KiddieRail is an entirely new solution to the age-old issue of stair safety for children. It is commonly agreed amongst parents that stairs are difficult to childproof; in fact, according to a recent survey by Jackson Woodturners asking where in the home was hardest to childproof, 20% said stairs, the second most popular response behind sharp edges.

To show how dissimilar it is to everything else on the market, we have compared KiddieRail to the current most popularly – used solution for childproofing staircases: stairgates.

Are stairgates the best way to childproof your stairs?

Stairgates are the most similar product to KiddieRail in terms of their overall purpose, which is stopping accidents on the stairs. However, they are a different approach to KiddieRail. Stairgates are not in place to assist children whilst using the stairs, they are there to stop them altogether. This stops your child from gaining any knowledge and experience using the stairs.

KiddieRail differs from this in that by teaching your child to use the stairs the way an adult would, they learn early on the correct way to use a handrail to support themselves, and therefore it becomes part of their procedural memory, which is instinctual and unconscious. After they have learnt, they will just naturally reach for the handrail the way you do, and they will be much safer for it.

Furthermore, by having a stairgate, you are involuntarily setting your child a challenge. Toddlers love few things more than being mischievous and doing things they know they shouldn’t. It’s a natural part of growing up, and eventually they will begin to figure out how to hop it, or else they could put too much pressure on it, leading to a nasty bump! With KiddieRail, they have something to hold onto. This means they can use the stairs calmly and in a much more risk-free way.

However, this blog post is to explain why you should be using KiddieRail; it’s not a post explaining why you shouldn’t use a stairgate. For best results, both would be ideal, especially when the child is younger. However, if you want your child to learn early on the right way to use the stairs both with and without you – and therefore use the stairs safely even when out of your sight – then KiddieRail is the only option for your child.