Serious question.

[rosiedoes]

This is a serious question relating to a debate between likethepaint, shiny_starlight and myself.

NOTE THAT I MEAN COMPLETELY ALONE, NO PARENT WATCHING OR HELPING AT ALL.

[Poll #1356799]

Comments

[rosiedoes.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't let a child under four climb or descend stairs by themselves, either. Anything younger seems negligent.

[failboats.livejournal.com]

I don't have any brothers or sisters (well, that i live with anyway), so i'm going on if it was me that was climbing stairs, but later than 4, but that's maybe because i'm a very clumsy and i still fall down that stairs now, and i'm 14.

[rosiedoes.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, so does Julie and she's 25! Haha.

[sharon-hate.livejournal.com]

Well, I've spent a lot of time around kids and dealing with them. I'd say late 3 or 4. It really depends on their motor skills and how coordinated they are. Some kids are still really clumsy and others aren't.

[rosiedoes.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much what I think - four or almost four.

[blacknarcissus2.livejournal.com]

From personal experience I say three. This is because my two were ready for it then. In fact they were ready for it sooner but I wouldn't allow it. By three, though, their legs tend to be long enough to manage the stairs and they know to keep hold because they've been practising supervised up until then.

[anjak-j.livejournal.com]

Personally, I'd say from age 4 onwards, though I asked my mother when she called and she let me do it on my own from 3 onwards.

I guess it depends on the child really. Some are more capable from a younger age than others.

[untelling.livejournal.com]

I have taught both three and four year-olds and from experience I can tell you that they are both able to do it. It would depend on the length of the staircase before I'd let them do it on their own. 3-4 steps, sure - especially with a handrail. But for a full flight of stairs, not until after age 4. I watched my perfectly capable 3 1/2 year-old niece take a nosedive down a flight of stairs at her brother's birthday party - all because she was tired.

Stairs + kids = terrifying. (at least in my opinion - if it even matters.)

[ms-mindfunk.livejournal.com]

He can do stairs perfectly well, but as a mom I still harp at the 6 year old to hold the rail and all that. That said, somewhere between three and four kids generally have the gross motor control to do stairs pretty well without a parent watching.

[zeenell]

*snickers* Oh man. My younger siblings were gong up an down stairs on their own around 2. But than again - trying to keep track of us all was a bit difficult.

(My little brother used to climb out of his crib while everyone was sleeping, and he would be found sleeping on top of the refrigerator* or in boxes or hidden in closets, and while he was the most likely one to climb - he wasn't the only one).

ALSO, little kids are like kittens. You can leave them to climb up at a lot earlier age than to climb down.

(I think the question should have been divided in half).

*He pushed the chair over to the counter, climbed on the counter, moved this storage thing over to the cabinet, climbed on that, and than climbed onto the top of the fridge.

[sassygirl.livejournal.com]

my parents told me that i climbed out of my cot so much that they had to wrap a badminton net over the top at night to stop me getting out! haha.

[desireem81.livejournal.com]

I said three because that was what my brother and sister did but then again my brother was running before he was crawling and it was hard to keep him off the stairs since he climbed over baby gates. *shakes head* It all depends on the developement of the child but a late three, early four for most kids.

[klashfor.livejournal.com]

I went for 'later than this' because whenever I babysit, or am around kids I go up and dpown stairs with them if until they're about 6. Unless it's their house tand their parents are there and fine with it, I would say 5 or 6 years old.

[izelana.livejournal.com]

I take care of my neighbor's triplets while she gets some work done. They're about late three and I trust them on the railed, carpeted stairs but not on hardwood or metal-edged linoleum stairs. Then I have to be with them going "HOLD THE RAILING, KIDDOS."

[scoobygang63.livejournal.com]

Hmm. When I'm babysitting children under six I wont let them go up the stairs unsupervised. I go up behind them just in case. I don't know if it'd be different if it was your own children when you might have a better handle on their motor skills, but the kids I babysit are always jumping about excitedly whilst I'm trying to herd them towards bed, so I'm a bit paranoid about it!

Mostly I have to fireman's lift them up anyway. Oh the joys of being the "fun" babysitter...