Stairs (question for those with older toddlers)

[Mary Jo]

at what age (child's age!) did you feel safe letting LO tackle the stairs - both ways - entirely alone and unsupervised, and feel confident that they wouldn't come a cropper?

 

[jojo2605]

Sam is only 19 months but I am starting to feel confident walking down the stairs and watching him come down while I watch him from the bottom. I'll also go upstairs and watch Sam come up after me rather than having to be behind him. He can't 'walk' up or down though he has an amputation of his right leg so he crawls up and down and seems quite sturdy doing it. If he was actually trying to walk up and down I'd be a lot more nervous about it!

 

[jakey1]

DS can climb the stairs very confidently and I now walk upstairs first and he follows behind me. I'm a bit more wary of him coming down on his own at the moment though. We were upstairs earlier this week and I had to run downstairs to answer the phone. DS is very safe in the nursery and I thought I had shut the gate at the top of the stairs. However, just as I was about to go back upstairs, I was greeted by him on the bottom step so I obviously hadn't shut the gate and I can only assume he came down on his bum. Not something I would intentionally leave him to do on his own atm though.

 

[Pink1981]

i think Sophie was 2 n a half x

 

[polaris]

Thomas is 17 months and can go up and down stairs (crawling) independently. I rarely use the stairgates now. He is a very careful child though and very rarely falls. I do keep an eye on him going up and down stairs but I don't feel like I have to be behind him.

 

[Lulu]

Euan is fairly confident on stairs at 22 months both going up - he'll either try to walk, holding on to the bannister or crawl, and as far going down - well, at the moment his preferred method is sliding down from the top feet first on his tummy!

There is generally always one of us with him when he's on the stairs still but he is getting better every day. TBH I'm beginning to feel like the stairgates are getting in his way

 

[sabby52]

I really cant remember, he has always been so confident on the stairs and we never used a stair gate. I know it was well before 21 months because he was potty trained at 21 months so needed to be able to go and down by himself, but I can remember he was doing it a while before then.

 

[onemoreplease]

Myiah has been going up and down the stairs confidently for about 2 months now, i have 3yr old and 5 yr old also so there was no stopping her and she just copies everything they do!

 

[caggimedicine]

Harry is 26 months old now and I still don't feel as though we're at the stage where i'd allow him to go up and down the stairs unsupervised.

 

[porkypig]

my lo is almost 21 months and no way is he at the stage where he can go up and down by himself. He can crawl confidently up the stairs but ive never let him go down them, i just carry him down. I think hes started to want to try and walk up the stairs but how do you teach the to go down? Im too scared xx

 

[Nibblenic]

Mines 2 and i'll let her go up alone although I do still watch from the bottom or top however I could stop this I suppose, maybe.

I still carry her down as my stairs are incredibly steep. Its practially a ladder lol. So itll be a long while before she come down on her own unsupervised. Even my BFF wouldnt let her 3 1/2 year old waalk down my stairs and made her come down on her bum.

 

[Mary Jo]

thanks ladies.

Im interested - those of you who let LO go up and down totally unsupervised, do they walk up or crawl up? do you have a handrail they can reach?

our current situation is that Adam crawls/walks up no problem, though he doesn't have free access to the stairs. we don't have a handrail, so when he walks he just touches the wall. he used to go down backwards but now I think he thinks it's like a giant slide, and wants to go down on his bum, but not carefully, he's somewhat kamikaze.

we may be buying a small cottage that has narrow steep stairs and no handrail, and I was just wondering how long we'll need the stair gates up. I'm thinking quite some time before he's completely safe. he doesn't seem to be aware of danger/in any way cautious.

 

[Blah11]

ive let amelie got up by herself for a while (6m?) and she crawls up them but still help her come down as she cant reach our banister and she obv walks down.

I dont see the point in 'watching' them come down or up anyway as by the time you see them fall its too late and you wouldnt get to them.

 

[Blah11]

oh and we've never had stairgates. She always waits for me or OH before she tries to come down

 

[sam2eb]

My son can manage the stairs well on his own, up and down. But i still always make sure there is someone following him, just incase!

 

[charliebear]

AJ will go up himself with us behind him. Coming down he always holds one of our hands. Our stairs are quite steep and living in a 1st floor flat he doesn't have to handle them that often so its not a worry

 

[Mary Jo]

oh and we've never had stairgates. She always waits for me or OH before she tries to come down

oh, I *wish* Adam just steps straight off the edge, no fear. he's going to be shooting down on his tummy before too long.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Definitely not unsupervised now, although she is perfectly capable. However if I can manage to fall down the stairs at age 29 I think Ruby might too! So I'm always there to catch her if she falls.

 

[isil]

I let my son do it about 17/18 months. He's never had an accident.

 

[isil]

my son has been walking up (as opposed to crawling) since he was around 14 months. Until fairly recently though I've insisted that he come down backwards. He still does it on outside/unfamiliar stairs, it's just like a safety thing that he's come to always use! He comes down the stairs in our house (and the majority of other stairs) just walking and holding onto the bannister though.