When do you stop climbing the stairs with your toddler?

[Imeg]

We have a normal carpeted staircase (not spiral/narrow etc) and just wondered whether other people climb up the stairs with/behind their 2 year olds in case they fall? My feeling is that mine is now steady enough that he's ok on his own, but just wondered what everyone else does?

[Shelduck]

DS1 was 2yo. But I wouldn't have been very far away - more a case that I didn't feel that I needed to be completely on him - I could let him go downstairs in front of me, or felt it was fine if I took my eyes off him for a bit. But very much a case of following your gut instinct.

[skankingpiglet]

My DD is 19mo and I've been letting her go up alone for a month or so. She's been going up them with me behind her since she was 9mo though and is a very good climber. She started going down, again with me below her, at 10mo but she is still no where near ready to go it alone. She's fine if it's just her but has a tendency to try and carry things down with her and it makes her terribly unbalanced. She's also noticeably wary of coming down and just doesn't have the same confidence in herself as when going up. I think coming down alone is still months off for her.

[vvviola]

DD1 was almost 4 It was only when I was heavily pregnant with DD2 that I stopped.

Admittedly, I had reasons - DD1 had managed to fall down 3 steps ages about 18 months, knocked out a tooth and lay not moving on the floor of, conveniently, a doctor's surgery for the longest 3 seconds of my life. Couple that with our rented house having steep steps and a stone floor in the hall, made me teeny bit over protective.

DD2 (different house by then) was about 2 and a half when she wasn't demanding to be carried because she didn't like the feel of the stairs carpet

[ceeveebee]

My twins were around 4 before I let them go on stairs without me. Feel a bit overprotective now after reading the other replies!

[winchester1]

Dc1 basically he stopped wanting us there at around 2,yrs (exactly) and her was stable so left him.too it. But dc2 is only 16 months younger and now stair climbing too so we are back behind them both.

[museumum]

If I'm doing bath time on my own I go up to run the bath first and let him come ip himself to join me. I can hear him as he always shuts the bottom gate behind himself.
Up seems pretty safe. It's down I worry about.

[trilbydoll]

Going up is fine as dd still tends to scramble. But i go down in front of her, she carefully walks down holding the rail. So it's only really bedtime that I go up and she follows as any other occasion we are going to be coming back down again! 2y8m.

[Imeg]

Thank you - I also feel that mine is not ready to go down alone but I don't feel like I'm being irresponsible not always following him up.

[whatsoever]

I've been letting mine go up since he was 2. He's 3.4 now and we still have a gate at the top though. He can undo it but it's more to stop him rolling all the way down as he gets giddy and runs about upstairs between rooms/On the landing. He's pretty sensible at actually walking up and down.

[LBOCS2]

About 2.5. Stairs are the 'thing' which put my heart in my mouth, but DD used to think it was a hilarious game when I followed her down them and tried to race down, which was obviously even less safe! I just had to go and sit on my bed and not watch until she was at the bottom - my nerves couldn't take it!