2 year old climbing stairs

[bcblondie]

Hey guys. So DS just turned 2 and climbs the stairs very well. It's rare that he ever goes down them but can do that correctly as well, facing the steps. It's rare that he ever climbs them without us. If I hear him I go running. But at what age do you stop running to follow behind them? Of course I'd never forgive myself if he got hurt, (or worse, I always fear the worst), when I could have so easily been right there.

At what age did you start to trust that they could do it themselves? DS sometimes has toys in his hands, and although he's never fallen, the toys make me especially nervous, of course.

[Everrgreen]

My ds will be 2 in January and I have been letting him do stairs on his own for probably 2 months now (starting around 21 months, I think?).  Maybe that is horribly neglectful of me, but he is very cautious on them and always holds onto the railing.  He tends to be cautious about things in general.  And I just started to trust him after months of watching him do it on his own without any falls (sort of, he fell once at age 19 months, but we were at a vacation house and the stairs were steep and twisty - but carpeted thankfully!  And he wasn't hurt).

[treeoflife3]

We don't have stairs but we are visiting family for two months and they do have stairs to the basement.  There is a door so we can close them off to her (21 months old) but when we need to go downstairs, we don't watch her closely anymore when she follows.  She is very good at the stairs and although I don't want her to have free reign over them, I have no doubts that she would be no less safe than me on the stairs.

[AllyRae]

Yes, this.  DD has never fallen down the stairs, will be 2 in January, and have been going up and down stairs herself for a few months now.  We only shut the gate if she's running around (and therefore not being careful around the stairs) or if the dog is running since he has a tendency to run down the stairs and not realize anyone else is there.

Originally Posted by Gillian28 

My ds will be 2 in January and I have been letting him do stairs on his own for probably 2 months now (starting around 21 months, I think?).  Maybe that is horribly neglectful of me, but he is very cautious on them and always holds onto the railing.  He tends to be cautious about things in general.  And I just started to trust him after months of watching him do it on his own without any falls (sort of, he fell once at age 19 months, but we were at a vacation house and the stairs were steep and twisty - but carpeted thankfully!  And he wasn't hurt).

[just_lily]

It was after age 2 in our house.  She is 2.5 now so it has probably only been in the last few months. 

But I think it really depends on the kid.  In our case, I had a fearless child who refused to go backwards and just wanted to walk off the top step.  She is also on the smaller side, so for a long time her legs just weren't long enough to navigate the stairs standing up and going forwards.  Oh, and our steps are tile.  So I held her hand for a long time. 

In comparison I have a daycare kid who is 18mo and always goes down on his belly so I let him do the stairs himself while I am right beside him.  So I don't have an arbitrary age.

[alana1980]

My daughter is 15 months and she roams freely throughout the house.  She heads into the basement to the playroom and upstairs to the bedrooms on her own.  I would have never been this lax with my first, but she is my third.  My first fell down the stairs when he was 10 months old.  It was terrifying for all of us.  He did not know how do turn around and go down because I always had the stairs gated off.  With #2 and #3 I let them use the stairs and by 10 months they both knew how to go up and to turn around and go backwards down the stairs.

I've been comfortable with her going up and down on her own now for the last couple months.

[DahliaRW]

My daughter is 17 months and does great on stairs.  I hear her go up and down them all the time.  I don't worry about it at all.

[tabrizia]

Erm 15ish months maybe with DD? I think it was closer to 18ish months with DS before I felt comfortable without following him on the stairs.  Of course the 3 times he fell down the stairs I was right there, so I didn't really help being there.  By 2 it won't even cross my mind as a concern.

[colsxjack]

Our DD is 17months. We are right there when she is on the stairs. She is fantastic at climbing them, but no matter how hard we have tried to get her to crawl down backwards, she refuses to go down any way other than walking forward. I/we do not trust she can do this safely yet. So we let her go up, and then hold her hand and let her walk down.

[bcblondie]

Ok. Thanks everyone! By the sound of things, you guys would be pretty comfortable at 2, if they do it well. That helps a lot.

Do all of your kids climb just with hands on the next steps? Or do some of them hold railings? We have no railings (don't ask me why) but it's ok because I'm more comfortable with him leaning forward and holding the next steps anyways.

[ElliesMomma]

you *really* should get a railing installed. that is a real safety hazard. your child is not going to climb on hands and knees for much longer and it is vital that you teach him to hold onto the railing once you start letting him go up and down that way.

my kids both were "early" on the stairs. we have a very steep staircase of wooden stairs. my daughter has falled down them before, when she was a toddler. it was horrifying. i was right there at the top next to her, and could not quite grab her when she started falling. luckily, she is very athletic and "knew" just how to log roll down and landed perfectly on her outstretched hands, protecting her face.

she was early going up the stairs, under a year. her brother was also. he is now 15 months and while i don't allow free roam (we have a fairly large house and i like to know where he is!) i do tolerate him going up alone, but i always remind him about going "the right way" and his sister, who is now 4 years old, i enourage to stay a few steps below him when he is coming downstairs if i can't be there myself, just as a precaution to break his fall if that were to happen.

she, as a 4 year old, and also as a 3 year old or whenever she started walking down the stairs, and any children who come over to play are *required* to hold onto the railing going downstairs. as an adult, i hold onto it too.

let me say it one more time and i'll shut up: get that railing installed pronto!!

[bcblondie]

K I'll look into that. The one wall is weird though, the bottom half is half an inch further out than the top half. It might half to be custom made. The stairs between the second and 3rd floor are normal though adn really should have a railing. Not just for william, but for us.

Our cats like to try to trip us too, which is just great when you're doing stairs.

[MJB]

I took the gate at the top down around 10-12 mos. and never had one at the bottom of the stairs.