At what age did you let your child use the stairs on their own?

[laadedaa]

Just for context, my child is 3 years and 2 months old. We still have baby gates on our town house, so 4 gates in total.
At the moment, we NEVER let him use the stairs alone. If walking upstairs, I always walk behind him or hold his hand and walk alongside him. If he's walking downstairs I will go in front and walk backwards so I can watch him, or hold his hand and walk beside him. When out and about I will always hold his hand.

I'm just wondering at what age I should be able to trust him to do it alone and let him have free range of the house?

He does have a slight visual impairment affecting depth perception.

Took the stairway eoff when dc2 was just past 2yo but he's been going up and down quite effectively since well before then. However our stairs have a half landing and u-turn so he would only fall down 6steps at a time and they are reasonable size, so not a steep narrow stair. Stairgate was mostly to stop him pulling all the clothes out of the drawers upstairs after about 18mo. He's 2.6yo now and perfectly able (probably a bit too athletic actually).

My DC1 was a real climber who loved nothing more than going up and down stairs. Like you we were in a townhouse with three floors and two rooms on each floor, so lots of stairs! I spent a few tedious days literally doing nothing but watching him crawl up and down stairs - not touching or helping him, but staying very close and ready to grab him if necessary. By the end of this time he was no longer mis judging so we removed the baby gates. As a result he has been safe on stairs since under a year old. Of course harder for your DS due to sight impairment.

My dd has a physical disability we lived in a flat till she was 3.5. When we moved into this house I taught her to crawl up, bump down and she wasn't allowed to go on her own. Over the years she has gained confidence and can walk up/down without supervision we have handrails on both sides. I was comfortable letting her try unsupervised long before DH was so she used to go alone when it was just us but was supervised when her dad was home. I think she was probably about 5/6.

The rules we have are she must hold the banister and if she is carrying anything she has to bump.

I still prefer to hold her hand for kerbs and uneven surfaces and she's nearly 10.

See if he will go down backwards on hands and knees if he feels unsteady? And definitely stop helping him up - walk behind him and he can use his hands to help him if he feels like he's going forwards too fast.

Or make it a game and slide down on his bottom. And shout BUMP or something as his bum hits each step.

But he won't learn if you don't let him so he may be more capable than you think.

My sons has been up and down on his own since about 2 and a half. Now he's 3 years and 9 months and he will go up to the toilet, use it, wipe and flush and then come back down again..And he goes to get certain toys as well. We have a stair gate at the top of the stair a) to trap him upstairs at bedtime as he often wants to go down again and b) ready for when he works out how to open his bedroom door and toddle along if he wakes up. His room is near the top of the stairs and I do worry a little about him wandering about half asleep.

DD is 18 months, and I'll leave the door to the stairs open and let her climb up thinking she's on her own. I'd say I've done that since she was 14 months or so. I'd never let her be unsupervised with the top stairgate open, though, and I'd never leave her long enough to get more than 3/4 steps up without following her. I just think it is good for her to feel she's allowed. I'm not sure when I'd stop supervising, though! Really makes me nervous to think about.

DD1 was probably about 18 months. DD2... no idea. We never had stair gates for her so as soon as she was able, basically.
I do find it a bit strange that you don’t allow a 3.2 year old to walk up/down the stairs alone. Does he not go to nursery/on play dates etc? DD2 started pre school at 2 which is on 2 levels and the children were expected to walk up/down them alone safely. Also at friends houses she goes up to play in their bedrooms etc.

2ish but I know he is on the stairs iyswim I'm just not following him

I think you are the one who is in the position to judge when your little one is ready to go up and downstairs on their own.

Mine was under two but was not heavy and had been walking from 10 months. You say your child's motor schools are a little behind others of same age so obviously you know best. You're not being over protective, you're his mum.

He'll soon catch up though & probably outstrip his peers so be prepared for him to go zooming off on a motorbike at 4 ! :-)

DS1 (poor gross motor skills) about 2.5. DS2 about 18 months when we found him astride the upstairs stair gate and took them down pdq as falling downstairs seemed less bad than falling from the top of the stair gate and down the stairs.

A little voice from nearly 100 years ago - my uncle aged 18 months who apparently used to call out "Coming down back'ards!" before doing so.

DS is almost 2, we're just moving and I've got a wooden stairs gate on the top and bottom. They'll be there a while. He's competent at stairs but he's quick as fuck and I don't trust that he won't just run off the edge upstairs when he's messing about. They're steep, narrow and we've no bannister yet either.

Depends on the child and the type of stairs. Used to live in a maisonette with wide steps, that stopped halfway through and had a small landing. Now I've moved the stairs are steep and my daughter who is almost 5 fell down them, so they are now allowed without supervision.

From very early. They used to crawl up and I held their hands to walk down properly until they could, at somewhere between 1 and 2.

I’m reading this wondering if I’m lazy/neglectful... my 3.2 year old goes up to get herself dressed in the morning after breakfast, goes up to fetch her shoes, goes up to fetch my shoes if I ask her to, goes and gets books/toys, goes up to the toilet if fhere is someone in the downstairs one... I genuinely can’t imagine supervising her every time! I often don’t even know she’s gone up.

My DD was free roaming the house at 18 months as we took the stairgates down as she was climbing over then. DS by the time he was 2. However while they can free roam they rarely leave the room I’m in, they are supervised!

Do you have a habilitation worker who can support dc to go up and down? Or mark the stairs in some way to help with depth perception?

I guess about 20months freely.

I still follow mine now at 2 but we have very steep stairs and they're too high for her to walk up and down unsupported and she can't reach the rail.

NoSquirrel that poem brought a tear to my eye. I'll try and remember that when I'm cajoling DD while she's dawdling on the stairs

18-24 mths I think.

From about 18mo I think. We spent a lot of time at my DMs house and she never had stair gates so I figured that he'd be ok at home. I rejoiced the day I took the bloody things down.

My son is 2 and we still don't let him, but he was a slow walker, and I'm paranoid.

Mine is 3.3 and she sometimes now she uses the stairs on her own but usually I’m with her. She doesn’t roam around the house on her own - they’re only little still. Plus she’s had a few slips down them when distracted and they’re steep

We took the stairgates off when my daughter was two because she was confident and careful using the stairs. We let her roam freely and she is very sensible. She has slipped once on the last few steps and bit her lip which was upsetting but we have taught her to bump down on her bottom and not to carry toys up and down the stairs.

Ps I started by walking in front of her as she came down and teaching her to bump down on her bottom as she feels happier doing that. Likewise going up she does it on her knees which is fine