I'd like to know how old your child was when he/she started doing stairs alone. I block of the stairs and it only leads to him crying for hours because he wants to go up and play with brother and sister. I just recently started letting him go up and down alone is this ok?
After reading some responses here I realize that its not safe to allow him to go up and down the stairs even with nearby supervision. The gates have gone back up and we are going to wait a few months to allow him to go up and down til' we are sure that he has good coordination, balance and knows that the stairs isn't a place to play.
Thanks for all your reply's.
When my son was an infant we had a house with stairs that flared at the bottom, we couldn't find a gate for them. So, I taught my son to go up and down the right way. By the time he was 10 months he was completely independent. He never once fell. I would shut the doors to the bedrooms so there was nothing he could get into, he just crawled up and down the hallway and loved it!
My 18 month old fell down 2 stairs a month ago and bloodied her nose.. and that was with me right behind her, so I would vote no. If he fell from the top, how badly could he be hurt? What if he bounced on every stair? Now what if he didn't hit a single stair and just plummeted to the bottom? Yeah... I would have to say I would not.
All 3 of my kids were going up & down the stairs before 12months.......we have about 15 stairs but they dont go straight down....thank goodness no accidents & my youngest turned 2 on wed.....you have to observe him to make sure he has good balance & coordination (although accidents happen)......we couldnt find a gate or any other contraption for our stairs so we watched them the best we could.
Are the stairs carpeted? If yes, then I would go ahead and let him. It's only 7 stairs and if he falls, it will hurt, but then he'll be fine. We have a multi-level home with hard wood stairs, so we didn't let our son go up and down by himself until right before he turned 2. He still gets excited sometimes and stumbles, but that's what kids do. Good luck!
My child started walking at 10 months and she immediately wanted to do the stairs on her own. We worked with her to make sure that she could do it on her own and then always watched her very closely. It made me nervous because we have hard wood at the bottom, but if I had put a gate up she would have only tried to get through it. My nephew actually took a running start at a gate in my sister-in-laws house, broke the gate and flew down the stairs. I definitely didn't want anything like that to happen.
My daughter has not fallen down the stairs and she is now over 2 and a half.
Good Luck,
D.
I would say NO to it. My daughter was going up and down on her own by 12 months but close to 15 month she fell down the stairs right in front of my eyes!! I was scared to death but thankfully nothing happenned. Then again @ 18 months. Still safe. She walks on her own but i will suggest to hold on or just be behind so u are there to get him just in case.
U are the best judge.
V.
Understand that every kid needs to be watched. It is okay to up and down the stairs but with you overlooking his every move because no matter if the stairs is carpet or whatever, does not mean they can't fall. It all about balance, and one minute your child could be a pro and other days he could be slacking. Watch him on the stairs.
I have to add to what Gina said...little ones like that should not be doing stairs alone because they can break their neck. I did! When I was 18 months old, I fell over the edge of steps and before I could be caught, landed on my head...neck was broken but didn't show up til I was older...ended up having 3 major surgeries over 5 yrs, wore a halo and have lots of scars now. I'm fine...not paralyzed, but steps are scary. I strongly urge you to let the little one do steps so they know how, but always be right there.
You are going to have to escort her up and down. Just put gates at both the top and bottom. Take her up, let her play with her siblings, then someone can walk her down when she's ready to come down. Just look at the 100 trips up and down as your exercise/workout for the day :)
We let our daughter do the stairs "on her own" but we are always right there. She is usually very good at the stairs, but just 2 weeks ago she fell down 8 stairs at a friends house. I was standing at the bottom talking to her, she just misjudged the distance and as she sat down to carefully go down the stairs she completely missed the step. It was awful to be standing right there and watch your child fall, I would have felt even worse if she had fallen when I wasn't watching her.
I wouldn't let him do the stairs if you aren't with him.
No it's not o.k. to let a 1 year old "do stairs" alone. He could fall and break his neck or arm. Though they are resiliant he could at the very least get rug burns on his chin and knees. Someone should always be with him and keep both ends of the stairs gated so when he's upstairs with the sibelings he's still safe.
To the extent you can, you should let him. Can you grab some of your paperwork and sit towards the bottom of the stairs while he plays? I just think some kids are really physically driven at this age and the more you can let them satisfy those urges the better off everyone will be. I know you can't always do it....but just in general I would try to let him on the stairs as long as you can be there with him.
