A Solution for the #1 Cause of Injury for 1-year-olds in the United States

September is Baby Safety Month, which we think is an excellent time to remind parents about the importance of staircase safety. According to the CDC, “falls are the leading cause of non-fatal injuries for all children ages 0 to 19,” with children from ages 1 to 4 having “the highest rates of nonfatal falls.”  

A report published by the medical journal Pediatrics found that from 1999 to 2008, nearly 100,000 children under the age of 5 were taken to hospitals for injuries they sustained on a staircase, usually at home, every year. The numbers meant that every six minutes, a young child is treated in an emergency room for a stair-related injury. The first nationwide study to look at the extent of the problem among small children, the report also found stairs to be the number one cause of injury for 1-year-old children in the United States.  

Part of the problem, the report explained, is that most household staircases aren’t designed with child safety in mind. Two-thirds of homes can’t accommodate a wall-mounted stair gate at the top of the stairs. About one-third can’t accommodate a pressurized gate at the bottom.

Along with proper supervision and safe practices during playtime, the CDC recommends utilizing home safety devices like stair gates as one of the best methods of prevention. The Stair Barrier, the first and only fabric safety gate designed specifically for the bottom of staircases as well as the only baby gate with both Banister to Banister and Wall to Banister options, provides a solution for staircases that cannot accommodate a pressurized gate at the bottom.

When properly installed, children cannot lift The Stair Barrier to crawl under it or leverage their body weight on a top bar to hoist themselves over it. Internal plastic struts and horizontal webbing that run the width of The Stair Barrier, from buckle to buckle, give our safety gates an extremely tight fit...making them both safe and attractive.

If your home is part of the large group of homes with staircases not designed for pressurized gates at the bottom of the stairs, check out our unique solution for keeping children safe here.