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Original poster

Spiral staircases and young children. An accident waiting to happen or am I paranoid?

29 replies

Sputnik · 18/12/2007 20:46

Saw a flat the other day we really liked, but it was on 2 floors with a spiral staircase. I have a 3 yo and a 6 mo, and I'm a bit dubious, the staircase seemed quite narrow and our 3 yo was a bit suspicious of it. Anyone have any experience of small children and spiral staircases?

OP posts:
Original poster
Sputnik · 18/12/2007 21:25

Anyone?

OP posts:
pantoinghousewife · 18/12/2007 21:30

I don't have a spiral staircase but, I have a friend who does and her boys have never fallen down it, they are just used to it. Conversely they do struggle a bit with ordinary stairs.

newgirl · 18/12/2007 22:17

my friend's 18 mth old fell down their spiral stairs and broke his leg

i think you would need to stair gate them and supervise for a few years for peace of mind really

lalalonglegs · 19/12/2007 09:22

We had spiral staircase when dd was little - no more inclined to fall down it than any other kind of staircase. Why not just use a stair gate?

FioFio · 19/12/2007 09:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

CarmenerryChristmas · 19/12/2007 09:27

My db fell down our one when he was a tot but he was in a babywalker, which although it allowed him to fall down it (because he couldn't have gotten to it otherwise) it also protected him and he was fine, it was a miracle actually now I think about it. My mother on the other hand almost had to be sedated.
This was 32 years ago and it is still firmly implanted on my mind

I generally think that they are the same as other stairs in so far as you are not going to encourage your toddlers to go near them anyway.

TheTwelveDAISYOfChristmas · 19/12/2007 09:41

I'd be more worried about how I was going to get furniture up and down them!!

seriously though, if the DCs are used to them they should be fine, if gated etc etc, but I imagine carrying baby sputnik up and down them might be a bit scary for you until you get used to them.

annobalthebignosereindeer · 19/12/2007 11:02

We live in a tall narrow house with loads of stairs and dc's have never fallen down them (I have though, twice ).

Can you use a stairgate once babysputnik starts moving about? Do you think your dd will be okay with them? Sounds lovely

Original poster
Sputnik · 19/12/2007 14:42

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm probably bit over-cautious because our present housse doesn't have any stairs at all internally, so we never hd to deal wth them.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 19/12/2007 14:43

i used to nag for my dad to install a sprial staircase. it's a kids dream!

lilibet · 19/12/2007 14:45

I lived in a house with a spiral staircase once with my three children and I was the only one who fell down it

Original poster
Sputnik · 19/12/2007 15:00

Actually I thought that too when I was little Southeastastra. In fact maybe we should scrap the staircase and install a fire-station style pole

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lalalonglegs · 19/12/2007 19:32

TwelveDaisys has is right - getting furniture in and out far more of a concern than personal safety. We used to have to pay a window firm to come round and remove our living room window then haul stuff up a ladder - complete trauma.

BTW, I met an architect who had installed a slide to go down from main living area to the bedrooms (it was an upside down house) for his three kids - that really was a kid's dream.

katierocket · 19/12/2007 19:33

We have a kind of spiral staircase in that it turns towards the bottom and I've fallen down it twice whereas DS1 has never fallen down it (DS2 too little yet

LadyTophamHatt · 19/12/2007 19:47

yes, imagine getting a double bed up/dowm at spiral staircase.

katierocket, how are you getting on in the new house and town? have you settled in ok?

katierocket · 19/12/2007 19:55

Ah, thanks for remembering LTH. House and location are great and I've been surprised at how well I've adapted but DS1's school hasn't been great. It's a whole other thread...

LadyTophamHatt · 19/12/2007 20:14

Thats FAB about the house etc, rubbish about the school though.

Is it something that can be fixed? or is the schooljust pants?

LadyTophamHatt · 19/12/2007 20:14

Hows Ds2 too?

edam · 19/12/2007 20:18

If it's narrow and open tread I'd be cautious. If it is closed tread, not slippery and not too tricky to negotiate I might go for it.

Also, think about how easy it will be to manage when you have baby in one arm and something you are carrying up in the other - might be a real pain in the bum if you have to make double journeys all the time.

Original poster
Sputnik · 19/12/2007 21:44

It's narrow and open tread .
Not worried too much about double journeys my post-natal arse could do with the exercise.
furniture will probably all be flatpack!

Thing is it's the 1st place we've looked at we can see ourselves living in and it's under-budget

OP posts:
LadyTophamHatt · 19/12/2007 22:11

if its under budget, buy it and use the rest to put proper stairs in.....

edam · 19/12/2007 22:13

Good thinking from LTH, there!

Is there actually room for a proper staircase?

Original poster
Sputnik · 19/12/2007 23:16

Thought about that. it's a bit on the small side. Will have to go and do some measuring. Spiral staircase is nice aesthetically though.

OP posts:
edam · 19/12/2007 23:36

Thing is, you'll be traipsing up and down those stairs twenty times a day if you buy the house. And if they are a pain in the bum, you'll have to supervise both children very carefully every time they want a wee/to fetch toys from their rooms etc. etc. etc. For the next, what, four years?

I'm not biased or anything... . Well, I am. We had open tread stairs when I was little. My sister and I fell down them repeatedly. I can still remember how much it hurt! When we viewed a house my parents were thinking of buying that had proper stairs, I was crying 'yes, please' even though it meant moving away from my best friend!

edam · 19/12/2007 23:36

did they take out a proper staircase in order to save space with a spiral, btw? Might be worth checking if everything is kosher wrt building regs.

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