Letting your child go down the stairs...

What age???
I am so nervous. We have a wide flight of stairs and I can tell that she really wont be able to do this yet she is 2. I would have "thought" 2 was a good age but she really cant handle them. The babysitter has a split so its alot less steps but she has a hard surface at the end of each 5 steps...that scares me too! Anyone have any ideas of how to train a 2 yr old to get down the stairs? or should mommy continue carrying her until shes 10...LOL

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

My DD is 21 mos. and has been going up and down stairs for at least 2-3 mos now. We have a pretty long staircase too--about 10 steps. She mostly crawls down, but recently started trying to go down like a big girl--walking down forward holding on to the bannister!!

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

I think around 3 is a better age, Noah has always gone up and down on his own, but with one of us (kwim) but we don't close our stairgate anymore and he can go up and down as he pleases. At 2 I wouldn't have let him go up and down on his very own.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

my daughter is 16 months old and has been doing it for awhile, i showed her and she good at it.never fell once

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Emma is 22 months and has been doing this since around 15 or 16 months. We have no handrails either and she does pretty good.


ETA, my house is like your babysitters with 2 sets of 5 stairs or so with hardwood and tile. I always say, they can't learn to do something if they aren't given the opportunity, so I would practice with her

Message edited 2/16/2009 4:34:07 PM.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Ryan just turned 3 and has fully mastered the steps. I no longer have to walk up and down with him, he can do it all on his own.

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Logan is 21 months and while he can go up fine, down is a whole different story.

I don't see him being ready to do that by himself for a while.

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Jaidy has been going up and down the stairs since she was 16 months. My house is a split so we have so many stairs I wanted her to learn right away.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Bry just turned 25 months and he holds my hand and the banister going down.
He's not ready to go on his own.
Today, we were out and he bumped his head climbing UP the stairs, so, yeah, he'll be holding my hand for a bit longer.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Mads is 20 months and goes up and down alone (but with me either holding her hand or standing right below her. She refuses to go down backwards- she *bumps* down on her tush while holding the slats in the railing.

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Ds has been walking down the stairs since 16 months....Of course I was with him at that time, but around 20 months I let him walk down by himself.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

I got a banister that hands under the regular one made by Kidco so they can hold on to that one.

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DD goes down all stairs by herself walking down and holding.

DS is starting to get the jist of walking down but will crawl all the way down safely.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

DS is 21 mos and has been going up on own since a year but only over the last 2-3 mos has he been going down by himself. That said I never let him go down without myself or DH in front of him. He fell down a few stairs when he was younger (he was fine, knock on wood) and I am scared he will slip as he(DS) has decided that he will only walk down them holding the banister and won't crawl down them.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Ali has been going up and down the stairs for a long time, but usually assisted.

Only up until recently, I will let her do it on her own where I am at the bottom or the top of the stairs (not holding her hand)

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

As soon as DS started trying to climb up the stairs I showed him how to go up and down. He walks up the stairs and knows how to walk down the stairs holding on, but prefers to slide down on his belly b/c it's faster. He is 22 mo. now but I can't even remember when he started. He was VERY young.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Hannah has been going up and down by herself for a few months now. I still have the gate closed because of Jack and I don't want her roaming all over the house. Also I still feel like I need to watch her and be there in case she loses her footing.

I HAD to let her have more independence though because I can't carry 2 kids up and down the stairs.

eta: I also have a split with 5 stairs and ceramic tiles on the middle level. Before Jack was born I would let her walk holding the railing and holding my hand. We continued this for a few months after he was born and now she won't let me hold her hand anymore "MOMMY I DO IT!"

Message edited 2/16/2009 8:44:05 PM.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

DD is 15 months and sometimes she tries to hold the railing and sometimes she almost takes a nose dive. I have tried to show her but she just doesn't get it yet.

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Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

Clover is 16 months and has independently been doing stairs for about 2 months. Some are steeper than others it's funny to see her overcompensate for smaller steps. I still stand behind her for particular sets of stairs though because of this reason.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

DS is 2 1/2 and does the stairs all by himself by holding on.

Re: Letting your child go down the stairs...

I let her go, but I am always in front of her because I'm scared, you just never know.