How to Child Proof a Landing Platform at the Top of Stairs: Practical Tips for Renters and Homeowners
I was folding a load of socks on the bedroom couch last month when I heard the familiar scuff of my 14-month-old Milo’s sneakers on the hardwood hallway. I looked up just in time to see him wrap his chubby hands around the edge of that stupid platform at the top of our stairs, haul himself to standing, and swing one foot out over the empty stairwell. I dropped the socks and ran, my heart in my throat, and got to him before he could lean any further.
Our 1950s rental has this weird 2-foot-wide, 12-inch-deep built-in platform that sticks out from the landing right over the top step. The realtor said it was for a wall-mounted phone back when people kept their phones by the front stairs. It’s just the right height for a toddler to pull up on, and it juts out 12 inches past our full-size baby gate that blocks the stair opening. I’d walked past it a hundred times and never thought twice about it until that day.
I googled “child proof top of stairs” and every result was just how to install a gate across the stair opening. None of them talked about this random ledge or platform sticking out past the gate, the exact hazard I was dealing with. I texted my sister who has two older kids, she said she’d never heard of such a thing, then my neighbor Carrie came over with a glass of iced tea and stared at it for five minutes. “Who builds that?” she said. Then we started brainstorming.
First thing we tried: piling all of Milo’s stuffed animals in a big bin on top of it to block access. He just climbed the bin. Tried moving our heavy oak entry bench in front of it. He pulled himself up the bench leg and was on the platform before I could turn around. I thought about covering it with a bunch of those foam edge guards, but that just softens the edge if they fall, it doesn’t keep them from falling off in the first place. A carpenter friend offered to build a wooden railing around it for us, but we’re renting, and I can’t drill holes in the original woodwork—our landlord would kill me. So that was out.
Then I went to the local hardware store, wandered the baby safety aisle for 20 minutes, and pieced this together step by step. First, I cleared everything off the platform. I’d had a small pothos and my Bluetooth speaker sitting up there, the two things Milo was obsessed with getting his hands on. I moved them to a shelf above the coat closet, where he can’t reach. That was the first change I made, and it surprised me how much that helped on its own. Kids go for spaces that have stuff they want, not empty, boring ones. For a whole day after I cleared it, he didn’t even go near it. Then he remembered it was there, of course, because toddlers love nothing more than high, slightly dangerous spots. They’re working on all that gross motor stuff, figuring out how to pull up, how to balance, how to climb. A platform that’s exactly their height is a perfect little climbing challenge, whether you want it to be or not.
Next, I found a narrow 27-inch pressure-mounted baby gate. They make these for small hallway openings and between room doors, they’re super cheap, no drilling needed. The platform sits between the main hallway wall and the newel post of the stair railing, so there’s just enough space to fit the gate right across the access from the hallway. I tightened it up so it doesn’t wiggle, and that blocks him from getting onto the platform at all most days. But I wanted a second barrier, just in case he figured out how to rattle it loose or squeeze around it, which he did once when I didn’t tighten it enough after vacuuming.
For the front edge that overhangs the stairs, I got an 18-inch tall clear acrylic safety rail, the kind people use for balcony ledges. It sticks on with heavy-duty 3M adhesive, no drilling required. I wiped the edge of the platform down with rubbing alcohol, peeled the backing, pressed it on, and let it set for 24 hours before I let Milo near it. I pulled on it as hard as I could the next day, and it didn’t move an inch. It’s clear, so you barely notice it, and it leaves no marks when you take it down, which is perfect for renters like me.
If you don’t have two solid sides to mount a gate across, like if your platform sticks out from a wall in an open landing, there’s another easy option I tested before I got the gate. I found a big canvas storage bin that was exactly the size of the platform, filled it with all our out-of-season throw blankets, and set it right on top. It’s heavy enough that Milo can’t tip it over, and it fills the entire platform so there’s no space for him to stand or climb. It looked fine, and it worked great, I just switched to the gate because I wanted to be able to use the platform for occasional storage eventually.
It’s not a perfect solution. I still pause and check when Milo heads down the hallway, because nothing ever is with toddlers. Last week he squeezed between the gate and the wall when I’d loosened it to clean, and I found him sitting on the platform banging a toy car against the acrylic rail, grinning like he’d just climbed Mount Everest. No harm done, I just tightened the gate and moved on. It’s cheap, it’s easy to take down when we move or when Milo outgrows the constant climbing phase, and it doesn’t require any fancy tools or permanent changes. For now, that’s enough. It stopped me from holding my breath every time he’s out of my sight, and that’s all I really needed right now.
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