What age to walk down stairs independently

[TeenAndTween]

DD2 is 10 and we are finally getting to see OT next week.
She still cannot walk down the stairs 'adult style' without using a bannister.

I can't find info on t'internet as to when this would 'normally' occur.

At what age could your child walk down the stairs alternating feet confidently without holding on to something?

Mee Ahh. You may have something there. DD1 does wear glasses, and they do tend to slide down her nose a bit.
But on the other hand, she can operate quite well without her glasses (they are quite mild).

If depth perception is part of a standard optician test then she'll have had it done.

misss The stairs is the most obvious thing, though probably because we have written off sports skills, and we have generally very low expectations due to DD1's poor motor skills. As a whole her motor skills are poor, one of the worst in the class (if not the worst) despite being a Sept birthday.

I am dyspraxic and still find stairs without a bannister a challenge at the age of 31. Have you considered this type of issue?

Id say between 4 and 6 depending on confidence of child.

Yup, dd who is a teeny weeny 6 has just happily demonstrated her ability to do alternate steps without holding on, coming down.

Anything to delay bathtime :)

Hope you get a quick referral and some sensible advice. Just a thought - may be worth posting also on the SN boards as some v knowledgeable people there.

Yes, the question is regarding to normal house stairs.

midnight Yes, dyspraxia has been considered, and I think still a possibility.
If DD2 is dyspraxic, then DD1 definitely is. DD1 age 15 is awaiting an assessment.

Thank you Jennifersrabbit DD.

So age 6 if not before

dd2 is 6 and can run up and down stairs alternate feet, no hands, has been able to for so long that I can't remember when, several years, I remember her doing it pre-school, so 3-4.

As a previous poster said though, I broke my ankle and after it had healed, after physio etc I couldn't walk down alternate steps, as I just didn't quite have enough flexibility in my ankle. I had to work really hard for several weeks to get enough stretch back in the ankle to do it. When I walked on the flat it was perfect, I only noticed it with coming down stairs.

I'm guessing dyspraxia as well. My ds is dyspraxic and his balance and coordination skills are way off that of others his age.

The ot will prob do a full assessment and that may be used to diagnose by a paediatrician. Our appts came an odd way round; d's' dyspraxia (or DCD, I'm still unsure of the difference tbh) was seen and diagnosed by the paed, subject to evidence from assessment and agreement from ot.

10 is old but a dcd/dyspraxic issue would explain it.

Ds had blood tests to rule out muscular dystrophy but that was because his muscle development and tone are abnormal.

2.5 and 3.5 here and both can do it - alternating feet, no hands. We never had stair gates, so they learned stairs pretty early.

DS2, aged 5, has been seeing an OT for a year now. He was premature and has sensory processing disorder which affects his balance and coordination.

Most children can do the adult walking downstairs without a banister at 4 and even earlier if they have good motor skills.

DS2 now goes down the stairs saying: I'm doing it like X (the OT) said, one foot then the other foot. He still holds the banister and even though he can do it, he has to think about it.

The stairs thing is something that comes up in his developmental paediatrician appointments too. They come down to meet us and watch him go up the stairs to see how he does it. It's also mentioned in the reports they write after our visits, so I always thought it was one of those things that show how a child is doing physically as compared to their peers.

The OT has made an enormous difference to DS2 and I hope you get some positive information from your meeting with them.

Ok, just remembered, I helped with reception class swimming. They have to go down a long flight of steps at the swimming pool.

They are told to go down holding the bannister, as it is quite a long flight and stone steps. Usually the kids happily walk down 2-3 steps, and the adult says HOLD THE BANNISTER and they sigh and move over and hold on. One or two find it a scary flight and cling to the bannister (and my hand)

swimming is summer term, so they would be mostly 5, some still 4. The ones who couldn't do it, and held the bannister were generally less physically co-ordinated than the others.

Alternating steps when going down stairs is a common part of the 4+ assessment at pushy London pre-preps. It helps them screen out kids with sn . See also using scissors correctly and name recognition.

There was a thread on here a while back where people were commenting that where the child lives makes a difference, ie if they have stairs in their home. I remember it as most adults can't manage my stairs with confidence, but we do have a banister!

DS1, 5.5 has just gone up and down, no hands, alternative feet.
DS2, 3.5, I'm fairly certain does 2 feet to the same step.

If you'd asked me, I'd have said both did the 2 feet thing. I was amazed by all the 3/4/5 answers so have just made DS1 do it.

I just asked DS 5yo to walk downstairs without telling him why and he did so alternating feet and without holding on no trouble.

I hope this somewhat unscientific stats-gathering is useful for helping you get the support /referrals you need for your DD

Thanks to all the responses so far (quite happy to have more information / data).

It seems to me that most children seem to be able to do this by age 6 or so, which puts DD quite a long way behind, I think.

DS definitely did this at 3 not sure when he started though. He was a very early walker though and started walking down stairs at 13months, he's always had good balance. He can't catch though at 6.
I would say that if you are concerned it's worth checking out. I'd rather be told I had nothing to worry about and be wrong than not question it.

Ds2 does this and is 4, I am not sure when he started, I would have said a while ago but can't really say I have thought about it before, so I wouldn't have thought to check.

When he is really, really tired he puts both feet on the same step still or holds onto the bannister.

Dd has been doing this for a while, downstairs/alternate feet/not holding on. She's 4.5 and has to be reminded every time to hold the bannister.

My cousin had (has? We're in our 30s now) dyspraxia, and was like in on the stairs until he was in double digits. In fact, when we played the 'tearing around the house' games, he always went down the stairs on his bum. We just joined in, didn't think about it much at the time, but on hindsight...

pp said it depends where you live

we lived in a block of flats when kids were little, with a concrete communal staircase, with short flights (7 steps and then round the corner) we were on the first floor. All mine could walk up and down steps holding a hand pretty much as soon as they could walk well enough to walk outside. When we visited the UK I realised that many friends kids crawled upstairs, and bum shuffled down, So yes I agree there is an element of circumstance involved.

just asked my nearly 10 y old to fetch something from upstairs and she came down holding the bannister. She did do alternate feet on each step though.

The reason I checked was because she was late with the alternating feet thing (probably like missmapps son) and would do one step at a time for ages.
I've never thought this was a problem tbh.

Living in Venice mine 8&5 can go up and down steps ( even big bridges) no problem without holding on to anything. However when we are in the Uk there is an internal bannister at the GPs and they tend to hold on . But they can easily do it without .. Plus they go down on bums as its more fun !!!

Update Update

Thank you all for your information. We have had the OT assessment and received the report today.

DD2 has been assessed as being on the 1st percentile for her motor skills.
(i.e. for every 100 children her age, she is the 'worst').

They also highlighted some other stuff she struggles with and have designated exercises etc. to do at home and school.

As an aside, DD1 age 15 also had OT assessment today. As I think DD1's motor skills are worse than DD2's it will be interesting to see what the second report says ...