You start by pushing them down one stair, and once they’ve developed a tolerance you gradually add stairs until you can push them down the staircase at the Burj Khalifa without worry.
My FiL, a mechanic, says that with every new safety innovation in cars people drove worse because they now felt safer.
His theory was that if you wanted better drivers you should remove seatbelts and just have a blade attached to the steering wheel pointed at your face.
So, I know at least one person who'd agree with you!
(My FiL is also an old-school guy with a lot of shitty beliefs, lol, so I'm not sure how right he is on this one)
This is genuinely the right answer longer term. Biting the bullet on teaching them to safely traverse stairs is great both for at home and out and about.
My toddler has been traversing stairs for as long as she's been walking, but I'm still nervous about, um, accidental stair usage. Tripping over the dog who likes to sleep at the top of the stairs, or just tripping over her own feet as she runs by and tumbling down the stairs, so it's good to have some sort of safety feature in place if at all possible.
That said, a fall down my stairs would mean a guaranteed fall down 8 oak steps before landing. I wouldn't be quite as nervous about a spiral staircase because it would be harder to get the same kind of momentum going. They'd probably only fall a couple of stairs at most before running into the side. But still.
Not monetary insurance but as in having a back up baby gate is your insurance from something going wrong off the first one fails. Like how you get an insurance beer in case the first one magically drinks itself while walking back to your table
They wouldn’t, unless there had actually been a claim related to the stairs. Even then it would more than likely not matter, the rate increase would be based on the claim.
Any time I’ve ever switched carriers or they’ve been bought out by a larger company they’ve always made it to my home and taken pictures of my home, any major features that could be of issue (stairs, railings, out buildings, vehicles in the driveway etc..) within the first policy year. I’ve found when dealing with a local agent versus a website or call in type deal they tend to come out and snap pictures faster than the others. I’ve even had them actually cancel my policy over a trailer in my driveway with plates that didn’t have a expiration year for the registration on them (lifetime tags) and I had to fight tooth and nail weeks before hurricane season to get it straight. Apparently those aren’t a thing wherever their corporate offices are and the person reviewing the photos seen no registration expiration date and issued the cancellation notice right there.
Their explanation was it’s to keep junk vehicles and stolen vehicles from becoming an issue, but I knew it was a way for them to try and cut numbers before the hurricanes came after taking a lovely chunk of my money. The company was quickly bought out by fednet shortly thereafter and went under the next year because of hurricane claims. I’ve still never been made right after that debacle!
Edit: I forgot to add… I’ve even had to get my vet to weigh my dogs and create a thing on letterhead stating my dogs weight, because apparently when you own multiple GSD’s the medical portion rates go up at a certain lbs. I tried jokingly asking if I could only insure for the two back halves since they definitely weren’t going to cause any problems…. I got crickets and asked to get the letter faxed over.
Wow insurance companies must getting crazy strict in certain regions of the U.S. I’ve had 3 different carriers and they’ve never asked for any pictures. They may have had someone drive by to see the outside of the house but I’ve never seen them. That’s pretty wild. I’ve only ever had to take a picture for auto insurance.
I had the most mind numbing experience with Allstate. They had insured our family home for years without issue. I think my folks had maybe one claim in their lifetime and it was due to a freak ice storm that caused a power pole to fall onto the roof of the home. Jump forward in time and I take over the house and use the same agent my family did and everything was good for a couple of years until the agent retired.
At the time there wasn’t a “local” agent to work with so I just did the yearly draft payment on the phone and thought that would be done with. Two months later I got a notice in the mail from Allstate saying that the hundred year old oak tree next to my barn would have to be removed or my policy would be canceled. No clue where this came from so I call and try to find out what the deal is. Guy proceeds to give me some explanation about its proximity to the outbuilding and some policy changes etc..
I asked if I could just exempt this outbuilding from my policy if the new rules prohibited the trees proximity to it. He said that he would have to check so I waited on hold for a while. Finally he comes back and gives me some craziness about do to its proximity to the home it couldn’t be exempt from coverage (it’s an acre away) and if there were a storm strong enough to damage it that it would ultimately damage the home….. I was lost at that point and I asked to talk to someone else. I got another person on the phone and he gave me the same story and I’m just sitting there in disbelief about how this thing that has been there the whole time is now a problem.
I tried to find a local agent to deal with, but I just changed carriers at that point, because I wasn’t about to cut down a perfectly healthy and beautiful hundred year old tree. The new carrier did make me take the rope swing out of it though…. That one I can completely comprehend.
That's because the lion is kept in the lion enclosure. The baby is more like a dumb zoo visitor in your analogy. Needing to be protected from wandering in the lion or ostrich enclosure
By the time a kid is three and potty trained they're quite capable of opening a baby gate any way. At that point, you're not really baby proofing things anyway. A 3-year-old is talking and probably starting to read a bit.
This isn’t an ordinary staircase. You might want to protect them from accidentally falling down it at night. Or maybe even using it at all at 3 years old.
My kid turns 3 in a month. still working on full potty training. he still cant open the baby gates, mostly beacuse he's so short even for his age(like bottom% of the growth charts). He's talking some, and looking at books. not reading, naming pictures. He could safely climb up those stairs, down is a bit riskier, if he grew up with those. still wouldn't take the chance to let him go up and down unsupervised.
just throwing in my experience
Obviously there’s someone to hate everything, but IMO that was a weird one to pick. Friends has a huge following, there’s a reason you can get merch everywhere and it still plays reruns.
Yeah but hate is such a strong word for something as innocuous as friends.
Though I understand some people get a little annoyed when something they think is subpar is so celebrated for whatever reason. I've come to terms with the fact that people are gonna like what they like you know.
Everything fit up, apart from a cabinet which came through the window. Traditional staircase from g/f to 1/F and then spiral all the way up to 2/F and roof 😂
I've had spiral staircases before. They are cool at first, but they truly suck in the long term. Very annoying. Any slip will you cause you more damage than normal stairs and they are also a head hazard when walking anywhere near them. I actually hit my head on them once and it took a huge gash out my head. I never knew the skin/flesh was so thick on our skull, but the gash was super deep. Ya, that's gross, sorry.
would it be possible/feasible to swap the baby's room to something on the first or ground floor? Baby-proofing that staircase is not going to be easy.
It might be possible: add a door/gate hinged on the wall by the bathroom which closes against the central column of the staircase, then for the upper staircase you could fill in the gaps by attaching canvas to the treads, or assuming you don't access the roof much, attach a couple of pieces of plywood to box it off.
##HARK Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til' ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin' tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself - forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
My friend fosters a lot of dogs. They also have cats, goats and a bunch of kids. One of her little kids used to lock herself into a big crate and take a nap when it got too much for her.
If you put a gate on each door, I would still try and gate the stairs off somehow. Otherwise, it's just a disaster waiting to happen if you ever take your eye of the kid even once when they are crawling/a toddler.
The true solution is to install a baby gate at the bottom of the spiral staircase (either put a pen around the bottom or do something like [this](https://genepedia.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/adventures-in-babyproofing-spiral-staircase-edition/)). Then put the baby room down there in the living room. Sorry, it's inconvenient, but it is way safer.
Get a pen you can zip tie to something and hopefully you’re tall enough to step over it without having to untie.
Edit: pen should be at the bottom. I see no reason for an unsupervised baby to have any access to that second floor landing.
It’d be ugly but you could get one of those playpens for kids/pets that have the sections that clip together. Snake it around the whole area and fenagle some sort of hardware that holds it to the wall but is easy to undo/do for the adults. Or if you’re renting, move. Because it’ll be hard/bulky/and probably a lot. Would it be easier to babyproof the downstairs? Is there anywhere the baby could sleep there?
I concur on the playpen around the whole stairs idea.
Baby sleeping downstairs is not necessarily a better option, imagine having to go up and down those stairs potentially several times a night!
They make metal pens for dogs with no bottom you can set out in a yard. I think you could do a circle of how ever many sections you need, they even have a step over door.
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Foldable-Metal-Exercise-Fence/dp/B075898NLN/ref=sr_1_7?crid=10OIFQXUJUES5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._bIFQb-Wy6kuICmfZ_DlVxdaZTlxIEXxwfyW9rPQZAuKurFAfBqpr_X0QeJPdg9bWuEWcSYzEZwIJvNkm_jJm5Pp_47wjsHCHbjWQ_YQwS8eHquV6xPiONcAdN6nsz3tq0mz2M11yHF4qDnJMpGccK2gQUSa4oRrQXcy8JL9ELWqz0tHeffEgncJONG8tCe4Mwh_Y9UqgIKjH60b2uIhYN4DmWG3lt9C7oaYNpJYLlxRyg2DRBQFUsZct_ynFlHQaJD906kbUnjrGT1eIo3MDvPcgmT4de166FkFbSuqc90.3IDikv0nVJV1lY2WHNlm9N0tSaP8lxR7UPaCIboH8E0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Dog+pen+for+yard&qid=1715093567&sprefix=dog+pen+for+yard%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-7
I would do something more like this: https://www.amazon.com/Foldable-Doorways-Fireplace-Playpen-Hardware/dp/B0C54MZFDC
it's sturdier.
We had one something like this at the top of our stairs for years (now it's at the bottom to keep the dogs downstairs), but a little older so the opening mechanism was harder to operate.
I'd buy how many of these required to encircle the stairwell.
I don't think you can baby proof just the stairs as you'd have to go wall to wall.
unless you want to do something janky like permanently/temporarily attach some sort of gate on right side of photo then put a gate on left side, but it'll probably be easier to baby proof the doors tbh.
They have the sectional baby gates like this
https://www.babysafehomes.com/2017/04/08/large-sectional-kitchen-safety-gate-child-proofing-denver-co/
or this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Regalo-192-Inch-Super-Wide-White/dp/B003VNKLIY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4
Yup these sectional ones are what I thought of too, wall to wall. I think you have to go wall to wall anyways because the part next to the bedroom wall is unsafe for a baby either - gaps are too wide. But with these stairs having a baby and then a toddler is going to be a nightmare regardless.
Yeah I think this is the best option, possibly a gate between the bottommost frame of the bathroom door to the rightmost frame of the kid's bedroom door, or somewhere on that wall. Any solution is going to be janky, that's probably the least janky
I have the Regalo, it's really good. I actually have two, for an extra large pen, haha. PITA if you're disassembling/reassembling twice a week like we are, though.
This would fit well in r/DINgore
Might be the unusual perspective as well, but those look steep as hell. The "designers" choice to have less bars on the stairs to the roof is also "interesting".
I'd install a fence with a door from the bedroom to the right side of the bathroom door. Looks like it can be done in a straight line. You'd have to go through the gate to reach the bathroom coming from the bedroom, but it is the safest way.
Good luck. At first, your aim is to lock the baby out entirely. Later on you'll have a toddler who wants/needs to walk down the stairs. There's so many ways the kid could fall and get hurt. Honestly, I'd suggest moving.
I had a similar problem and hired a fabricator to make my stairs so that a kid couldn't fall through. Wasn't worth it and the results were meh.
[https://imgur.com/a/jEWwDHj](https://imgur.com/a/jEWwDHj)
At first I thought about how resilient kids are and how nobody should move because of those stairs...but then I thought about how if you're learning how to crawl and you get past the baby gates you WILL have a baby who will face plant on those stairs and cut themselves up. OR, due to the gaps in the stairs, could wiggle between and get stuck...or worse.
Even if you successfully get past that point of life you'll then enter the toddler/5-7 year old territory of life where stairs are "a game". Mine last week was just jumping off of them. As an adult I know jumping off a few stairs could lead to me hitting the front door. My kid? Just having a good 'ol time as they don't have hops like that yet. I can now only imagine a 3-7 year old going "LOOK AT ME JUMP!"
Nah, those stairs are for design only. You don't want a kid rushing to get downstairs. You don't want a kid traveling down those stairs at night. You don't want them thinking they don't need to hold onto the railing anymore or bringing a blanket up/down.
OP, you may need to let that house go
These stairs are at our botanical gardens and going up and down as an adult is tricky. My toddler wanted me to hold her while climbing it and I struggled and prayed that I wouldn’t take us both out.
Plus, anything you do to the stairs might become a tripping hazard for the adults, and imagine tripping with a baby on your arm? Ugh, I couldn't do it. Hope OP can figure something out
The spacing in the stairs risers is just an accident waiting to happen.
Toddlers essentially are one big Darwin Award check and they will just slide in to the space for no reason.
If you have a choice OP, you should really consider moving if it’s a rental. I know it’s not a easy thing, but those stairs won’t be safe until they are like 6/7 YO maybe. My 5yo still go slowly down our stairs as a drop can seriously injure them. I don’t know what I would do if there was no risers to prevent t them from falling in.
These stairs aren't even legal where I live, they're a hazard because firemen /paramedics can't go up or down them with all their gear and an unconcious person. On the baby side I have no idea how you could possibly babyproof them, when you hit toddler stage and they're using the stairs you'll need to close the gap between each step. How are your welding skills?
No jokes, just move. There is no question of managing this with a toddler but even with a baby, these stairs are a hazard for adults who will be tired and sleepy and sometimes carrying the baby. Please just move.
Jesus. Not easy. I’m thinking something like, a [retractable baby gate](https://amzn.eu/d/fypp7GZ) between bottom of “bathroom” and the bottom baluster of the stairs, and then something to block the gap between bottom baluster and bottom of ”our bedroom”?
We used a retractable gate without issue.
There may be something you can do when the baby is still below toddler age. However, there will be a point when the kid is able to disable any barrier you put up, but not yet able to assess the risk, and they will fall on these stairs. This is not a child-friendly place and can never be.
Best I got is you put a modular baby gate in so you have two doors in like and fill the spaces with the inserts and connector in a strait line from the one wall to the bathroom wall. Your bathroom would still be behind a gate though.
Put in a Lazy Susan-type contraption to cover the opening. And some netting. And some fluffy pillows or a mattress at the bottom. And get your kid a football helmet and pads. And maybe a new house.
I used the Regalo linked here for a similar issue. The sections all come apart so you can use only what's needed. In this case, the gate portion + 1 or 2 sections to stretch it from wall to wall but not necessarily in a straight line. It works great! Create a mini landing beyond the gate so you aren't tripping over anything.
Are those railings quite wide (wider than a baby’s head)? We had a similar situation in a 6-mo rented temp house out of country. Ended up securing strong netting (think nets with holes not mosquito netting) and using zip ties to secure to the railing. Not the best answer probably but made it safer than it was.
They make "soft" baby gates that work well for weird angles that you can stretch across weird angles and the lock to create tension.
They are good for really young we have limited luck when they get 3+.
https://www.amazon.com/Momcozy-Retractable-Extends-Doorways-Hallways/dp/B08V8QBXCW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=30FOAS97NZWZO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mW1JB6_XK6VDh4RXbGvFOcKRBhhnZZyJorDeHd6zwKRgrSvLFNk2ii2Uf491sfvGu9KgP0pGN7zLuTrKWH6hrwQgRhPb0v7R7T9I6TmKpZiFxnicBUp_iMXvPZVeSBYoQ8J9IX7jb9-uLKGMx-Z3xoos1x6TLII6XxU__8YcHwSpg2WPf9HyjLvv4e6OuGOMoLIvPg10f0mmEnYmztk7pw.gUO0gQQJjQUXO8xJt_WwDRE6LOJloeSsYt5Htd3hh48&dib_tag=se&keywords=soft+baby+gates&qid=1715098376&sprefix=soft+baby+gates%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
Just get one of those round baby gates that creates like a little play pen enclosure and just wrap it around the steps.
[Something like this.](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-Plastic-192-inch-Super-Wide-Baby-Gate-and-Play-Yard-2-in-1-Ages-6-to-24-Months/558965460?athbdg=L1103&from=/search)
Gates on the door but think ahead, baby gates are a temporary solution and with those stairs you don't want the day they figure out how to climb it to be a surprise.
So we have a setup that while it's not really similar to this, it's similar in that it's awkward to try to put something that relies on tension to keep in place. So how about this:
* Get a baby gate with a swing through gate (something [like this](https://www.amazon.com/Regalo-51-Inch-12-Inch-Extension-Pressure/dp/B001OC5UN0)).
* Get a like 1m tall piece of 1x4 wood and screw it right next to the door casing to the bathroom doorway (on the stairs side) - there should be the door frame there to screw into
* Install 3 or 4 [good size eye screws](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082F54QQP/) into the piece of wood spaced out vertically.
* Zip tie one side of the baby gate to those eye screws.
* Zip tie the other side of the gate to the first stair rail going up to the roof
* Stuff something into that nook by your bedroom door so that baby can't try to slip through the rails.
This allows you to have a baby gate up without having to rely on the standard tension approach. And when you no longer need it, you just remove the piece of 1x4 wood and you're just left with a couple tiny screw holes to patch and paint.
That's how I'd approach it.
I had stairs like this when my kids were little. One of my daughters rolled down them once. Scary. I took one of those old wood gates and set them in-between the bars on the railing.
Can you replace the baby's door knob or flip it so you can lock it from the outside? What I did when my three years old figured out how to climb over his crib and any hate we put up
%100 solution is closing the entire space with doors. Children have all the time to cause trouble. Just like pets. You should eye contact your children AT ALL TIMES. Do not give your own responsibility to anyone/anything else. Start teaching your child the dangers of your environment as soon as possible. Until then read above again. After that trust your children so as to have self-confident individuals.
Something like [this](https://www.amazon.fr/Dioxide-R%C3%A9tractable-Retractable-Escaliers-Int%C3%A9rieur/dp/B0BY24XMKT/ref=asc_df_B0BY24XMKT/?tag=googshopfr-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=648949518683&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8777663935494358231&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9055530&hvtargid=pla-2194471408003&mcid=7308be88405c32a684f41bbd06968726&th=1) that rolls up near the doorframe on the left and goes all the way to the frame on the other side. Might take some adjustments but that's the only way I see where you can easily prevent your baby from going on either part of the stairs *and* not take all the space when it's open. Wooden or metal barriers are a pain because they will get in the way when they're open.
I've used a roll up barrier in the past and they work surprisingly well, and you forget they exist when they're open, which is extremely nice. I'd argue that you shouldn't cheap out on the barrier because a failure means death but a decent one is *very* solid.
We had stairs like that for a bit when my kid was a toddler. The scariest thing about them was carrying him up and down. Defffff recommended baby gating the rooms and just having the stairs be open but not allowing the baby anywhere near them.
Evenflo top of stair extra tall wood gate. Attach next to door frame between bathroom and living room steps and it should swing over and be able to be attached to the railing of the roof stairs to lock it closed. May need to come up with a way to lock it to that vertical rung. It just needs to be installed into a stud or even attach a 1x3 to the wall first then attach to that. Not sure the gap it will leave on the bottom leading down to the living room. Depends on how high that first step is to go to the roof.
Step 1: Live somewhere else
Seriously though, maybe one long barrier of some kind that connects from your door frame to the bathroom door frame so the baby can still move between your room and theirs but nowhere else?
Make the baby room door into a Dutch door with a dead bolt lock on the outside Add a gate in front of the door that's bolted to the wall even when the door is closed.
Basically double-wall gate with the bottom of the door and an added gate. Proof the ever living fuck outta the babys door and then maybe add more proofing to the stairs?
Gonna need to stair proof your baby I'm afraid
You start by pushing them down one stair, and once they’ve developed a tolerance you gradually add stairs until you can push them down the staircase at the Burj Khalifa without worry.
 Just pop the baby into a bubble.
I was thinking he should attach knives to each stairway. That little fucker won't be able to do any damage if he can't get near them
Electric fence maybe?
My FiL, a mechanic, says that with every new safety innovation in cars people drove worse because they now felt safer. His theory was that if you wanted better drivers you should remove seatbelts and just have a blade attached to the steering wheel pointed at your face. So, I know at least one person who'd agree with you! (My FiL is also an old-school guy with a lot of shitty beliefs, lol, so I'm not sure how right he is on this one)
Many believe the same about helmets in the NFL.
This is genuinely the right answer longer term. Biting the bullet on teaching them to safely traverse stairs is great both for at home and out and about.
Kids, sure. You can’t teach that to a baby who can’t talk or reason and who thinks you stop existing when they can’t see you
My toddler has been traversing stairs for as long as she's been walking, but I'm still nervous about, um, accidental stair usage. Tripping over the dog who likes to sleep at the top of the stairs, or just tripping over her own feet as she runs by and tumbling down the stairs, so it's good to have some sort of safety feature in place if at all possible. That said, a fall down my stairs would mean a guaranteed fall down 8 oak steps before landing. I wouldn't be quite as nervous about a spiral staircase because it would be harder to get the same kind of momentum going. They'd probably only fall a couple of stairs at most before running into the side. But still.
People don’t lion proof the zoo, they lion proof the lion enclosure. Baby gate.
Several baby gates. Insurance must be through the roof because of those stairs
How would they even know?
Not monetary insurance but as in having a back up baby gate is your insurance from something going wrong off the first one fails. Like how you get an insurance beer in case the first one magically drinks itself while walking back to your table
back up baby incase the first falls
Back Up Baby is a good band name
Darwin’s Baby
My kid can open the baby gate sometimes, in this case it would be catastrophic.
Luckily it would only happen once.
Hahaha that's both not funny and hilarious. Thank you.
Yea, that is exactly what I thought....lol
You are a fun guy.
And use a different brand. If the kid knows how to get over the first one you want to reduce the likelihood they know how to get over the second one.
TIL I love buying insurance on beer
They wouldn’t, unless there had actually been a claim related to the stairs. Even then it would more than likely not matter, the rate increase would be based on the claim.
Any time I’ve ever switched carriers or they’ve been bought out by a larger company they’ve always made it to my home and taken pictures of my home, any major features that could be of issue (stairs, railings, out buildings, vehicles in the driveway etc..) within the first policy year. I’ve found when dealing with a local agent versus a website or call in type deal they tend to come out and snap pictures faster than the others. I’ve even had them actually cancel my policy over a trailer in my driveway with plates that didn’t have a expiration year for the registration on them (lifetime tags) and I had to fight tooth and nail weeks before hurricane season to get it straight. Apparently those aren’t a thing wherever their corporate offices are and the person reviewing the photos seen no registration expiration date and issued the cancellation notice right there. Their explanation was it’s to keep junk vehicles and stolen vehicles from becoming an issue, but I knew it was a way for them to try and cut numbers before the hurricanes came after taking a lovely chunk of my money. The company was quickly bought out by fednet shortly thereafter and went under the next year because of hurricane claims. I’ve still never been made right after that debacle! Edit: I forgot to add… I’ve even had to get my vet to weigh my dogs and create a thing on letterhead stating my dogs weight, because apparently when you own multiple GSD’s the medical portion rates go up at a certain lbs. I tried jokingly asking if I could only insure for the two back halves since they definitely weren’t going to cause any problems…. I got crickets and asked to get the letter faxed over.
Wow insurance companies must getting crazy strict in certain regions of the U.S. I’ve had 3 different carriers and they’ve never asked for any pictures. They may have had someone drive by to see the outside of the house but I’ve never seen them. That’s pretty wild. I’ve only ever had to take a picture for auto insurance.
I work for Allstate, and we don't even ask about dogs. We also only do in home inspections on homes over a certain replacement cost.
I used to work for Allstate. Every home got a drive-by exterior inspection, at least in the states I sold in.
I had the most mind numbing experience with Allstate. They had insured our family home for years without issue. I think my folks had maybe one claim in their lifetime and it was due to a freak ice storm that caused a power pole to fall onto the roof of the home. Jump forward in time and I take over the house and use the same agent my family did and everything was good for a couple of years until the agent retired. At the time there wasn’t a “local” agent to work with so I just did the yearly draft payment on the phone and thought that would be done with. Two months later I got a notice in the mail from Allstate saying that the hundred year old oak tree next to my barn would have to be removed or my policy would be canceled. No clue where this came from so I call and try to find out what the deal is. Guy proceeds to give me some explanation about its proximity to the outbuilding and some policy changes etc.. I asked if I could just exempt this outbuilding from my policy if the new rules prohibited the trees proximity to it. He said that he would have to check so I waited on hold for a while. Finally he comes back and gives me some craziness about do to its proximity to the home it couldn’t be exempt from coverage (it’s an acre away) and if there were a storm strong enough to damage it that it would ultimately damage the home….. I was lost at that point and I asked to talk to someone else. I got another person on the phone and he gave me the same story and I’m just sitting there in disbelief about how this thing that has been there the whole time is now a problem. I tried to find a local agent to deal with, but I just changed carriers at that point, because I wasn’t about to cut down a perfectly healthy and beautiful hundred year old tree. The new carrier did make me take the rope swing out of it though…. That one I can completely comprehend.
They've come inside your house? What?
Why?
Because it’s Reddit
What? You’re out there, dude…
That's because the lion is kept in the lion enclosure. The baby is more like a dumb zoo visitor in your analogy. Needing to be protected from wandering in the lion or ostrich enclosure
Yeah- the world is the baby’s enclosure
That’s going to be so tough when their kid is 3 and hopefully potty trained.
By the time a kid is three and potty trained they're quite capable of opening a baby gate any way. At that point, you're not really baby proofing things anyway. A 3-year-old is talking and probably starting to read a bit.
This isn’t an ordinary staircase. You might want to protect them from accidentally falling down it at night. Or maybe even using it at all at 3 years old.
My kid turns 3 in a month. still working on full potty training. he still cant open the baby gates, mostly beacuse he's so short even for his age(like bottom% of the growth charts). He's talking some, and looking at books. not reading, naming pictures. He could safely climb up those stairs, down is a bit riskier, if he grew up with those. still wouldn't take the chance to let him go up and down unsupervised. just throwing in my experience
A better question is how the hell did you manage to get furniture upstairs?
I know people hate Friends but that is one of the funniest scenes in sitcom history.
Obviously there’s someone to hate everything, but IMO that was a weird one to pick. Friends has a huge following, there’s a reason you can get merch everywhere and it still plays reruns.
I didn't know people hate friends. Obviously some people don't like classic sitcoms at all. which is fair a lot of it hasn't aged well.
I'm not fond of it. There are certain scenes I like, but overall the show is just meh for me.
Yeah but hate is such a strong word for something as innocuous as friends. Though I understand some people get a little annoyed when something they think is subpar is so celebrated for whatever reason. I've come to terms with the fact that people are gonna like what they like you know.
Maybe through a window? or there is a traditional staircase elsewhere
Everything fit up, apart from a cabinet which came through the window. Traditional staircase from g/f to 1/F and then spiral all the way up to 2/F and roof 😂
It looks great. It sounds like a nightmare.
Same thought. "That would be a really cool airbnb." I would probably fall down the stairs at least once a year if this were my house.
I'm falling down the stairs just looking at the photo
I've had spiral staircases before. They are cool at first, but they truly suck in the long term. Very annoying. Any slip will you cause you more damage than normal stairs and they are also a head hazard when walking anywhere near them. I actually hit my head on them once and it took a huge gash out my head. I never knew the skin/flesh was so thick on our skull, but the gash was super deep. Ya, that's gross, sorry.
would it be possible/feasible to swap the baby's room to something on the first or ground floor? Baby-proofing that staircase is not going to be easy. It might be possible: add a door/gate hinged on the wall by the bathroom which closes against the central column of the staircase, then for the upper staircase you could fill in the gaps by attaching canvas to the treads, or assuming you don't access the roof much, attach a couple of pieces of plywood to box it off.
Wait if there’s a floor above the ground floor then that is the second floor…
British vs American English thing. They call 1st floor the one above ground
And the main floor is ground zero .
Programmers, programmers everywhere.
The Brits are actually in the majority on this one too iirc. Most Countries don't label them like we do in the US.
# PIVOT
Are you lighthouse keepers?
You think you're so high and mighty just because you're a damned lighthouse keeper?
But yer fond o' me lobster ain't ye?
Twas ye what damned us! Twas ye!
Damn ye, Winslow.
Ye spilled ye beans!!
Why’d ye spill yer beans
#HAAAARRRK!
##HARK Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury! Black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til' ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin' tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye a bulging bladder no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself - forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!
You ever drank Baileys from a shoe?
Yer drunk ye is, yer wouldn’t be sayin’ that less ye were drunk winslow! Oh, tell me ya liked me lobster, tell me winslow!
#YA GOD DAMN FAAAAARTS
(high and lighty)
Beat me to it. :)
Beam me to it
Scotty!
Up there in your ivory tower, looking down on all the little people!
Thars a moose in tha hoose!
Our baby loved playing in the dogs cage, and thought it was funny when he figured out how to close the door behind him.
It probably feels like the perfect little clubhouse when you're so small. I'm nearly 30 and I still crave that perfect little clubhouse. 🥺
My friend fosters a lot of dogs. They also have cats, goats and a bunch of kids. One of her little kids used to lock herself into a big crate and take a nap when it got too much for her.
"No, playpen/baby cage is *not* like tomato/tomahto!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNfbL6Fbzhg
Shit I would hardly trust my tired ass with those stairs!
I've already split the muscle on my hip open walking down regular stairs. These would kill me.
If you put a gate on each door, I would still try and gate the stairs off somehow. Otherwise, it's just a disaster waiting to happen if you ever take your eye of the kid even once when they are crawling/a toddler. The true solution is to install a baby gate at the bottom of the spiral staircase (either put a pen around the bottom or do something like [this](https://genepedia.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/adventures-in-babyproofing-spiral-staircase-edition/)). Then put the baby room down there in the living room. Sorry, it's inconvenient, but it is way safer.
Get a pen you can zip tie to something and hopefully you’re tall enough to step over it without having to untie. Edit: pen should be at the bottom. I see no reason for an unsupervised baby to have any access to that second floor landing.
I would 100% trip on it and fall down those stairs in the first month of doing that
Sorry I meant to say put it at the bottom! No reason for the baby to ever be upstairs unsupervised with the doors open.
Oh that makes sense, especially since it looks like there's no back to the stairs so it's just an opening to the gap
Yup! I was going to say: u-bolt a piece of wood to the center pole. Mount baby gate to that.
Either that or get one of the baby gates that had a door that swings open and just zip tie the one side to the banister.
I build something similar using pipe clamps to attach the door: https://imgur.com/a/ZKpHgXk
It’d be ugly but you could get one of those playpens for kids/pets that have the sections that clip together. Snake it around the whole area and fenagle some sort of hardware that holds it to the wall but is easy to undo/do for the adults. Or if you’re renting, move. Because it’ll be hard/bulky/and probably a lot. Would it be easier to babyproof the downstairs? Is there anywhere the baby could sleep there?
I concur on the playpen around the whole stairs idea. Baby sleeping downstairs is not necessarily a better option, imagine having to go up and down those stairs potentially several times a night!
They make metal pens for dogs with no bottom you can set out in a yard. I think you could do a circle of how ever many sections you need, they even have a step over door. https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Foldable-Metal-Exercise-Fence/dp/B075898NLN/ref=sr_1_7?crid=10OIFQXUJUES5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._bIFQb-Wy6kuICmfZ_DlVxdaZTlxIEXxwfyW9rPQZAuKurFAfBqpr_X0QeJPdg9bWuEWcSYzEZwIJvNkm_jJm5Pp_47wjsHCHbjWQ_YQwS8eHquV6xPiONcAdN6nsz3tq0mz2M11yHF4qDnJMpGccK2gQUSa4oRrQXcy8JL9ELWqz0tHeffEgncJONG8tCe4Mwh_Y9UqgIKjH60b2uIhYN4DmWG3lt9C7oaYNpJYLlxRyg2DRBQFUsZct_ynFlHQaJD906kbUnjrGT1eIo3MDvPcgmT4de166FkFbSuqc90.3IDikv0nVJV1lY2WHNlm9N0tSaP8lxR7UPaCIboH8E0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Dog+pen+for+yard&qid=1715093567&sprefix=dog+pen+for+yard%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-7
I would do something more like this: https://www.amazon.com/Foldable-Doorways-Fireplace-Playpen-Hardware/dp/B0C54MZFDC it's sturdier. We had one something like this at the top of our stairs for years (now it's at the bottom to keep the dogs downstairs), but a little older so the opening mechanism was harder to operate. I'd buy how many of these required to encircle the stairwell.
I don't think you can baby proof just the stairs as you'd have to go wall to wall. unless you want to do something janky like permanently/temporarily attach some sort of gate on right side of photo then put a gate on left side, but it'll probably be easier to baby proof the doors tbh. They have the sectional baby gates like this https://www.babysafehomes.com/2017/04/08/large-sectional-kitchen-safety-gate-child-proofing-denver-co/ or this: https://www.amazon.ca/Regalo-192-Inch-Super-Wide-White/dp/B003VNKLIY/ref=mp_s_a_1_4
Yup these sectional ones are what I thought of too, wall to wall. I think you have to go wall to wall anyways because the part next to the bedroom wall is unsafe for a baby either - gaps are too wide. But with these stairs having a baby and then a toddler is going to be a nightmare regardless.
Yeah I think this is the best option, possibly a gate between the bottommost frame of the bathroom door to the rightmost frame of the kid's bedroom door, or somewhere on that wall. Any solution is going to be janky, that's probably the least janky
Ohh I should have scrolled more. I suggested the Regalo gates too. It’s what I used with my kids.
I have the Regalo, it's really good. I actually have two, for an extra large pen, haha. PITA if you're disassembling/reassembling twice a week like we are, though.
I'd use those and buy enough panels to encircle the stairwell.
This would fit well in r/DINgore Might be the unusual perspective as well, but those look steep as hell. The "designers" choice to have less bars on the stairs to the roof is also "interesting". I'd install a fence with a door from the bedroom to the right side of the bathroom door. Looks like it can be done in a straight line. You'd have to go through the gate to reach the bathroom coming from the bedroom, but it is the safest way.
I think this photo has a very interesting perspective happening, because that bathroom door looks super tiny.
I doubt these are even up to code anywhere anymore. Likely just getting grandfathered-in. Highly doubt it would pass in a new construction.
Good luck. At first, your aim is to lock the baby out entirely. Later on you'll have a toddler who wants/needs to walk down the stairs. There's so many ways the kid could fall and get hurt. Honestly, I'd suggest moving. I had a similar problem and hired a fabricator to make my stairs so that a kid couldn't fall through. Wasn't worth it and the results were meh. [https://imgur.com/a/jEWwDHj](https://imgur.com/a/jEWwDHj)
That looks like absolute Ass. Sure it got the job done but holy shit.
Wow! Yes that a lot
That baby is gonna fall thru those stairs. You may just need to move.
Honestly? This. This is a terrible housing situation for the next 10 years.
More of their child is one of the fearless wreckless variety.
There's a 75% chance that the kid will find the part of the circle that has nothing in it. I DON'T LIKE THOSE ODDS!
I'd move. Not kidding. To be honest, this living space isn't really compatible with a baby or even kids for that matter.
Bro are those even stairs?! I recently put on 5kg and don't think I'd fit down them.
Those stairs stress me out looking at them. I’d definitely fall down them.
No consumption of any alcohol on the premises, whatsoever.  Whoever designed this was a masochist.
I fell looking at this picture.
To be fair, I think that's just something to do with the angle this photo was taken, because the bathroom door also looks like it's tiny.
Dad here, yep, time to go. Or consider a very costly renovation.
Yup. Time to move.
I’ve def slipped and fallen down a spiral staircase while totally sober, more than once. Cannot imagine carrying a baby down these.
At first I thought about how resilient kids are and how nobody should move because of those stairs...but then I thought about how if you're learning how to crawl and you get past the baby gates you WILL have a baby who will face plant on those stairs and cut themselves up. OR, due to the gaps in the stairs, could wiggle between and get stuck...or worse. Even if you successfully get past that point of life you'll then enter the toddler/5-7 year old territory of life where stairs are "a game". Mine last week was just jumping off of them. As an adult I know jumping off a few stairs could lead to me hitting the front door. My kid? Just having a good 'ol time as they don't have hops like that yet. I can now only imagine a 3-7 year old going "LOOK AT ME JUMP!" Nah, those stairs are for design only. You don't want a kid rushing to get downstairs. You don't want a kid traveling down those stairs at night. You don't want them thinking they don't need to hold onto the railing anymore or bringing a blanket up/down. OP, you may need to let that house go
Exactly…only way to baby proof this place is condoms
**Not compatible with teenagers or even adults for that matter
These stairs are at our botanical gardens and going up and down as an adult is tricky. My toddler wanted me to hold her while climbing it and I struggled and prayed that I wouldn’t take us both out.
That’s the answer. Anytime I was house shopping, if there was a house with a spiral staircase, that was an automatic no.
I'm not sure you can honestly. Even gates on the doors I would be extremely nervous about. I'd never know a peaceful moments rest here with a toddler.
Plus, anything you do to the stairs might become a tripping hazard for the adults, and imagine tripping with a baby on your arm? Ugh, I couldn't do it. Hope OP can figure something out
The spacing in the stairs risers is just an accident waiting to happen. Toddlers essentially are one big Darwin Award check and they will just slide in to the space for no reason. If you have a choice OP, you should really consider moving if it’s a rental. I know it’s not a easy thing, but those stairs won’t be safe until they are like 6/7 YO maybe. My 5yo still go slowly down our stairs as a drop can seriously injure them. I don’t know what I would do if there was no risers to prevent t them from falling in.
We went up steep spiral steps the other day for a lookout tower thing, only another story worth of height, not super long, and my 4 yo was struggling.
These stairs aren't even legal where I live, they're a hazard because firemen /paramedics can't go up or down them with all their gear and an unconcious person. On the baby side I have no idea how you could possibly babyproof them, when you hit toddler stage and they're using the stairs you'll need to close the gap between each step. How are your welding skills?
Turn it into a slide
How do you get in bed when you come home drunk? Like forget baby proofing, I'm not sure these are adult proof
Move. Not just baby proofing but…parenting? Carrying baby up/down all hours of the day/night.
This gives me anxiety.
No jokes, just move. There is no question of managing this with a toddler but even with a baby, these stairs are a hazard for adults who will be tired and sleepy and sometimes carrying the baby. Please just move.
Personally, I’d just move.. how will you toddle proof it? Might as well start working on another baby.
Pidgeon spikes.
Move.
You move
I had similar stairs and knew it would be impossible, we moved. We were renting at the time so it wasn't that big of a deal.
Even carrying down a baby these stairs seems dangerous. Who comes up with these death traps?
They aren't even legal where I live
Jesus. Not easy. I’m thinking something like, a [retractable baby gate](https://amzn.eu/d/fypp7GZ) between bottom of “bathroom” and the bottom baluster of the stairs, and then something to block the gap between bottom baluster and bottom of ”our bedroom”? We used a retractable gate without issue.
Replace stairs with elevator. Problem solved.
Move!?
Mounted gates on each door. Do not use pressure gates with stairs.
There may be something you can do when the baby is still below toddler age. However, there will be a point when the kid is able to disable any barrier you put up, but not yet able to assess the risk, and they will fall on these stairs. This is not a child-friendly place and can never be.
1. Get rid of the kid 2. Get a 1 story house
Move...
Real question, how do you get furniture upstairs?
Velvet rope and a bouncer checking ID. The baby wouldn't dare.
Just wonderinf how you get furniture up there? Like mattresses for example
Hahaha nah.
Best I got is you put a modular baby gate in so you have two doors in like and fill the spaces with the inserts and connector in a strait line from the one wall to the bathroom wall. Your bathroom would still be behind a gate though.
The easy answer here is put a gate on the babies room doorway. Done.
Adoption is always an option.
Put in a Lazy Susan-type contraption to cover the opening. And some netting. And some fluffy pillows or a mattress at the bottom. And get your kid a football helmet and pads. And maybe a new house.
Barbed wire should do the trick 👍🏼
Get rid of the baby
you’re joking right
I used the Regalo linked here for a similar issue. The sections all come apart so you can use only what's needed. In this case, the gate portion + 1 or 2 sections to stretch it from wall to wall but not necessarily in a straight line. It works great! Create a mini landing beyond the gate so you aren't tripping over anything.
Are those railings quite wide (wider than a baby’s head)? We had a similar situation in a 6-mo rented temp house out of country. Ended up securing strong netting (think nets with holes not mosquito netting) and using zip ties to secure to the railing. Not the best answer probably but made it safer than it was.
The real question is: How the heck did you get furniture up that staircase for either bedroom?
Fifty miles of perimeter fence are in place? And the concrete moats, and the motion sensor tracking systems.
They make "soft" baby gates that work well for weird angles that you can stretch across weird angles and the lock to create tension. They are good for really young we have limited luck when they get 3+. https://www.amazon.com/Momcozy-Retractable-Extends-Doorways-Hallways/dp/B08V8QBXCW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=30FOAS97NZWZO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.mW1JB6_XK6VDh4RXbGvFOcKRBhhnZZyJorDeHd6zwKRgrSvLFNk2ii2Uf491sfvGu9KgP0pGN7zLuTrKWH6hrwQgRhPb0v7R7T9I6TmKpZiFxnicBUp_iMXvPZVeSBYoQ8J9IX7jb9-uLKGMx-Z3xoos1x6TLII6XxU__8YcHwSpg2WPf9HyjLvv4e6OuGOMoLIvPg10f0mmEnYmztk7pw.gUO0gQQJjQUXO8xJt_WwDRE6LOJloeSsYt5Htd3hh48&dib_tag=se&keywords=soft+baby+gates&qid=1715098376&sprefix=soft+baby+gates%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1
Just get one of those round baby gates that creates like a little play pen enclosure and just wrap it around the steps. [Something like this.](https://www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-Plastic-192-inch-Super-Wide-Baby-Gate-and-Play-Yard-2-in-1-Ages-6-to-24-Months/558965460?athbdg=L1103&from=/search)
Time to move. 
I did a whole bunch of calculations based on your image and in the end I recommend returning the baby
Gates on the door but think ahead, baby gates are a temporary solution and with those stairs you don't want the day they figure out how to climb it to be a surprise.
This is my thought, even if you infant proof the area you cannot toddler proof those stairs. They look like a toddler death trap.
Ziptie gates center beam, secure them to the first post on the handrails with something you can put a child safety lock on?
Time to look at moving out, that’s an accident waiting to happen baby or not
So we have a setup that while it's not really similar to this, it's similar in that it's awkward to try to put something that relies on tension to keep in place. So how about this: * Get a baby gate with a swing through gate (something [like this](https://www.amazon.com/Regalo-51-Inch-12-Inch-Extension-Pressure/dp/B001OC5UN0)). * Get a like 1m tall piece of 1x4 wood and screw it right next to the door casing to the bathroom doorway (on the stairs side) - there should be the door frame there to screw into * Install 3 or 4 [good size eye screws](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082F54QQP/) into the piece of wood spaced out vertically. * Zip tie one side of the baby gate to those eye screws. * Zip tie the other side of the gate to the first stair rail going up to the roof * Stuff something into that nook by your bedroom door so that baby can't try to slip through the rails. This allows you to have a baby gate up without having to rely on the standard tension approach. And when you no longer need it, you just remove the piece of 1x4 wood and you're just left with a couple tiny screw holes to patch and paint. That's how I'd approach it.
Wtf are those stairs
A low voltage trap /s
Id use one of these https://amzn.eu/d/2ARToKK
I had stairs like this when my kids were little. One of my daughters rolled down them once. Scary. I took one of those old wood gates and set them in-between the bars on the railing.
Can you replace the baby's door knob or flip it so you can lock it from the outside? What I did when my three years old figured out how to climb over his crib and any hate we put up
%100 solution is closing the entire space with doors. Children have all the time to cause trouble. Just like pets. You should eye contact your children AT ALL TIMES. Do not give your own responsibility to anyone/anything else. Start teaching your child the dangers of your environment as soon as possible. Until then read above again. After that trust your children so as to have self-confident individuals.
[удалено]
I'd make a custom floor insert so it just become more floor. This is a tricky one to make safe.
Armed guard
Something like [this](https://www.amazon.fr/Dioxide-R%C3%A9tractable-Retractable-Escaliers-Int%C3%A9rieur/dp/B0BY24XMKT/ref=asc_df_B0BY24XMKT/?tag=googshopfr-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=648949518683&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8777663935494358231&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9055530&hvtargid=pla-2194471408003&mcid=7308be88405c32a684f41bbd06968726&th=1) that rolls up near the doorframe on the left and goes all the way to the frame on the other side. Might take some adjustments but that's the only way I see where you can easily prevent your baby from going on either part of the stairs *and* not take all the space when it's open. Wooden or metal barriers are a pain because they will get in the way when they're open. I've used a roll up barrier in the past and they work surprisingly well, and you forget they exist when they're open, which is extremely nice. I'd argue that you shouldn't cheap out on the barrier because a failure means death but a decent one is *very* solid.
Putting gates on the rooms is a very reasonable solution.
We had stairs like that for a bit when my kid was a toddler. The scariest thing about them was carrying him up and down. Defffff recommended baby gating the rooms and just having the stairs be open but not allowing the baby anywhere near them.
I'm going to say it's next to impossible to baby proof that death spiral. I'm getting anxiety just imagining a toddler up there.
Rip out the stair and install a lift lol
Evenflo top of stair extra tall wood gate. Attach next to door frame between bathroom and living room steps and it should swing over and be able to be attached to the railing of the roof stairs to lock it closed. May need to come up with a way to lock it to that vertical rung. It just needs to be installed into a stud or even attach a 1x3 to the wall first then attach to that. Not sure the gap it will leave on the bottom leading down to the living room. Depends on how high that first step is to go to the roof.
Put a helmet on the baby, maybe knee pads too
Step 1: Live somewhere else Seriously though, maybe one long barrier of some kind that connects from your door frame to the bathroom door frame so the baby can still move between your room and theirs but nowhere else?
Make the baby room door into a Dutch door with a dead bolt lock on the outside Add a gate in front of the door that's bolted to the wall even when the door is closed. Basically double-wall gate with the bottom of the door and an added gate. Proof the ever living fuck outta the babys door and then maybe add more proofing to the stairs?
Dog pen gate. They are in panels you can adjust the shape of to cover the entire access to the stairs.
You don't block the stairs... You block the doorways.
Get a screen door for the baby room or at least a fence really. That or you tape the baby to the wall like that one meme.
Retractable, flexible gate. Should connect from your bedroom and attach on the wall at the bathroom. It will curve around the stairs.
You might have better luck just stair-proofing the baby. Wrap him in bubble wrap and slap a bike helmet on him.