Baby proofing - bannister guard .....

[catstar]

We are in the process of babyproofing our house as DD is at last on the move. On the upstairs landing we have a bannister where the spindles are spaced quite far apart - certainly far enough for DD to get her head and body through at the moment (she's 11 months) . I've been looking at bannister guards on the net, but there only seems to be one available and it's quite pricey. Just wondered if anyone had any "DIY" suggestions - something to weave through the spindles and secure?

Thanks!

No experience of this but I'm having a think for you...

You need something vertical or impossible to climb on really, in case she uses your solution as a ladder so either something chickenwire-y, or a temporary piece of chipboard you could tie to the bannisters with cable ties, or um... possibly a more visually attractive solution might be to wedge in some thick broom handle sized poles inbetween the spindles, somehow?

Bird netting and cable ties.

a fabric screen seems the easiest - sew on tapes to tie to spindles, like an enormous unpadded cot bumper.

Good idea Mrs Badger. You'd have to make it so the fabric was drum tight in case she decided to play behind it though.

Sheet of hardboard, cut to size, blocking full length.

To be honest, I would be inclined to correct the spacing of the spindles by moving them all or adding extras into the gaps.

What Saint George said, correct the spacing of the spindles.

On holiday when DS1 was 15 months old, we had "safety netting" around the balcony of our 4th floor room. I was putting towels over the rail to dry, keeping one eye on DS and in a split second he was head, shoulders and one foot through the balcony rails at the edge of the netting. this was in law-suit-happy America.

I would not trusty sort of so called "safety netting".

'... would not trust any sort of so called "safety netting".... '

Thanks for the suggestions ladies . I fear our best option would be to alter the gap between the spindles (esp. as I am considering childminding in future) - not sure how DH might react to my suggestion ... Soupdragon - you would have thought you would be on to a good thing in the US if they claimed it was safety netting. Glad you spotted before an accident took place.

Right, off to talk to DH ....

When we moved into our current house DD was 18 months old & almost the first thing she did was to try to climb the horizontal bars at the top of the stairs - we were out at B&Q first thing next morning getting white panels to put all the way up the stairs - in fact we didn't actually get round to removing it till last year & DD is now 18....