How do I teach 14 month old to go up and down the stairs on their own?

[LittleMissNorty]

Hi - experiences please....

DD is 14 months old and only seems to go up and down the stairs when she's tired (going to/from bed) being carried.

I'm pg so need to get her to do it independently on her hands/knees but she flatly refuses.....she just sits down and screams....she's not a climber at all - not even onto the sofa.

Its so fustrating....before long I won't be able to bend down, pick her up and walk down the stairs so I really need her to learn.

Any ideas?

TIA

i would say dont. at that age they are very uncoordinated and she could easily fall. my 14 month loves nothing more than too crawl up the stiars she just started trying one day but i always crawl after her to catch her if she slips. and i dont think you would be able to get on your hands and knees very easily if you are pg. so crawling upstairs might be difficult.

cant dh/dp bring her up and down for you? and she can nap downstairs during the day instead of her cot?

Fair enough. Thanks. I would always be behind her to catch/help...she's just such a lump to carry these days and from reading on MN, I thought all 14 month old children were going up and down stairs except mine .

She naps on a mat at nursery so will have to improvise something at home as well.

Erm don't, unless you want a trip to A&E, i still cannot trust my 2 year old ds (who is very advanced at climbing, walking, running etc).

Not worth the risk, hold her hand while she walks up herself and teach her to go down on her bum while holding your hand, this is what i still do with ds.

Pucca - half the problem is, is that as soon as I hold her hand - even to walk along a flat surface, she just goes to ground and screams or hangs off my legs "up up up" . She toddles around quite nicely but I could honestly leave the stair gate wide open (don't worry I don't ) and she wouldn't go near the stairs.....

Perhaps I'm being a bit previous....it just that she's just getting pretty heavy for me now.

I have taught my DS 14mth as I am pregnant and quite frankly he is a lump. I would however not leave him to do it on his own. I just persevered with saying turn on to your tummy now slide down tootsies first. This is what we have always done about getting off the sofa, bed etc. It took several weeks but he has got it now and has actually changed it to suit him he holds the bannister rails and walks down was a bit hairy the first few times watching him but I always go down first backwards with a hand free to catch him if he slips.

DS at 15 months goes up quite well when he feels like it but I wouldn't dream of trying to get him down. I'm also 17 weeks pg and he's gigantic for his age. I'm back at work during the day and he goes to CM so I normally just cart him down once a day on my own, dp's there for most of the rest and would prefer I don't do too much lifting because of pregnancy - I had to have some invasive testing a few weeks ago and said for a few days this was something I needed not to do, as avoiding bending and lifting was recommended, but dp still prefers I don't do too much of it.

For daytime naps when we're not at work, we tend to keep him in buggy downstairs but a mat downstairs would work as well. I know this doesn't work for every child, but he naps better if he has at least one of us in sight than on his own - he opens his eyes and sees us there and then goes back to sleep again, quite often. I've told CM this and she has the travelcot downstairs for him, I've seen him fast asleep while the other kids play or whatever.

God, I wish my DS (15 mos) was as sensible as your DD! Any chance he gets he's climbing stairs, sofas, chairs, I spend my life running after him to make sure he doesn't topple. Every door/gate has to be closed or he'll do a runner.

But sorry, I don't mean to be flippant - can understand your predicament. I'm not sure what you can do except keep encouraging her. Can you try putting her on the first step and kind of pushing her up a bit? It may be just a confidence thing with her - once she's done it once she may love it and want to do it every time.

Btw my DS was climbing up stairs way before he could come down them, I think going down is much harder. And then it took a few weeks of saying 'turn round' etc before he did it vaguely safely - and of course I'm behind him all the way!

Thanks ladies

Think its definately a confidence thing with her - persistence is obviously required

I will try naps downstairs, but bet I don't get the 2-3 hours headspace naps she normally has upstairs. Even nursery can only get her down for an hour max.

My 14 month old climbs the stairs whilst I stand behind her to catch her if she falls.

I'm teaching her to go down the stairs backwards, so that if she does fall she just slides on her tummy, rather than goes head over heels, and of course I stand behind her just in case.

It takes a lot of patience though, sometimes it takes us 10 mins to get downstairs!

We still need to try and stop ds getting down from things headfirst, and persuade him to use his feet!

my dd can only go up. she is like FattipuffsandThinnifers' ds. as soon as a door is open she is off. like a little rocket.

could you hold her hands a let her walk up? its still you leaning down but surely would be more comfy than carrying all of her weight?

I would take a deep breath, hold her hand, and let her slowly figure it out herself. We live in a second floor flat with no lift so my dd (17 months) became confident on the stairs quite early. I never rush her, if I am in a hurry I will carry her down.

Thanks for all your advice....will have to practice when she isn't tired....and try to increase her confidence....will be persistent