Do you let your 3.5 year old go up and down stairs alone?

ShariJenn

Go up and down stairs him/herself?

My son has always been a bit clumsy on his feet.  I've always been so paranoid about him walking up and downstairs himself.  He's usually pretty careful, but other times I feel like he's becoming too comfortable.  I'm never more then a couple feet away from him.

Today, we were at my moms and there are 7 stairs going down to the entry way.  My mom saw him heading to the stairs and yelled for him to stop and wait.  I said, it's ok he's doing very well on the stairs.

No more then 3 seconds later, he tumbled down all 7 stairs.  Gave me and my mom heart attacks and ended up with a scratch on his head.

Do you let your LO go up and down stairs without you, or was that a bad mommy moment on my behalf? 

Jenelle101

My daughter turned 2 in April and I have been letting her do this for quite some time. She started walking super early (8.5 months) and has always been very strong on her feet. We also have tons of stairs in our house (3 separate areas in the house), so she's very comfortable with them. Not to say I don't freak out once in a while.... We have stairs going up to our second level (10 stairs), and she does them by herself. There is a railing to hold on to, but she doesn't use them every time.

 

ali0608

My DS is about to turn 3 and isn't the most coordinated kid either.  Recently, I've been letting him go up the stairs to get something and come back down by himself.  However, I'm always at the bottom of the stairs waiting.  I'm not exactly sure what I would be able to do if he were to fall, but it makes me feel better.

He seems to do fine going up, but he gets in a hurry going down and I'm always afraid momentum will get him.  Stairs scare me.

Soter1

Oh yeah, for at least 1.5 years.  He goes and plays in his room etc all the time.  Now my 21 month old, NO WAY, and I can't imagine him being ready within the next 6 montths.  So I think each child is different.  In my toddler's defense, he is just too short to reach the next step

lynsef

DD will be 3 in Oct and she has been going up and down stairs by herself for awhile now.

ShariJenn

I think I need to stop being so neurotic 

Accidents happen, I just get shaken up when he gets hurt from something I could have prevented...but i'll be saying that forever I guess. 

bakerlm

Depends on what kind/how many/how steep.  I definitely let him go up and down the carpeted stairs of our house alone and have for several months now.  I watch him go down the wooden basement stairs but he can go down them alone.  On cement public stairs, I usually carry him or let him go step by step holding my hand.

Smores730

In a house, yes. We took the gates down months ago for my youngest, 19 months. He goes up and down independently. Our staircase is walls on both sides as opposed to a banister and he puts one hand on the wall for balance.

katlizabeth

Yes.  He's been doing it for about a year in our house (not often because the only stairs we have are in our garage, to our basement).  He holds the railing and hasn't fallen yet. ( knock on wood).  He'll sometimes reach for my hand if we're out and about though-unfamiliar stairs must be more challenging. 

stdldb29

Yes, my 2 year old and my 4 year old go down and up by themselves-he probably was nervous after your mom yelled at him.

Worcbride

both my kids have been going up/down stairs on their own for quite some time--like since they could crawl.  We have 3 levels of living in our home so they've had tons of practice.  I would think at 3.5yo a child should be able to go up/down stairs on his own--so no not a bad mommy moment

AmandaP678

Tim will be 3 in September and has been doing stairs for a while now

mbgreenwalt

I let her do it by herself, but I am close to catch her if she were to fall.  I walk in front of her if she is going down stairs and I follow behind when she goes up.  She is pretty good at asking for my hand if she is unsure (usually steep steps or tall steps).

saturdaynightdoubletree

My almost 3 year old walks up stairs by herself a lot because we are on a second floor and I usually have my hands full and she walks slow... but I still have my eye on her. DS can''t be trusted, a bird flies by and he loses all concentration, so I stick to him like glue. Definitely not a bad mommy moment on your part. We all fall down (and sometimes up) stairs at least a few times in our lives.

Love love love the Red Sox Hat. We're originally from Boston and flying "home" Monday... can't wait!

KarBear

Um, yeah, DD has been going up/down the stairs since about 18 months.

Mrs.MLR04

We took all gates down a few months ago and have not had any incidents.

CalinsBride

DS is three, and I'd say he's been going up and down stairs on his own for at least a year now, maybe longer. He is not a clumbsy kid, though, he is very good on his feet and very coordinated so that plays into it for sure.

Angela814

I let my just-turned-2yo go up and down stairs by herself. She walks up the stairs using the railing but goes down either on her butt or her tummy. Actually, that's just for our indoor stairs. She walks up and down the stairs on our deck; there are 3-4 stairs there. 

wall0307

I do let him go up and down the stairs by himself.  We have a split level house, so there's not a lot of stair to fall down.  I think we've let him do this since around 2.  We've had a gate at the top of the stairs since DS #2 has been able to move, but DS #1 can open it.  I don't remember him ever falling. 

tinktink20

I've let my 2 year old do stairs alone for a little while.

kcisthebombdotcom

fredalina:

Yeah, she's been doing stairs since probably 18 months, but she's pretty surefooted. This is in a home, softer floored, not high traffic environment. It would be different on marble steps with lots of strangers who could bump her and no hand rails or something like that. I don't think you can blame yourself for that.

This

meldoo2002

Yes.  They have been going up and down stairs alone for a year probably... since 2.5  I don't let them play for long periods unsupervised in the playroom (downstairs, but still leads to other areas of basement), but the stairs themselves they are fine on.  

mavs_girl07

Yes, for a long time now.  She's never fallen and is always good about holding on.

mari_gold

I've been letting DS go up and down stairs alone since around 18 or 19 months. He's very good at them. He's only had a couple minor spills.

DD is still learning stairs, obviously, but I expect she'll be ready to handle them on her own around the same age.

brewcitybride

Yes, since she was 2.5. But she's agile and quick on her feet and has always been great at stairs. If I knew my child was clumsy, I would supervise. Stairs are very scary and the accidents can be severe.