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How to stop kids from walking into door handles

64 Comments
By Steven Simonitch

Apparently Japanese kids can’t stop walking face-first into door handles because Japanese department store chain Tokyu Hands has begun selling a polystyrene safety grip that slides over your door handle to protect children from such collisions.

The best part? It’s called the Waffle Handle and nobody knows why.

We can’t help but think Tokyu Hands is trying to exploit the sometimes excessive concern a mother may have for her child. Not to say that a child’s safety deserves any less than the utmost attention; just, before purchasing the Waffle Handle, we’d like you to think about how many times as a child were you walking perfectly parallel to and so close to a wall that you, in a brief moment of distraction, rammed your forehead into the handle of a closed door?

If your answer is greater than or equal to “one,” you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you’re still set on buying a set of Waffle Handles for your home, they come in four different colors and slide on easily to fit most door handle types. The Waffle Handle is also useful for preventing static electricity and is supposedly a hit with the elderly as well.

The Waffle Handle costs 720 yen can be purchased at Tokyu Hands department stores or online from the Tokyu Hands Online Shop.

© RocketNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


64 Comments
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720 yen for ONE??! Screw that! Those cold patches you put on bumps are about 380 yen for a pack of 10!

6 ( +8 / -2 )

What a joke, unless the kid is walking along with its head rubbing on the door it is hardly likely to hit its head as in the picture.... Nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick

-3 ( +5 / -7 )

How to stop kids from walking into door handles

I may be being a little too radical here, but how about letting them do it once, and have them learn to be careful?

23 ( +24 / -2 )

Try taking away the cell phone and Gameboy, then maybe they could try something like "watch where you're going" advice.

22 ( +21 / -1 )

As the name says its all just "waffle" as in the term c""p!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

What a cute picture! It's clear to see how painful it is walking into metal door handles, but with the Waffle Handle on it's a pleasure! And as an added bonus, your hair will bounce back into top form!

Regardless of the 'adult' author's cynicism, I think it is a good idea.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Just the same scare-mongering as the street signs "look out for chikans!" or the "suspicious luggage" and "heightened alert" messages on the station in oh-so-safe Japan.

Scared Japanese forks out the dough, it's good for business.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Well technically that won't stop them from walking into door handles.. If anything, it may actually promote it - especially when they eventually come out with a hello kitty version.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

This doesn't stop the kids from walking into the handles! It's kind of reducing the pain after they walk into them. Change of headline, please.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

huh, that handle was to help kids and elderly to open the door easier. Whether they redesigned the package for a new purpose because sales were low is just a ploy.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I never knew that this was a common problem...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

the only thing this gimmick and article about it are good for is a laugh.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I don't know about you or your kids but I used to do this all the time according to my parents. They said my sister didn't have that problem, but they took out all the door knobs because me LOL.

0 ( +2 / -1 )

Is it April fools day today? Surely this is a joke?

-3 ( +1 / -5 )

Cute kid and a nice thumbs up.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

i think they need to invest more on brain vitamins? or how about lesser cheaper one like "learn from mistake".. just like Probie-san said, doing it once or twice they can learn the dangers of those things... because not all the place the child will visit has this "waffle handle"

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Thomas Anderson

I never knew that this was a common problem...

Could it be that a couple of centuries of evolution in other countries where door handles has been common place for a long time, has weeded out this particular kind of klutz?

I keep banging my head on the low door frames here in Japan, so it is obvious that other forms of klutzery has not been affected.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I tore one of my teddys on a door handle.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

LMAO! Haha I think this gizmo will clearly have kids butting their heads on door knobs even more than before!

Look how fun it becomes LOL!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I was impressed with a program (I think it Was Discovery or Animal Planet) that showed how keepers at an animal sanctuary designed various tricks to feed the animals: hiding the food, placing it in difficult to reach spots, etc. There have been some studies that clearly showed that by just giving them the food, the animals quickly become dumb, lazy and incapable of survival on their one (pampered pets anyone?). I think the same is truth in our overly protective society, where kids are handicapped by paranoid parents who try to protect them as much as possible, incapacitating them for survival on their own in society

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Japanese kids spend excessive time indoors. So guess where all the rough play happens. I spent most of my time outdoors and had acres of grass and forest to play in. Besides, we had round door knobs only at home, not flat straight strips of metal sticking out. Yet, I am pretty sure I managed to bash my head on a round door knob a could times.

Yes indeed, there is more than one way for kid to bash his head, face and eyes on a door handle. You don't have to put your shoulder to the wall and walk several meters that way. You can crouch under it one then suddenly stand up as kids do when playing. You can be pushed into it. You can climb on something and jump down into it. You can be fooling with the door moving with it from behind to close it, keep going and boom, door handle. Kids do silly things. Strips of metal get them injured.

Do you need to pay 720 yen for this? No. Get some foam and some colored duct tape. Do a decent job and you won't notice the difference.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If it's that big of a problem in Japan, (which I never heard of), the door knob companies should change thier design.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I guess, with the number of children on the decline, you can't be over protective enough.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

way to create a product to solve a problem that doesn't exist

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

I have 2 young boys (7 & 3) in a house here, so I'm in the targeted demographic. Despite all our efforts to play outside as much as possible there are times (like days that end in "Y") when they are playing rough (sumo matches, etc) and bang & bump into things, occasionally with bruises and bumps as a result. I'd never buy anything like this but good job on the company - I can imagine the profit margin must be awesome, probably churn them out for 50 yen a pop.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

so where can i get the polystyrene wallpaper?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ultradork - Similar situation here. My 4 year old doesn't comprehend that walking somewhere will only take a tiny bit longer than running everywhere in the apartment at full speed. As a result she bumps into tables, door handles (now at about nose height), and even once tripped and wrecked a sliding door. Once the immediate pain is over she seems to remember that running is a bad idea .... oh wait, no, she doesn't.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I say let them continue learning the hard way then. Sorry.

It's probably because said child is walking around with their face glued to their iPhone, DS, or PSP. Take it out of their hands and teach them to LOOK where they're walking. How hard is that?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

LOL the pic cracked me up.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I guess it doesn't matter if the kid gets hit by the door itself.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Was the "nobody knows why" a bad joke? The fact that it looks like a waffle might have to do with it.

Anyway, I'd forgotten how much I don't like the posters here.

Seriously, ever seen a kid run in a house before? Yes, kids run close to walls. Yes, kids run into doorknobs. This has nothing to do with fear mongering, this is a solution to a problem.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Sorry this is called growing up, once bitten, twice shy.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I guess it doesn't matter if the kid gets hit by the door itself.

My little brother, he passed through the door. He was a bit older than a toddler, much older, so the door suffered more than he. We couldn't stop laughing all day and we even forgot the parents would kill us. On the contrary, we rushed to them : "Hey come, see something funny...".

so where can i get the polystyrene wallpaper?

Konan Home Center. I put that in Winter. Great thermal isolation. And they have bits of moss like that, that would cost closer to 70 yen, for a dozen.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

These handle pads have been around for years and can be found in any department store's baby safety goods section alongside latches for cabinets and padding for table corners and cabinet edges. They retail for about 499 yen.

Or you can just wander down to the local Daiso 100 yen Shop and pick one up for . . . wait for it . . . 100 yen!

As for the waffle design, I'm with Pigumon. What's the big mystery about the product’s name? It does look like a waffle, both in texture and color. This article reads like the usual trying-so-very-hard-to-be-clever ex-pat mocking something in Japan, not because he possesses prescient insight, but rather because he is an ignorant jackass. To wit, a certain Steven Simonitch.

Anyone with small children mastering gross motor skills like walking and running knows that there are countless hazards around the house that can leave, at the bare minimum, nasty bruises, or at worst, put out an eye. The ubiquitous horizontal door handle can be found in residential structures throughout Japan and can be a genuine danger to active children.

And yes, my child at a year and a half still occasionally turns suddenly into objects that she’d have been better off avoiding.

If Mr. Simonitch truly believes this should be cause for shame for my child, then I believe I have a foot that is looking to plant itself deeply in his woefully clueless – and not-quite-clever-enough behind.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Apparently Japanese kids can’t stop walking face-first into door handles because Japanese department store chain Tokyu Hands has begun selling a polystyrene safety grip that slides over your door handle to protect children from such collisions.

Well I won't be buying the thing that causes it :P

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Not to get technical, but this is 'stopping a child from walking into a door handle' at all, it's merely lessening the impact of when he or she does, which in and of itself could go against the nature of the object in question. A good whack into a door handle once might teach a kid to avoid it better in the future. A pretty useless invention unless your door handle is dangerously shaped in the first place.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

we'd like you to think about how many times as a child were you walking perfectly parallel to and so close to a wall that you, in a brief moment of distraction, rammed your forehead into the handle of a closed door?

Not the handle but I do remember ramming into the glass door quite a few times.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Bubble wrap from any parcel sent to your abode, folded over, wrapped as needed, and an elastic band. Viola.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Laugh now but when the kids are grown up you can say we took every available measure to ensure your safety, including protection from door handle injury.

That kid, she's so darn cute. Good acting job. :)

0 ( +1 / -1 )

As my mother once said: "It's amazing that any of you children survived at all."

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Maybe it's the mother's fault and DOESN'T teach the kid to wait at a proper distance from the door HANDLE.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

wait, I'm confused.. Japanese youngins are walking into door handles BECAUSE Japanese department store chain Tokyu Hands has begun selling a polystyrene safety grip??

wtf?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

That is the cutest depiction of running into a door handle ever.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I'm sure most of the comments here come from people who don't have young kids running around their japanese apartments. As a parent of a 3.5 year old boy, I really worry about the door handles in our apartment, and at one time I had even wrapped some bubble wrap one handle that seemed particularly dangerous. I'm not so worried about him bashing his head on one, as that would be a good lesson learnt, but I am worried about it traumatically inserting itself into his eye socket. I for one think these things from Tokyu hands are a great idea, although 500% overpriced.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Either wrap the door handle with foam and tape for less than half the price, or just install the door the handles higher up on the door. Problem solved! ;)

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

We’d like you to think about how many times as a child were you walking perfectly parallel to and so close to a wall that you, in a brief moment of distraction, rammed your forehead into the handle of a closed door? If your answer is greater than or equal to “one,” you should be ashamed of yourself.

This comment is both condescending and shows a complete lack of insight. It's not when the door is closed, it's when the door is open. Lets take the example of the door in my apartment that leads from the living room into the hallway. This door stays open mostly to get air circulating through the rooms. It swings inwards into the hallway, so the sheer act of walking through the open doorway brings you in close proximity to the door handle. Now imagine an individual, or even a group of kids doing what kids do. Running, chasing each other, out of control, pushing and shoving, and generally enjoying themselves around the apartment. It doesn't take much to imagine a worst case scenario. And for me, worst case is a 7 inch long tapered door handle inserted into an eye socket.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

lol

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

WHAT THE HELL? lol! japangal

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Look Mommy, now it doesn't hurt to open the door with my head anymore!"

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I urgently need to stop walking into the door frame headers. Funnily, I didn't have this problem overseas, but I must have gotten dumber since moving to Japan. I'm not sure what the problem is, maybe they should be marked more clearly or padded with a header waffle?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Let's assume it is a problem (needs quite some imagination though) then here is the solution and it will cost no Yen whatsoever. Take out the handle, and put it back with the handle upwards. Easy to open the door with your elbow, small children don't run into the door handle anymore...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Saw the same things in Daiso, but they were marketed for the elderly (arthritis etc) Tokyu Hands is massively overpriced, Daiso often has the exact same things.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

How about raising the height of door handles, it's a problem so fix it rather than accessorizing it?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

WTH, so Japan has come from making great products, electronics, cars and now they are making door handle cushions, my, my how things have changed in Japan.

My daughter hit her head twice, after that, she quickly learned from experience to avoid from getting hit in the head, natural, instinctive far better and saved myself some cash of having to by such Kitsch!.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Apparently Japanese kids can't stop walking face-first into door handles because Japanese department store chain Tokyu Hands has begun selling a polystyrene safety grip that slides over your door handle to protect children from such collisions.

shouldn't the "because" be "so", or "therefore".. ? a bit of editing would have eliminated confusion, but i guess we get the drift of it.

put sponge onto door handle, so kids would still walk into door handles, but not as painful.. this may cost alot as im sure there are many doors in each house/aparto..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Love that cute picture! I could use with one though, sometimes the handles jutting out catches my arm or my clothing!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"Look Mommy, now it doesn't hurt to open the door with my head anymore!"

Okay, that was pretty funny.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If you got a problem with your kids always running into the door handle, then you should change to a door knob.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

That picture cracks me up.

I can crash into the door all i want now.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"How to stop kids from walking into door handles" -

Make it hurt so they will not do it again.

Seems this product does the opposite.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'd buy em. Who wants their kids to get hurt in any fashion? I don't. I see them as a great way to prevent eyes from getting poked and knots adorning foreheads. Some see them as stupid I see them as child proofing the home so I don't to spend time or money in the ER.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Apparently Japanese kids can't stop walking face-first into door handles"

Har!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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