Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with falls

Taming a treacherous staircase

Bardolph — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:25:36 -0800

Our new house has a steep steep staircase. What are some ways I can make this feature safer for my family, and especially for our soon-to-be-toddling baby? So the new house we purchased has what I'd call a very steep hardwood staircase-- steep enough to have caused several wobbly near-misses in the move-in period alone. I feel especially nervous climbing or descending when I'm carrying my four-month-old, since she's getting wriggly enough that I usually need to use both arms to hold her, leaving no way to hang onto the banister. It's less that the individual steps are high, than that they're shallow-- not enough room for the whole shoe to fit on each one, so you have to watch the balls of your feet for placement all the time.

I'm wondering what can be done about this, since we'll have to navigate this stair 10+ times/day for the next few years, eventually with a still heavier and wrigglier baby, and then with a toddler/small child who may not always follow our instructions to take the steps carefully, slowly and backwards. At a minimum, I'll be putting a large and cushy carpet over the tile floor currently at the bottom of the stairs. But other options I've considered so far are:

1. Do nothing, since maybe we'll get used to the stair mechanics after a few weeks of climbing them?

2. Carpet the whole thing, with lots of padding-- would probably make falls likelier due to slipperiness of carpet, but they might be less damaging when they occurred.

3. Skip the carpet, coat the treads in that sandpapery nonslip stuff-- would make falls less likely, but not less dangerous when they occurred.

4. Save up for some sort of big remodel-- perhaps changing to higher-but-wider steps? Or adding a right-angled section and a landing? I don't know how expensive, or how feasible this sort of thing might be.

I'd love to hear any additional suggestions, or advice on executing any of the options above (particularly #4). Thanks!

Travel

teabag — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:07:20 -0800

TravelFilter: 17-hour layover in Frankfurt, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Kruger, Victoria Falls: Any and all travel advice. Some SLR photo advice for this kind of trip as well. This trip has been a long time in the making, 2 years of planning roughly, but we're finally departing this week. As a sanity check, I'd like the hive mind to weigh in and make sure I don't forget to pack my tooth brush. I would appreciate whatever experience you have to offer, thanks!

I've read previous AskMeFi questions, summarized here for convenience. Please fill in any blanks. We're pretty much on a set tour through Africa, however we'll have a couple nights to our selves, as well as the daytime between safaris. This is rather open-ended, but I do have some specific questions:

-I was really worried about Frankfurt, but I believe the Mefi questions below cover most of what I was worried about. How much will being an English-only speaking family prevent us from going places? Any locals want to recommend a place for lunch?

-I have an old SLR with a bunch of lenses (note the lack of D)... which I don't think is overkill for this kind of trip. However the tripod I bought has raised some eyebrows. I'm not a photo nut by any stretch, but I feel a simple tripod helps me take better shots. Am I crazy? We're limited by the weight we can bring on safari. What kind of film should I be bringing (speed, etc)? Again, I really am an amateur.

-How much cash is necessary in Victoria Falls? I'm well aware of the state of the local currency. Any personal experiences would be helpful.

-YANMD, but any advice on medication, over-the-counter products you wish you had, etc. would be very helpful.

-VirtualLeash: I have international roaming for my Blackberry (ugh) and my little netbook for checking in with the office periodically. Any advice related to working on the road in these places would be appreciated.

-Wine: my dad is a wine nut, specifically a collector of French and California wines. Any South African wine advice would also be appreciated.

-Clothing: it's winter in South Africa, most literature has us dressing for the summer. We're packing some warm clothes, however local advice on weather would be helpful.

Frankfurt
-What's to do in Frankfurt - Very helpful
-London or Frankfurt for the weekend
-Must see things in Frankfurt, Desden, and Berlin
-Cheap sleep near the Frankfurt airport

Cape Town
-South Africa travel advice needed
-Traveling to South Africa
-Travel in South Africa

Victoria Falls
-What's it like in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

I'm a reverse snowbird!

phytage — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:56:05 -0800

Moving to New Hampshire from Arizona next week! We are driving across to OK, then up to Chicago and through Ontario from Detroit. From there I just don't know what route to take... ... What are some fantastic things to see, and what route would you go after you left Niagara Falls? I have never driven past Niagara before. I want to see anything from balls of twine to giant glacial rocks! My boyfriend has not traveled and I want to expose him to as many mind blowing and wacky things as possible! I've looked at RoadsideAmerica.com... but what am I missing?

Death by fat stunt falls minibike attempt

destro — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:54:06 -0800

What happened to the Mccrary twin (of the Guinness world's fattest twins who ride the bikes together) in the Niagara Falls mini-bike accident? He died there, but I'm unable to find anything about how, what or why. Was he trying to jump the falls in a minibike?

Unique reception venue in Sioux Falls?

bristolcat — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 06:59:43 -0800

Please help us find a unique but elegant wedding reception venue in Sioux Falls, SD! My fiancé and I are planning a Spring 2008 wedding. We have met with much frustration. At the risk of sounding like a Bridezilla, I'm having trouble picking a site that fits my "dream wedding." My fiancé seems content with wherever, but I am adverse to the thought of a reception in a tent, church basement or hotel meeting room.

The kicker is our capacity needs. He has a HUGE family and is inviting EVERYONE, so we need room for at least 240 people. This blew away my dream of getting married in the Old Courthouse Museum, which has a capacity of 160.

Can mefites suggest anything just as unique and elegant? Sioux Falls isn't a very big town and it's making this choice frustrating. Personal experience or pictures/websites is a huge plus.

Thank you!!!!

You've hit it on the head...

acoutu — Sun, 16 Jul 2006 22:27:04 -0800

Toddler capabilities. What are 14- to 18-months old capable of doing with regard to physical safety? I probably haven't worded the question above very well, so I will attempt to explain what I'm getting at.

I'm the parent of a 17-month-old and I seem to be at odds with some of the other parents of children my child's age. I am not generally concerned with how other people parent and I respect their right to choose. However, I have been surprised by some of the decisions made by other parents and the statements they have made in support of those decisions. For example, some of the parents I know allow their 15- to 17-month-old children to go on stairs, 3 to 5 foot high open-sided playground equipment designed for children over 5, park benches, short concrete walls, gym benches, slides, and other structures without assistance. The parents will sometimes be 5 to 10 feet away or, in the case of playground equipment, will be several arms' lengths away.

I know that there are many parenting styles and that it's appropriate to parent according to your child's needs. I'm not a perfect parent and I don't expect that of other people. However, some other people have approached me about one child's safety and I became a little more concerned, too, after that child fell down stairs, off playground equipment, etc.

Are children in this age rage mentally capable of being safe in these situations? It seems to me that playground equipment designed for children over 5 is a bit of a giveaway. And I would have thought people would think the equipment for children under 5 means that it is not automatically safe for any child under that age. However, other parents say that falling and navigating equipment is a natural part of learning and that holding your child's hand or going up on the equipment with them equates to hovering and will have lifelong repercussions in terms of the child's ability to take risks. They talk about their child's ability to assess danger and mitigate risks.

(Note that I'm not worried about kids walking along and tripping over their own feet on the ground. I guess I'm interested in climbing and structures.)

Are there any studies or sites that indicate what *most* children in this age range can safely manage? Are children this age generally in possession of cognitive abilities that allow them to understand and manage these kinds of danger? I'd be interested in learning what injury happens to the child's brain when they fall down stairs or off a bench, but I am probably veering off topic. I suppose I'm generally interested in learning about safety guidelines for this age group, along with any studies that point to how that appropriateness was determined.

I'm not meaning this as an attack on other parents or parenting styles. I just would like to know about guidelines and actual readiness for these kinds of risks. Everything in life is risk, of course!