Conference moira::parenting_v3

    We tried the backwards approach, as you did, and it didn't work.
    Instead we suggested that Ryan sit down at the top of the stairs, bum
    slide to the next step and continue.  That alleviated my fear that he
    would topple headfirst all the way down!  Now at 2 he automatically
    sits down at the top of stairs or hills if he can't get his balance to
    step down easily.
    
    When he first did it in our back yard (very hilly), he'd sit down about
    10 feet away from the edge and have to wiggle his bum a few minutes
    just to get to the crest of the hill!
    

I started teaching Matt to go downstairs at about 12 months, (he started 
walking at 11 mos.) and it took about 4 months before he was pretty good at 
it.  (I really hated the safety gate at the top of the stairs. It was a pain
and I wanted to get rid of it!)

I didn't follow the recommended route, though, of having them go down
backwards (on their tummy).  I started off by putting him on the last
step and having him walk down it (like an adult would) while holding his
hand.  After a week, I would have him do 2 steps.  Then increase it to 3
steps, and so forth.

He liked going down the stairs...it was a novelty for him.  So we literally
practiced it a few times each day when I got home from work.  I always stressed
that he had to hold onto the railing.

When he was about 15 or 16 months, people seemed really surprised at how well
he handled stairs.  I almost always held his hand going down OR up stairs.
But if for some reason I didn't/couldn't, he always held onto the railing
(still does, today, and he's 2 1/4 yrs old!) and I don't recall him ever falling
down the stairs.

I don't think she's too young to begin learning.

� �ori �

    
    IMHO, I think its best to teach them how to go down stairs early.
    With my son, we started teaching him how to go down the stairs as soon
    as he started to crawl up onto the furniture, at about 10 months.  We 
    have a split entry house so we felt it important that he learn how to go 
    down the stairs.  When he was about 16 months or so he would slide down 
    on his belly as fast as he could go.  We always supervised him going 
    downstairs until he acutally started walking up and down them at 2.5.
    
    Good luck,
    
    Nancy
    

    Andrew was 8 months when he made his way by himself up our stairs and
    he (much to our surprise) started to go down by himself on his knees
    and belly!  We didn't have to teach him a thing.  (BTW, I didn't even
    know he could climb stairs till I was sitting on them one day and he
    climbed right on by me!, yes, it was a bit of a surprise!)
    
    My best friend taught her two kids to climb and climb down by
    demonstrating with the child how to use the belly, knees and feet
    method.  They caught on pretty quickly.  
    
    The way I see it, if you have an upstairs to your house, and you
    obviously use the stairs daily, it's best to acquaint the kids with
    the stairs when they're young, because it" may" happen one day that
    they're unsupervised for a few seconds and they may end up on the stairs. 
    Best that they know what to do now for that one moment when you're not 
    looking.

    
    Both my kids learned to go downstairs 'backwards'. Put them at the top
    of the stairs, facing away from the stairs, feet on the first stair
    down, and let them sort of feel their way down with their feet. Worked
    great, never a fall.
    
    Laurie
    

    Janet,
    
    I think Alison is definitely old enough to know how to go down stairs.
    With Berk, the day we realized he could go up, he had to learn how to
    go down. It does take work so don't get discouraged.
    
    Our method went as follows...teach him to sit down first on the landing
    but not on the edge of the stairs (if he lost his balance trying to sit
    down he would tumble down the stairs). Then he must flip onto his
    stomach and figure out which way to maneuvor backwards to get his
    feet over the first step. This takes time and we let him figure it out
    himself. We didn't worry so much about perfect technique but taught him
    to move one knee then the other onto the next step so that he had his
    balance on every step. I think we also did this with 2 people - one
    staying at the top of the stairs to keep his attention facing the right
    way and the other a couple steps down in case he lost his "grip" a slid
    a couple steps. 
    
    Don't worry if the tummy slide is the best method for Alison - so long
    as she is controlling it. A friend's son is almost 2.5 as well and he
    still goes down on his stomach because it is faster and more fun.
    
    Andrea

    I believe it was in the "homework" notesfile where someone put a
    second hand rail on their stairs at a height which makes it easy for a
    toddler to hold.  If they won't go down any of the ways mentioned
    previously, maybe you could try it.  AT least it gives them something
    to steady themselves and grab in the event of a misstep.
    

    
    re.1
    
    I would be very careful with the "bum slide" and would ask the
    pediatrician about it first.  I have heard or read somewhere that
    this can cause damage to the back and spinal cord.
    
    
    Eva.

    I never teach Eric how to go down stairs, he just started doing it
    himself.  He used the backward method that mentioned in previous
    notes (facing the stairs, using his tummy and feet).  He was about
    13 months then.  He started walking at 14 months.  By 16 months, one
    day I noticed, instead of going backward, he tries to go down stairs
    by holding on the railing and walking down.  This really scared me.
    I started holding his hands and particing with him.  It took 
    several months for him to get good at it.  He is 25 months now
    and never had a fall.
    
    Wendy

    I read somewhere that a safe way to let kids experiment with stairs
    is to put a gate up higher on the staircase rather than at the
    bottom.  This eliminates the really dangerous falls but allows them
    to climb up and down.  We weren't able to do this in our house so I
    can't comment on its effectiveness.
    
    Ruth

    I put a gate up several steps up and an extra rug at the bottom of the 
    stairs.  It worked well.  My daughter enjoyed practicing.  She was less
    than a year.  She never had a fall.  She went down backwards for a
    while but always went down 'grown up' style when someone held her hand. 
    She switched to walking down as soon as she was coordinated enough.
    

    Thanks for all your help.
    
    We've now resumed Stair Descending Lessons, (tummy slide style, because
    that's how we started) and are making good progress.  The main problem
    is that once we're upstairs, Alison usually doesn't want to go downstairs, 
    so if I put her in a going downstairs position, she immediately crawls up
    on the landing again.  So after a while, I usually give up and carry
    her downstairs anyway.
    
    I wanted to put the bottom stairgate a few stairs up, to make it easier
    to practise, but the design of our stairs made this impossible.
    
    Re: is 15 months too young to be going downstairs - well I didn't think
    it was, my husband did, but he tends to be a bit over protective. 
    He'll just have to come to terms with the fact that his baby isn't a
    baby who has to be carried downstairs anymore, she's now a little girl 
    who's capable of sliding downstairs on her tummy by herself!
    
    Thanks
    
    Janet
        

Similar problem...

Our son learned the tummy slide approach just fine, then just this weekend
decided he wanted to go adult style.  He's only 18 months so this doesn't
work.  He's already taken two little falls.  We can't seem to get him to do
the tummy slide anymore -- I don't know whether it rug burns him or what,
but he won't have anything to do with it.  Since the stairway is too wide
for a gate, we need to get him to revert to the tummy slide ASAP.

Any ideas?


Marty

Interesting, 

Matty, at 18months, has absolutely no problem going up the stairs.  However, the
stairs in our house are EXTREMELY steep - even adults comment on it, so going
downstairs is something that we have never tried to 'teach' our children, 
becuase of the steepness, and the fact that there is a wall  two feet from 
the bottom of the stairs. 

Anyway, both Mike and Matt seemed to quickly pick up the up and down stepping 
motion - going up and down curbs, then up two or three steps to go into a store. 
how much you hold their hand usualy was dependent on how big they were.  

I realized while I read this that Matt has no desire to climb 
down the main stairs, while Mike has just over the past 6 months (he's 3.5) been
really thrilled that he goes down like Mommy and Daddy (Used to do the reverse
climb-up position).  However, when we went out to the garage this morning,
Matty automatically put out his and for mine while he stepped down the two 
steps into the laundry room, and then the two into the garage.  It is amazing 
how somethings they just seem to intuitivally know.  Probably reinforces the 
thoughts here about partitioning off a few steps at a time.  Toobad its too 
dangerous is our house!

Minda

<                      <<< Note 295.7 by DELNI::SCORMIER >>>
<                              -< second handrail >-

We did this and it's wonderful!  It was easy to do, too.  You just use a 
dowel and some brackets.  We have a four level house, so put it on all
three stairways.  I was most afraid of the basement steps because there is
no carpet down there.  Evan was always fine going "feet first", but since
we put up the railing last year, he can go up and down like a champ.

        Carol

    AJ had a sitter who taught him to go down the stairs on his belly.  Now
    you've got to picture my sitter telling me that she taught him to slide
    down on his tummy, and me picturing my under-a-year old going down head
    first!!  Then one weekend he came down our livingroom stairs, feet
    first on his belly, absolutely squeeling with glee!  It became a game
    of slide down, run up, slide down again etc.  He loved it!
    
    We also encourage him to walk down the stairs, holding the rail (thank
    heavens for padding under carpet!) copying mom and dad putting one foot
    over the other.  It worked, he's never been a one-foot-at-a-time
    stair-climber.  The other thing I read and used a lot was to come down
    the stair and count each one.  Our house has 14 from upstairs to down.
    Or sometimes we'd recite the ABC's instead of numbers, he loved that
    game.  I too have read that putting a gate a few stairs up helps to
    train them, and eliminate the frustration of not being able to go on
    the stairs at all.
    
    Enjoy!!
    Lyn