EDIT: Thanks for all the answers, I think they have given me a good idea what to do!
Hi there,
Just landed in Japan last week and loving it so far. Staying in temporary accomodation until I find full time accomodation. My wife and two kids (baby and toddler) will join me then.
Had some viewings yesterday, and I noticed that quite a few places have balconies (which I think is great), but there doesn’t seem to be any locks or anything on them (just a handle or two mid way up). I’d be very worried about my kids, as I have no doubt my toddler would be obsessed with going in and out and he would have no problem doing so. I’d be even more worried as the examples I saw yesterday had balcony doors in every bedroom.
I asked the agent is there any way of locking the doors for child safety, or anything one could buy to make them more safe, but he didn’t seem to think so. (I’m from a country where balconies are rare, so I’m quite ignorant on the matter!)
Surely there has to be some sort of way of child proofing balcony doors? Any advice would be gratefully received!
6 comments
Dowel rod in the track for the sliding door should work.
There are child locks you can buy. Search Amazon for balcony child lock or something like that. The ¥100 shop also has them
We blocked one door off with a desk that allowed only grown-up hands to reach the lever. In the other room we put in a baby barrier that you squeeze into the gap with springs and rubber knobs keeping it place. It would’ve been loud enough to alert us if little grubby hands had tried to Shawshank it on that end. Our balcony had an insanely high banister though so we knew kiddo wouldn’t get far even if she got that far, so YMMV. You can certainly block one of the doors off with a rod in its rail, you wouldn’t want to do that with both doors though because you also want to open one for fresh air on occasion. Since you’re not allowed to drill holes in rentals, necessity becomes the mother of invention. You’ll figure it out.
There are ,ocks on Amazon. But usually the handle has tiny lock. Not too difficult for 2 year old to learn or even break if old. You really have to watch your toddlers all the time but add child lock just in case like.
The only issue we had with 3 kids was with our middle child. When he was still a toddler, my wife was hanging laundry on the balcony to dry and the door was open. He ran over, shut the door, and locked my wife out on the balcony…. And then went into his room to play. She couldn’t get him to open the door and had to wait on the balcony for someone that she could shout to and hope that they would get the building manager and alert him to her problem. Eventually she was able to get someone to do just that and he came into our place to unlock/open the door, but she was trapped there for over an hour.
I should add that occasionally our son would come out of his room to grab something before going back into his room to play, so she knew he was ok.
Yes, I use locks similar to [these](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Seisakusho-Shimari-Closing-Auxiliary-Mounting/dp/B0091G036K/ref=sr_1_38?keywords=%E5%BC%95%E3%81%8D%E6%88%B8+%E9%8C%A0&qid=1662202146&sr=8-38) for our windows. They attach to the tops of the door well out of the child’s reach. These are just push locks but I’ve seen ones that have actual keys to open.