the balcony and land on a unsuspecting passerby outside? Keep this in mind when choosing the toys your child plays with on the deck or balcony.

 

 BBQ

While normally  not allowed in the UK in apartments, we still see people using BBQs on balconies and many people home their BBQs right on their decking. The burn hazard is obvious there and make sure your little one can get nowhere near it. The balcony or deck should be out of bounds if the BBQ is fired up and not secured. Our hearth & fire gate is extra sturdy, is large enough to house most BBQ’s or grill and can be folded up neatly in seconds when not in use check it out here

 

Travel

We have lost count of the number of times while abroad British tourists, both adults and children have been injured while falling off balconies. One of our staff members at the office here at Babasafe as a child managed to squeeze through a balcony rail on the 6^th floor of an apartment block while in Spain. They managed to walk across the front of the balcony, holding on to the rails and managed to access the neighbouring apartment! Luckily the story ended well - but extra caution is recommended while visiting abroad or on holidays. You will be relaxed and it’s not likely you will have the equipment or time to secure a balcony the same way as you would at home. You may consider contacting the hotel/apartment maintenance to see if they can offer help. Secure the furniture and toys so they cannot be climbed. Some of our baby safety accessories including window locks and multipurpose locks can be fitted, and easily removed without leaving a mark.

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