Ideas to keep your toddlers safe inside the house.
For households with small children, child safety must be one of the parents’ primary concerns. Supervision is the best way to ensure this, but this is not always possible for busy parents. In times when a child cannot be directly supervised, child-proofing your home by fencing is a great option.
8 fencing ideas to make your home more child friendly
1. Barn Wood: Fuss-Free and Functional
Barn wood fencing is excellent if you want to keep it simple yet highly efficient. This stylish fencing type will fit well with modern farmhouse or shabby chic interiors that seek the sturdiness and safety that Barnwood fencing offers. Attached to the wall with durable brackets and hinges with a metal latch to lock it securely in place, this type of interior fencing is difficult for children to climb over.
2. Pallet Gate: The Easy DIY Option
With the rise in homemade projects, pallet crafts have made a comeback. Like the barn wood fencing, the pallet gate also has the rustic charm that goes well with certain décors, it is inexpensive and relatively easy to make.
When you choose to go the DIY route, make sure that you don’t make gaps bigger than 10 centimetres in order to avoid limb entanglement incidents since youngsters can be fond of sticking their hands and feet in any gaps they find. It is best practice, however, to keep the spaces between woods no more than 6 centimetres.
3. Half Door Gate: Unifying the Look of the Interiors
The beauty with half door gates is that you can tie the look seamlessly into your home décor. For this, you can even repurpose old doors. Simply cut a regular door into 2 or 3 segments. Then, use a portion and fashion it into a gate by attaching it to the wall and installing locks.
This simple, no-nonsense fencing idea retains your home’s look as the gate looks like a part of your home. The aesthetic appeal, coupled with the ability to provide dependable security, makes the half door gate a winner.
4. Plexiglass Fencing: For the Minimalist Homemakers
Plexiglass is known to be lightweight whilst withstanding forces that could easily break other glass types. Popular in minimalist interiors for a clean, modern, and unobstructed look, plexiglass is also used in child-safety fencing.
Plexiglass baby fencing of the correct thickness and heavy-duty frame can be very safe for children, but it is not 100% shatter or shock proof, so you might want to consider other fencing options for very active and adventurous toddlers.
5. Fabric Baby Gates: A Temporary Solution
This fencing idea is good as a temporary baby fencing solution that you can bring anywhere. It is useful when staying in hotels or when visiting other homes. Fabric baby gates can be made using a thick fabric attached to a wooden frame.
This is best used at the bottom of the stairs to keep the children from climbing the stairs. Fabric gates may give in to a child’s weight and may cause a falling accident when used at the top of the stairs. It is also a suitable door barrier to keep young ones within the safe confines of the room.
6. Plywood Baby Fencing: Back to Basics
Time-tested and durable, plywood baby fencing costs less than metal fencing and is easier to install. With metal reinforcement, this fencing can last for years until your child outgrows its use.
Plywood fencing offers aesthetic flexibility as you can easily laminate or paint on it. This type of fencing can blend quite well with the rest of your interiors. You can update the fencing along with the others should you decide to renew your home décor.
7. Sliding Baby Gates: Another Amazing Non-Permanent Solution
Slide on, slide off. This functionality allows ease of movement for the adults who often find baby gates also as adult gates. Sliding baby gates keep kids out whilst conveniently enabling the adults to move from room to room.
This is especially applicable for areas of moderate to high traffic. As with any other non-permanent fencing options, sliding baby gates are best at the bottom rather than the top of the stairs.
8. Metal Baby Fencing: Sturdy and Effective
The robust steel, wrought iron, or galvanised metal baby fencing offers outstanding security to even the most energetic of children. The metal barrier is popular child-proofing fencing used in stairs, doorways, yards, and around the pool.
When going for metal fencing, keep the lines clean and avoid sharp edges and designs that may cause finger entanglement. Vertical slats will prevent your little one from climbing up the fence. Make sure that the slats are not too big so your child’s limbs cannot easily pass through.
Child-Proof Fencing Checklist for Parents
Having a safety fence installed is an excellent way to keep your ever-curious small ones within a safe space. But don’t just go and start building one yet. There are some essential considerations when installing fencing designed for children’s safety. Here is a checklist worth going over to make certain that the fencing itself is safe for your little one:
- Climbing: Your child should not be able to climb the fence. Go for vertical slats and avoid horizontal or diagonal lines that children can use as support for climbing up.
- Climbing aids: Do not place any object near the fencing that children can use as an anchor for climbing. This can be a piece of furniture, a plant pot, an appliance, and others.
- Quality materials: See to it that you use only good quality materials for baby fencing, including the brackets and hinges. There are cheap materials that may work, though not essentially safe for your child. Do not scrimp on quality.
- Child-proofing locks: Ensure that the fencing locks are child-proof as well. There are many types of child-safety locks and latches in the market that are great for this application.
- Pinch Points and gaps: Check that the fencing design will not cause finger or limb entanglement. Go for narrower, vertical slats and steer clear of intricate metal fencing designs.
- Measure twice, check strength: What is the dimension needed to fit the fence? Are the walls sturdy enough to support the fencing? Consider the conditions and limitations of the space where you plan to install the fencing.
Keep Your Home Safe with Child-Proofing Fencing Solutions
There is indeed no substitute for parental supervision to keep your child away from danger, but the safety strategy of introducing child-proofing amenities at home is always a welcome idea and will put your mind at ease. Baby fencings work wonderfully in keeping your little ones safe.
Child-friendly fences are essential in any property where children’s safety and security are concerned. We can help you with this and with many other fence solutions. Contact Fencing Specialist today and let us discuss your fencing options or call us on 02 4023 5416 – we are based in Toronto, NSW.