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vkhosid

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Good morning fellas,

I have come across (what I consider) a unique situation at the domicile...My daughter, who is about 1.5y/o, is starting to move up and down the stairs between the 1st and 2nd floor of the house. The current handrail is positioned comfortably for an adult, but is way over her head, and puts her in an uncomfortable position when she holds onto it. As such, she refuses to go up and down the stairs herself and wants to be carried.

I intend to install/construct/whatever a handrail that is more suitable for her height. THAT is where my question comes in. Sure, I could go to HD or Lowes and buy a second set of brackets and a handrail, install it, and call it a day. However, I was wondering if anyone knew of any alternatives to doing this? I've searched for "child" attachments to existing hand rails, and found none.

I should mention that one side of the stairs is solid wall with sheetrock, and the other side is a combination of sheeetrock with some balusters mixed in.

Any suggestions of what could be done would be greatly apprecaited.
Thanks!
 
I'd not worry about it because she will use the drywall for support and this will be a non-issue in 6 months or so. I say this having a daughter who is 4.5yrs old and a son who is 1.5yrs old. They will learn to go up and down the stairs on all fours (crawl backwards down the stairs). Once they have the leg-length and balance to stand upright, they will learn to use the wall or the balusters to steady themselves. By the time they are 2-3 years old they will be flying up and down the stairs and probably won't even use the handrail, or they'll be just tall enough to reach it. So, my answer is do nothing and carry her for another 6 months when required so that you don't mess with the expense of installing and then removing/patching everything for a less than a year time period.
 
I'd have her butt-slide down and crawl-up the stairs. That age is a bit young for tackling walking up and down upright.

Other than that, installing a second lower rail is an option, but you're only going to need it for a couple years, so sure you'll be happy with the fill holes that will be needed later. I don't think you'll find a specialty product for this, because head injuries on kids tend to yield very expensive lawsuits and expensive liability insurance.
 
No suggestions for something on the market.

If you can attach a lower rail to hang to the backside or underside of the existing rail, that may be a solution. You may need to remove it to make the additional rail that would hang below it.

On the other hand, kids grow up so fast that this stage will be behind you essentially in the blink of an eye.

Public service announcement: soak up all the time you can and raise them right in the first quarter to half of their childhood. If we live to be 80, they are only under our direct tutelage for “about 12.5%” of our lives; Sure, they’ll be “around” longer, but the early formative years can be very fun and establish the foundation for latter years. They grow up fast!! I knew that and accounted for it, but even I was amazed.
 
vkhosid said:
I intend to install/construct/whatever a handrail that is more suitable for her height.
Click to expand...
Sounds like an awful large investment for something that will probably only get used for a couple of months. She'll outgrow it fast.
 
Truth be told, I never even thought about this whole railing idea, as she's been scooting up and down the stairs "sort of" by herself on hands and knees. What got me thinking about this was the 18 month pediatrician appointment that we had with her. Where the doctor was going over some developmental questions. One of the questions was whether she climbs/descends stairs by herself. That spurred my thinking even further when we went to a playground with her, where she was climbing descending stairs to a slide by herself (in an upright posture). It was obvious that the positioning of the railings for the slides were for children. So, that was what got me thinking about this in the first place.
 
asicer said:
Sounds like an awful large investment for something that will probably only get used for a couple of months. She'll outgrow it fast.
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Pricing it out at home depot, it would be about $40ish for everything.....I don't plan on putting in gold plated fixtures...

But again, it was just an initial thought I had
 
I second the idea that it'll be a non issue in a short few months. just forget it.
If you were to install a handrail at the 'proper' height...which I find to be an interesting idea for training BTW.... you'd just be adjusting it higher and higher constantly.

She'll figure it out...and will be learning to drive before you know it.

These stages with kids seem like 'forever' when you're in it, but they really are just a flash and you will very soon forget all details about them. (my kids are 15, 11, and 9)
 
A very smart daughter at this age and she's not even asking for money i'll bet.
 
May be posted, just put up a dog gate for when you’re not around to watch.

Even with a rail, couldn’t she slip & tumble down? A little more time, a non-issue.
 
EdFred said:
Install a slide on 1/2 of the stairway, and a trebuchet at the bottom. May want to test with potato sacks first.
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Out of the box thinking, but cool. The trebuchet won't work well because her parents will need to keep resetting the thing, and the idea is to keep them form always having to come to carry her. Either way, they have to come to the stairs. Your idea can be improved with an electric catapult. If the slide and catapult are set up and aligned, it could give hours of fun. She can slide down into the catapult, catapult to the top of the slide, slide down again...
 
We put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs when this was an issue at our house. We only let our son go up and down the stairs under supervision until we were certain he was ready to solo.

Then we removed the gates.
 
kyleb said:
We put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs when this was an issue at our house. We only let our son go up and down the stairs under supervision until we were certain he was ready to solo.

Then we removed the gates.
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I've done the same, four times. She'll probably go up and down by herself the day after you install the handrail.
 
kyleb said:
We put gates at the top and bottom of the stairs when this was an issue at our house. We only let our son go up and down the stairs under supervision until we were certain he was ready to solo.

Then we removed the gates.
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Yup. We keep the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs most of the time (4.5yr old daughter's room is upstairs). Our 20-month old son has pretty much gotten to the point where we don't worry about it that much, but we'll keep the baby gate up for a few more months. There are times when we leave it off and he can roam free, but we're watching him and coaching him along. Luckily our stair case is split so that the run is fairly short so a trip or stumble would only send him halfway down the staircase, and is carpeted so it's at least a little cushioned and provides good traction for the little ones.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yup. We keep the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs most of the time (4.5yr old daughter's room is upstairs). Our 20-month old son has pretty much gotten to the point where we don't worry about it that much, but we'll keep the baby gate up for a few more months. There are times when we leave it off and he can roam free, but we're watching him and coaching him along. Luckily our stair case is split so that the run is fairly short so a trip or stumble would only send him halfway down the staircase, and is carpeted so it's at least a little cushioned and provides good traction for the little ones.
Click to expand...

Plus, they bounce.:biggrin:
 
Arnold said:
Plus, they bounce.:biggrin:
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True story, lol. Son loves taking off full speed while not watching forward. He bounces off walls, floorstanding speakers, golden retrievers . . . has a little less luck with door jambs.
 
Much respect for golden retrievers. Kid batch #1, especially daughter #1, could not perturb my golden even with fingers in eyes, pulling on various part, trying to ride the horse dog. Dog never complained in the least. My step dad's doberman was equally kind. Our golden was female, the doberman was male. She was eye height to his belly, she notices the additional anatomical feature, She grabs and says "what's this?" The dog just looked at her - not a sound.
 
By the time she is big enough to get her foot high enough to reach the next step and lift her weight, she will be tall enough to use a standard railing.
 
My kid did the butt slide to go down, crawl up on all fours until they were ready. Then she used the drywall for support. Then just went up and down stairs. Of course we kept the baby gates up until she was ready for the butt slide/crawl up maneuver.

However -
This sounds like a money making opportunity, here - create some kind of secondary railing that somehow attaches to and hangs from the primary handrail. Put it on when the kid needs it. Just unclamp it when they are done with it.

The way parents buy safety stuff for their kids these days, you'll make a million bucks. Just cut me in for 1/4 so I can buy that Bo...
 
Arnold said:
Much respect for golden retrievers. Kid batch #1, especially daughter #1, could not perturb my golden even with fingers in eyes, pulling on various part, trying to ride the horse dog. Dog never complained in the least. My step dad's doberman was equally kind. Our golden was female, the doberman was male. She was eye height to his belly, she notices the additional anatomical feature, She grabs and says "what's this?" The dog just looked at her - not a sound.
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Lol, yup. Our Golden (Hank) got used as a pillow for watching tv, and sometimes as a footstool for getting up onto the couch. He has never even given a growl or been the least bit aggressive toward either of the kids. They truly are the best family dogs. If he gets tired of being messed with, he just moves to a different area of the room. Always watchful and loves being near the family. Sheds like a son-of-a-gun though!
 
I appreciate all the ideas/stories/etc guys....the impetus for all this was the talk with her pediatrician. We were told that at her age, part of her developmental process was to start learning how to climb up and down stairs. We have the baby gates, and aren't worried about her going up/down the stairs unsupervised, as she is not left alone in those areas of the house. the idea for the rail was just me trying to think of something that might help her instill "good habits" of ascending/descending stairs. At it is now, and as was mentioned previously, she climbs up on all fours, and does the butt-slide on the way down (when she's not yelling to be carried, which is the majority of the time).
 
vkhosid said:
the idea for the rail was just me trying to think of something that might help her instill "good habits" of ascending/descending stairs.
Click to expand...

But who actually uses hand rails as an adult unless you have balance issues? I can't remember the last time I used a hand rail.
 
EdFred said:
But who actually uses hand rails as an adult unless you have balance issues? I can't remember the last time I used a hand rail.
Click to expand...

Socks on hardwood floors. Daughter #1 learned that one the hard way at age 35.
 
Zip tie a 2x2 to the existing balusters at the desired height, provide a pair of gloves for the slivers; $20 and 20 minutes; done.
Enjoy fixing the simplest problem she will ever present you in her life.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Lol, yup. Our Golden (Hank) got used as a pillow for watching tv, and sometimes as a footstool for getting up onto the couch. He has never even given a growl or been the least bit aggressive toward either of the kids. They truly are the best family dogs. If he gets tired of being messed with, he just moves to a different area of the room. Always watchful and loves being near the family. Sheds like a son-of-a-gun though!
Click to expand...

Mine was "Chandelle" only pilots understood the name.
 
Arnold said:
Socks on hardwood floors. Daughter #1 learned that one the hard way at age 35.
Click to expand...

Barefoot, or house slippers for me on hardwood, or tile, or carpet, or...
 
Arnold said:
Thanks for narrowing that down.;)
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:D

After taking a tumble on hardwood stairs when I was 7 and had temporary paralysis, I make sure my feet are always grippy.
 
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