Mastering down the stairs

[FNDandme]

Anyone got any hints - tips - advice on how to get DD (22 months old) to navigate going down the stairs? She can manage fine going up by crawling but my brain is throwing a total blank on how to get her to go down 🫠 so we’re still carrying her down ’late’ walker at 20 months and have stair gate at top.

Sit on her bum and shuffle? Pretty sure that's what mine did.

My 17 month old goes down backwards, so he knows to turn around and climb down that way. Do you take her to soft play? It’s a good place for them to learn to go up and down there.

I’d still have a stair gate up at the top until you left though, especially for night time when not in a cot anymore.

We always made ours come down on their bums, just as my parents made me.

I walked at 20 months too and my brother taught me to sit down on the step and then move my feet down to the next step down and them move my bottom down to the next step down. So shufffle down on my bottom. It worked well That hard part going downstairs is leaning forward to look down because toddlers' heads are so heavy and if they lean forward them may tip over. The sitting down resolves this.

Mine would slide/shuffle down on their tummy, feet first.

Walk her down holding her hand? Let her go down on her bum? How does she naturally try to do it?

Mine walked closer to 30 months and is now 34 months. She is still crawling up the stairs and we bum shuffle down but always with me there as I’m afraid she will fall (stairs are quite steep). We are trying to practice walking up and down but she’s still a way off being able to walk down. Does your child have hypotonia or hypermobility?

It is becoming a bit if a problem when we are out as stairs can be too dirty for crawling/bum shuffling but she’s getting too heavy for me to carry.

i spent an hour or so teaching all mine. Stay with them. Let them crawl up the stairs and then physically turn them so they are facing the stairs feet down and show them how to come down backwards. Like you’d come down a ladder. Do it lots of times with them and then they’ll be much safer and confident doing it themselves

Thank you everyone for your hints and tips, she’s been checked by physio & chiropractor as we were getting concerned about the no walking which didn’t show anything of note.

I’ll pass the hints & tips to DH as I have a physical disability due to pregnancy and can’t get down on the floor very easily 💖