Modern windows with a single-handle operation are easy to use. This is convenient, because the window can be quickly opened or tilted for ventilation. However, this ease of operation also has its downside when it comes to child safety. Opening the window is just as easy for children as it is for adults. Yet children, particularly between the ages of two and four, when they are already physically able to open a window, are not able to assess the danger to themselves correctly. In addition, their centre of gravity is higher due to their proportionally heavier head and upper body, so children very easily lose their balance when they lean curiously over a window or balcony parapet. Accidents in the home therefore pose a significant danger to young children, and falls from windows account for a considerable proportion of these accidents.
Technical aids for the child safety of windows
So that children cannot open a window without the help of an adult, at FENSTERNORM we offer two different systems from the companies Hoppe and Schüco.
First there is the self-locking handle with a button. As soon as the handle is turned to the closed position, the button engages and the handle can only be turned again by pressing the button at the same time. This is beyond the motor skills of children in the at-risk age group, so that the window is securely locked against children. At FENSTERNORM, the childproof handles are offered in white for eight euros, in brown for fifteen and in silver or bronze for twenty-nine euros.
The second childproof option for the window handle is the lockable handle with a key. When the window is closed, you can lock the handle with a key and then remove it and keep it in a safe place. We supply these window handles in white or brown for eighteen euros, and in silver or bronze for twenty-nine euros. The prices are net prices.
Both systems have the advantage that they additionally act as burglary protection and also work when the windows are tilted. The childproof handles can be fitted easily and quickly not only to windows, but also to balcony or terrace doors, which can be no less dangerous for children. Simply lift the cap beneath the handle and turn it through 90 degrees. Undo the two screws underneath and pull off the handle. Fit the new handle and secure it again with the two screws. All in all this takes less than two minutes, you cannot do anything wrong and you take an important step towards child safety in your home.
Additional precautions to protect children from falling out of windows
The best child safety device is of no use if children can enter a room that is being ventilated. So while ventilating, make sure that the children are not in the room and that the door is securely locked against children. If the children are already able to operate door handles, there is no way around locking the door and removing the key.
It is also important to make the windows harder for the children to reach. Children like to climb, and furniture placed directly in front of the window invites them to use it as a climbing frame to reach the window handle. Children can also act very purposefully and push a light piece of furniture in front of the window if they have set their mind on going exploring there. So do not leave children alone in rooms where there is such furniture, for example chairs, boxes, side or plant tables and the like.
If you have fitted lockable window handles, it is of no use if you leave the removed key lying on the window sill or hang it on a nail on the window frame so that it is always within reach for you. Children have a very keen sense of observation and they learn through imitation. Their curiosity will drive them to try out the key if they can reach it. So carry the key with you or keep it in a place that is itself childproof once again.
