| Important information for parents of young children. |
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| Here at La Grange du Moulin, we have striven to provide a family friendly environment and you have no doubt read already about everything we offer to provide a fun and relaxing place to stay for all the family. However, we do not profess to have properties specifically designed to accomodate young children. We have done what we are able to avoid obvious hazards but also we have to accomodate the needs of all our guests, those without children as well. No property could be completely free of hazard but you should be aware of them prior to booking. |
| 1, SPIRAL STAIRCASES In five of our cottages we have cast iron, open tread spiral staircases. Any staircase is potentially hazourdous, but these are obviously by their nature very steep with triangular shaped steps. We can provide stairgates or barriers for all of our staircases, however in some cottages a stairgate will only fit as it is designed when used across the bedroom doorway. At the base and top where it is not possible to fit a stairgate as it is designed the stairgate can be used as a barrier by securely attaching it to the staircase using an elastic cord . Papillon has a wooden open tread staircase which is also steep. |
| 2, GARDEN The main garden is enclosed by a wall and gates, the lane is very quiet ie only our neighbours usually drive down it and the rest of our property is surrounded by open fields. Your toddler is prevented from running directly into the road to chase a ball but it is your responsibility as their guardian to ensure they are suitably supervised at all times and are not given time to wander off or allowed to climb the small fence onto the field. It is the responsibility of all adults on the property to ensure the gates are closed correctly immediately after use. The rear terraces and parking track are not enclosed. It is possible to leave your front and back doors open and thus allow a child to 'escape' given time if unsupervised. This rear area to the cottages backs onto open fields so is not an immediate danger but we do need to emphasise that you are responsible for your own children. |
| 3, DRIVEWAY Infront of the cottages there is a gravel driveway (between the cottages and garden) Vehicule passage is restricted to loading / unloading of luggage and full shopping loads or a sleeping child. As a driver you must be fully aware of the presence of young children and move your car accordingly. As a parent you must be aware when a car is present. |
| 4, SWIMMING POOL Our swimming pool is fully enclosed with one access gate which is self closing and has a child proof latch. The enclosure conforms to the current french regulations for preventing a child younger than 5 yrs old from accessing the pool area alone. You must make older children who are able to open the gate by themselves fully aware of the dangers of a swimming pool and express upon them never open the gate for a younger child and never enter the pool area without an adult. For extra security we also have an alarm system on the pool which sounds if a child should accidentally fall in. There are certain times that this alarm is not active eg when it is resetting itself after the pool has been used (a period of about 5 mins whilst the water settles) and parents should be extra vigilant at these times if they are around the pool with their children. The pool is unsupervised and you are responsible for your own and your childrens safety when using the pool. |
| 5, TILED FLOORS and STEPS These are obviously hard, if you drop something it will break, if you fall, it will hurt. They become very slippy when wet, so don't allow children to run in from the pool and mop up spills immediately. Do not use external plastic garden chairs inside as they will slip. Some of the cottages have occasional steps (1 or 2), on entering the cottage or at the rear. |
| 6, WINDOWS Due to the old nature of the propety and its previous use as farm buildings some windows are very low. All our low windows have been fitted with window locks or chains to prevent them from being opened fully. All other windows are at the regulation height. In Ruche, Horloge and Peche all the windows have security chains. |