Cots, beds and furniture near windows: the blind cord risk people forget
Most advice about blind cords is about the cord. Some of the most important advice is about the furniture underneath it: a cot, bed or sofa pushed against a window turns a cord that was out of reach into one that is not.
What RoSPA says
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' blind cord guidance tells parents to position furniture away from windows and to position a child's cot or bed away from the window. When travelling, it says to move any cots or beds away from window blinds and any objects a child could climb on. The same page notes that nine children died from blind cord strangulation between April 2019 and March 2022, and that there were at least 33 UK deaths in the preceding 20 years.
Why furniture matters
A fitted height only protects a child who is standing on the floor. A cot mattress, a bed, a windowsill-height radiator cover or a toy box adds the height of that object to the child's reach, and a child who can climb will use it. A sleeping child is also unsupervised for long stretches, which is exactly when a loop is most dangerous.
A room-by-room check
- Nursery or bedroom: move the cot or bed to a wall without a window, or at least well clear of the blind's cord or chain.
- Living room: check sofas, armchairs, side tables and toy storage under the window. Anything a child can stand on counts.
- Holiday lets and grandparents' houses: it is easy to forget that you have changed the room's layout for a visitor. Walk the room at a child's climbing height before the first nap.
Cleats and winders: where the height comes from
RoSPA says cords should be secured around cleats in a figure of eight, with the cleat installed at least 1.5 metres from the ground. That figure is the same reference height used in the European standard for internal blinds, covered in our country-by-country guide. A blind chain winder does the same job for a chain: it takes the slack up and keeps it on the wall above that line. The height still has to be measured from the top of any furniture beneath it, not from the floor — see where to fit a winder.
Older blinds
RoSPA also points out that changes to standards since 2014 have made new blinds safer, so a blind that predates them is more likely to lack built-in safety devices. If you are unsure of a blind's age, treat its cord as unprotected and secure it.