When did you let them go up and down the stairs?

[MagicFingerGoesPop]

Our bottom stairgate is on its last legs. We have one at the top that is fine so DC can walk around safely upstairs.

But do we really need to replace the bottom one? Half of me says DC can go up and down safely, but the other half says that a fall down the stairs from the top as DC climbs up and plays there is just as bad from one step up onto the landing where we have the gate to stop falling down. Does that make sense? DC favourite game is to sit on the top but one step and open and close the gate. Major tantrums ensure should said child be removed!

at what age did you let them go up and down and play on the stairs?

About 12/13 months. DS has been a confident climber since he first started, though, and taught himself to get down safely backwards a month after learning to go upwards.

I used to watch him at first, but gradually lasped. He's fallen down the stairs three times, all while distracted supervised by DH or one of the grandparents.

Playing on the stairs is a no no here other than sitting on the bottom 2 steps. That wont change either.

DS is 22 months and is very confident going up the stairs on his own (although I am generally behind him) but coming down the stairs he isnt as confident with and he likes to hold a finger.

I don't remember, perhaps around 18 months old (mine was a late walker so, we waited a bit)

Hmmmmmmmm - in our current house i am very hesitant with DD as the stairs are quite steep and we have a tiled floor for her to land on...

She is nearlly 2 and goes down on her bum with me watching -

Just thought I would add DC isnt walking down the stairs, just crawling up and crawling backwards down (15 months)

I dont like the playing on the stairs either, but older dc get followed up as they are running up and down all day.

Can't remember specific ages, but as soon as they learnt to climb stairs I showed them how to turn round and come down backwards. We've never had a stairgate at the bottom so prob some time between 12-18 months (this is me tho - DH is prob still supervising our nearly 3yr old now...)

Playing on the stairs isn't allowed. We don't have a stairgate and DD2 has been going up since she could crawl, down safely backwards until she started walking, then she just stopped coming down altogether for a while. She's nearly 2 now and walks down safely. With DD1 we ONLY had a bottom one, never a top one as they're supposed to be less necessary.

dd is 23 months and we have just taken the stairgates off. I guess they've been left hanging open for a couple of months.

DC3 has been going up and down stairs for a good 6 months I think. So about 18 months ish. He has always been confident at this though and stead on his feet. Mind you he was climbing to top of TP climbing frame at 14 months.

He is 27 months now and walks up and down carrying things now. I never satnd and watch him or hover over him. He has also taken to going off and playing in his bedroom alone too.

DS was 7 months, he had started crawling and venturing around and i'd rather have him safely attempt the stairs than me not to be there, turning my back for a moment, and him falling, so I taught him how to climb up and down them. He is now 2.5 and is very confident on stairs, he has only ever fallen down them twice due to being reckless and jumping at the top of the stairs

both DCs went up and down the stairs themselves from quite young - - but it was always under supervision - my 18 mo nearly fell them down them today - I managed to grab him - so will be keeping the stairgates on for a while longer

I put pillows at the bottom at first just in case. We realised though that falling and hitting the stair gate at the bottom would be far more likely to injure DS than him hitting the ground at the bottom.

DS 18 months has been going up from about 9 months and down from about 12. He slides down on his tummy, feet first, making a loud bump bump bump noise! Playing is not allowed simply because he might not be concentrating and then fall. He rarely does it as there are more interesting games to play

I have stair gates to confine him to certain areas of the house (his bedroom, ours and the landing outside make a great playpen when I'm showering, ditto the living room when I'm cooking). And they were useful for keeping our old elderly cat out of mischief (not so our new one which is so small it can get between the bars)!

We never had a bottom one, just a top one so that the dc could run around upstairs without me worrying about them falling. Took the top one down I think when ds was nearly 2 - for dd it was more like 18 months. They had both learned by then to sit down on the landing and bump down the stairs.

Ds did actually fall down the entire flight of stairs when he was 13 months old. He had only started crawling two days before and I was completely unprepared. Obviously this was not ideal, but he was absolutely fine (although we both cried a lot), which might have made me a bit less worried when dd came along

DD is a bit reckless so at 2yo we still have a gate at the top. It's so she can wander around without us worrying too much, however she's really good coming down them. Our house is very small though so the stairs are temping for her, in a bigger house with more space, I probably wouldn't bother.

We still have a downstairs gate but only because it stops DD getting into lots of places inc litter tray and kitchen!

Playing on the stairs is definitely not allowed, however the sound of the thud thud thud of my nearly 2 year old DD bum shuffling down the stairs means it's time to get up out of bed and supervise my children.

DD is nearly 2, and is completely unsupervised now, for the last couple of months. For about 9 months before that she would go up and down supervised

We've only ever had a gate at the top. DD crawled up the stairs for the first time the day she turned 9mo. As she could go up, she quickly had to learn to come down again! It took a bit longer for her to learn how to turn around, reverse to the top of the stairs & get down that first step. She's now 22mo and walks up the stairs by herself but only walks down by herself under close supervision (ie an adult at the bottom reminding her to hold on to the bannister & when to swap to the other side of the stairs due to the weird bannisters we have). She still crawls up & down the steps in the garden which I encourage as they're steeper and are often slippery.

Mine has been allowed to go up the stairs without holding hands since 2, but supervised. Downstairs she has to hold hands. We only have a gate at the top now, because I trust her to follow that rule.

She's almost three. I'm completely over-protective, aren't I?

In my defence, when she was 4 months old she and I took a tumble down some rickety outdoor stairs, she flew out of my arms and sustained bilateral skull fractures which landed us in a paediatric hospital for a week. So I might be a little bit paranoid on this one.

DD (14 months) has been going upstairs while supervised since 9 months old she hasn't been allowed to go downstairs yet because she can't get the hang of going backwards. Maybe I need to try and teach her again.