Your Child Is Strolling Up And Down Staircases With Alternating Feet

Your child is now all set to exercise his freedom after he has refined his independent walking skills. Children can also begin walking up and down the stairs shortly after they learn to walk with appropriate modifications and support for the task.

What you need to know

When a child is able to four point crawl but is not yet walking independently, the child can creep up the stairs and creep down the stairs backward on their belly. Many children are interested in creeping up the stairs, but may be resistant to coming down backward. Activities such as coming down off the couch and bed backward and sliding down a slide backward serve as practice for coming down the stairs backwards.

What you need to do

Some children are fearful of moving backward because they cannot see where they are going. Start a few stairs from the bottom at first if the child is fearful. Always be close to the child for supervision to prevent your child from falling down the stairs. Use appropriate gates at the top and bottom of all stairs to block stair access when you are not able to assist your child.