Making windows safe for children - help!

SparkyG

Hope someone can help me with this one. I was baby sitting for my small grandchildren last night, and was horrified to find that all the upstairs casement windows (double glazed units by Anglian) open right out with no stops. There are no small top windows to open, so the large windows have to be used for ventilation.

When my son and daughter in law returned home I told them of my concerns, and son said that the only safety catch he could find on the market involved drilling into the frame and invalidating the warranty on the windows. He promised to get on to Anglian first thing on Monday morning.

Has anyone else tackled this problem? I was thinking of maybe some kind of safety grill on the inside of the windows as an alternative to safety catches?

Help needed urgently please. I couldn't sleep last night because I was so worried :eek:

bonnie_2

i've got sash windows which are even worse. I think your worrying over nothing, how long have they been in, have you only just noticed. if they put safety grills on it is a fire risk i.e you wouldnt be able to get out same with safety catches.

BernadetteN

You can get screw in window locks from Ikea for just a few quid and they go into wood or PVC. I have them on all my upstairs windows. I'm a childminder and the ofsted inspector rather liked my Ikea window locks. I'd rather invalidate a warranty than lose a young child out of a window.

Spendless

When my sash windows were replaced I got told because mine opened at the bottom I had to replace with ones that also opened at the bottom. Only after they were fitted did I see windows that opened both top and bottom, too late unfortunately. Anyway how old are the children, are they old enough to be aware that climbing messing around near open windows is dangerous. My 6 year old is , my 3 year old isn't. Is there any furniture near to the windows eg bed underneath or anything that could be dragged like a chair.

culpepper

how about putting up horizontally slatted blinds ? You can anchor them at the bottom but they still open to see out.Or if you have the kind of window handles like we have (a sort of upsidedown L shape ) you could tie the handles together across the windows while the little'uns are in your house.

Claudie

I would have been up all night with you Sparky, I am big time safety paranoid...drives my DH mad actually :O)

And I have to agree with Bernadette...I'd rather a safe child anyday. And no matter how old a child is, and how responsible you think a child is, a child is still a child imo and can get into all sorts of trouble, even unintentionally - that is how accidents happen. Accident prevention can only be a good thing surely?

We bought a set of locks from Mothercare that sound similar to those Ikea locks. Our windows can still open but only a few inches - an adult would be able to override the catch very quickly but a child wouldn't. We did all of our upstairs windows for under £10.

Jays

gizmoleeds wrote:

Kids are smart enough not to fall out of windows.

Try telling that to Eric Clapton.

SparkyG

BernadetteN wrote:

I'd rather invalidate a warranty than lose a young child out of a window.

My thoughts exactly! If Anglian don't want to know I shall certainly nag my son to fit locks regardless of the warranty.

Thanks for the info about Ikea

SparkyG

culpepper wrote:

how about putting up horizontally slatted blinds ? You can anchor them at the bottom but they still open to see out.Or if you have the kind of window handles like we have (a sort of upsidedown L shape ) you could tie the handles together across the windows while the little'uns are in your house.

Thanks for the reply. I probably didn't make it clear in my original post that it is THEIR house, ie. where the children live, that have the dodgy windows.

Venetian blinds fixed at the bottom are a good idea.

SparkyG

Jays wrote:

Try telling that to Eric Clapton.

Well said :T

SparkyG

Spendless wrote:

. Anyway how old are the children, are they old enough to be aware that climbing messing around near open windows is dangerous. My 6 year old is , my 3 year old isn't. Is there any furniture near to the windows eg bed underneath or anything that could be dragged like a chair.

They are 2 1/2 and 5 months, so yes, it is a problem. There are plenty of things lying around that could be dragged to a window in seconds, eg toy box, nappy changing box, little chair etc. I think the situation is horrendous and an accident waitng to happen , and shall nag my son and DIL relentlessly to make the windows safe.