Filed under: Family Camping, Family Weekend Trips, Grandparent Hints and Tips, Holidays on the Road, Kid-Friendly Trips, Kid-Friendly Trips, RV Modifications, RVing with Grand Kids, Safety on the Road, Taking Along the Family Pet, Traveling Tips, Uncategorized

Stairs: The Hidden Danger In RVs

The day after Thanksgiving, the full day of eating whatever we want; we set out for a fun weekend of camping at the beach.

The beach camp spot my aunt reserved this year was at Leo Carrillo State Beach, a scenic stretch of canyon leading to gorgeous coastline, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean.  You access it from the Pacific Coast Highway, just south of where we live.  My dear aunt was only one day late in reserving our typical spot at Carpinteria State Beach and, lo and behold, there were no spots left!  So we settled for second best: Leo Carrillo, where I grew up camping and loving every second of it.

Leo Carrillo is just off a narrow, windy stretch of highway along the coast with no bike lane, so bicycling with our kids in tow to the campsite was out of the question (although we did enjoy riding around the campground and over to the beach side)!

We packed up our bikes and set off with the RV and a handful of tents for two nights at Leo Carrillo State Beach with extended family.

The days were sunny and bright and the nights were chilly and clear.  At night, the moon overhead lit up our campsite while we huddled around the campfire, sharing stories, jokes, and songs together.  It was the best of times…until my little two year old nephew took a spill down the steps of my Aunt’s RV.

We all knew to keep a close eye on the little ones when they were going into and coming out of the RV, but this happened while he was playing at the top of the stairs on our first night.  I was in the kitchen of the RV, his mom and Grandpa were in the living area.  No one could have prevented him from falling.  What they needed to have in place was some kind of baby-proofing item or cover for that area so that the babies couldn’t fall down the stairs.

Unfortunately the outer door of the RV was open when it happened, so the poor guy not only fell down the three steep steps, he then pushed the screen door open with his body and landed on the outside step.  He got banged up a bit and got a knot on his forehead, but thank God,besides that, he is fine.

It is a good lesson for any and all RVers who have kids, grand kids, nephews and nieces.  Baby proof, or at the very least, cover that steep stairwell so the babies won’t fall down it.  Some RVs come with covers (power, hinged, slide-out, drop-in, etc) for their stairwells, but those that don’t, definitely need something there for safety reasons.

There are also the hidden advantages to having a stairwell cover:

• Impress your friends and family with a power stair cover
• Keep pets from falling down the stairs while playing with their toys and balls
• As an added bonus, they act as a safeguard for preventing someone from making a unexpected entry into your RV (especially important while camping in remote areas)

 

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