Let’s talk about Stair Safety!

As a pediatric physical therapist and mom of 3 little ones myself, I KNOW stair (& furniture) safety can be incredibly intimidating. The risk of accidents and injuries is so real, and often times I find that daunting feeling leads us to just avoid them completely….and while I absolutely get it…I’d love to encourage you to keep reading so we can shift that narrative together, because it doesn’t have to be scary to teach stair & furniture safety and when it clicks for them, the peace of mind it will bring you is worth EVERY effort, I promise! Because unfortunately, the reality is that accidents happen…someone leaves a baby gate open, you turn away for a second and they’ve bee-lined to the stairs (or the dog’s water bowl, am i right 🙃), you move your hand for a second and they try to get off furniture and fall - it can happen in an instant, no matter how amazing or diligent of a parent you are…but it doesn’t have to be that way and again - knowing that God forbid a sticky situation does arise, but they know what to do and how to be safe offers IMMENSE peace of mind.

So here’s my proposal to you - what if, instead of avoiding stairs & furniture completely, we start teaching our babies the safe way to navigate them as soon as they’re mobile? It might sound crazy at first, but I promise they will get it & again, it’ll be a game changer, because I think we can all agree - we have enough to worry about as parents as is, we don’t need one more thing! So let’s dig into some general information and how I recommend teaching safety - we got this!

Here are some of the TOP stair related questions I get asked (all covered in this article 🙌) - feel free to skip ahead to the parts you need, or read the entire thing for all the information, tips & tricks!

What Age Can Baby Climb Stairs?

Before sharing the expected timelines for navigating stairs, I want to point out two VERY important things, and I’ll discuss them further below! First, in my opinion, stairs are a very exposure based skill. Meaning, if a child has stairs in their home that they are navigating every single day, likely multiple times a day, they will likely move through this progression much quicker than a child who has no exposure to stairs. HOWEVER, because of that - seeing some variability in the timelines below is completely normal! Most specifically, this is noticeable with the highest level stair climbing, which is being able to go up and down them without hand support while alternating feet (usually 3+ years of age). If you don’t have stairs in your home, please don’t stress it - your little likely gets TONS of similar exposure in their day you may not even realize that will absolutely carry over to stair climbing in the future. Things like stepping on/off step stools, curbs, getting pants/socks/shoes on in standing, stepping over obstacles, etc all require similar skills and strength, and again - will carry over into learning stairs when they are exposed! Second, when it comes to stairs, SAFETY COMES FIRST, always! If your child is safest scooting down on their bottom, or holding on with both hands and going sideways, or anything in between- let them do that! The strength, coordination & balance will come, and again, their safety matters more than any timeline mentioned below.

Onto age expectations for stair climbing! While there is some variability in these timelines, I’ve laid out below the general timelines for expected stair skills according to a Motor Development Standardized Test (PDMS-2):

15-18 months- can crawl up stairs and creep down going backwards *with close supervision
~18 months - begin walking UP & DOWN with hand support in a non alternating pattern, meaning both feet meet on each step before moving to the next.
~24 months - begins walking UP stairs without hand support (may or may not alternate feet)
~24-30 months - begins walking DOWN without support (may or may not alternate feet)
~30 months - begins walking UP with hand support while alternating feet on each step
~36+ months - walks UP and DOWN without hand support, alternating feet

WHEN Should I Teach My Baby to Go Down Stairs?

In my professional opinion, there is no way of stopping them! Babies are naturally curious (and seemingly drawn to danger 🙃), and again, even for the most diligent & attentive parents, things happen. If your little is showing interest in the stairs, I can not recommend enough supporting them in that by letting them explore, helping them hands on move up AND navigate sliding down feet first on their belly OR turned around in a sitting position and scooting down on their bottom (whichever you feel most comfortable with!). You will likely do the majority of the work in the beginning, and that is absolutely okay - just back off on your support as they learn & watch the magic happen!

Added bonus for any almost crawling little one - supporting stair exploration and navigation is a GREAT way to help them strengthen in prep for hands and knees crawling.

And when it comes to furniture safety, my advice is the same! As soon as they are sitting and beginning to be mobile, I start practicing. Every single time I get them off the couch, or off a bed or elevated surface, I flip them to their belly and guide them down until their feet touch the floor. Pick one phrase and stick to using that as best you can to prompt them - we always said “to your belly, down down down” - but as long as you’re consistent with phrasing, whatever works! Again, you’ll be doing all the work at first but it WILL click and it’s a game changer when it does! Plus - it’s absolutely adorable to see them generalize that skill to so many other things…like cracks in sidewalks and slides at the park, haha! You got this!

HOW Do I Teach My Baby to Go Down Stairs Safely?

To recap from above for anyone that may have skipped to this section from the top - I recommend starting with furniture safety! Every single opportunity you get, flip them to their belly and encourage them to slide down feet first, using your chosen phrase. That same flip to their belly and descend feet first is my preferred method for teaching coming down the stairs too!

When moving them through the motion of flipping to their belly and sliding feet first, stick with ONE phrase to prompt them if possible. We say “flip to your belly, down down down!”until their feet touch, but whatever works for your family is perfect. The phrase you use not only prompts them, but draws awareness to their body, helps them learn the motor plan, improves spatial awareness & depth perception as they wait for feet to touch, and when they realize they didn’t get hurt (yay safety!), motivates them to want to keep doing it that way again. And practice, repetition & consistency are truly the ticket to motor learning & independence!

And again, try not to get discouraged if they’re not getting it right away and still relying heavily on your for support. It takes TIME for them to nail it down and for it to become an automatic motor plan, rather than something they need to stop & think about or rely on support for, especially if they are on the younger side when you start.

I promise, they WILL get it and when they do it is MAGIC to have one less thing to worry about as parents!

For a visual on teaching furniture safety, check out this video from IG!

You can also see my two methods for teaching stair safety here too!

What if I Don’t Have Stairs at Home?!

As mentioned above, if you don’t have stairs to “practice”, try not to stress- it truly is such an exposure based skill, but again, there are so many opportunities that closely mimic single leg stance and stair climbing.

For example:

stepping off/on a stool
navigating a curb or uneven terrain
getting dressed in standing to encourage single leg stance
stepping on/off a couch cushion, crib mattress, or pillow on the floor
navigating uneven terrain outdoors
jumping
running, etc!

Essentially, ANY time they are standing on only one leg, they’re targeting similar muscles and functional patterns that carry over to the stairs.

All of those activities help strengthen the legs, improve balance, encourage body and spatial awareness, and ultimately will help your child figure stairs out when they ARE exposed to them!

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s really dig into HOW we teach our little ones to navigate stairs and getting off furniture safely.

Do I Need A Baby Gate?

Short answer - 100% yes. Safety First, always!! Again, we can be as diligent as possible, and things can and do still happen in an instant. An older sibling leaves the gate open, they’re shaking the gate and it falls, they go somewhere that there isn’t a gate, you turn around for a second and they’ve beelined to them - it happens no matter how great of a parent you are. So while YES, baby gates are a must in my opinion (especially at the top of stairs), they should be used in conjunction with teaching those safety skills so that if a scary situation arises, they have the tools under their belt to navigate it *hopefully* in the safest way possible.

I love this baby gate from safety 1st, and for a full list of other options we used for baby proofing - from baby gates to fireplace gates to general baby proofing, check out my complete list of Baby Proofing Must Haves here!

I truly hope this helps you feel more confident in navigating stairs & furniture safety with your little one - and for more on keeping our littles as safe as possible while still supporting & fostering their independence, exploration & milestone development, check this out!