[HBV]

OK, we have a lot of staircases in our house and yard. H started climbing UP very early, which terrified me, though he's very adept at it.

The dogs herd him away from the stairs (we did not teach them this, they just do it!), we gate him off most of the time, and of course we keep a close eye on him. Still, I want to try to teach him how to go downstairs so that I can minimize the risk a little more---there are at least 2 staircases that can't be gated because of their structure.

Any tips for going DOWN the stairs? I've tried to get him to sit down and kind of bump down on his bottom, but he stands up and tries to step---and he's still too small for that.

Any ideas?

[StorkWatcher]

Mr. A was so good at sliding down on his tummy. When he started crawling up the stairs, I taught him to slide back down.

But lately, it's SO much more adventurous to walk up while holding on to the railing, and he will at times just turn around and take one straight step off into the air!!!! We have to catch him. Sometimes he'll bump bump bump back down on his backside, but I am not able to convince him that the top of the stairs is not the ideal place to put only one foot forward and be able to step right down to the bottom (flashback to the Christmas day tumble down Gran's stairs which nearly sent Mama to the ER with her first heart attack......)

[skilack]

Two of my girls would slide down on their bellies,feet first. We tried the butt bumping,they would bounce too much(kids under 5 are too top heavy)and fall face first. My oldest just walked down the steps holding the railing. She walked at 9 months wasn't much she couldn't do at a year old. LOL. You should see her now.She's a cheerleader and she's the one they basket toss in the air. LOL.

[snaps]

We are struggling with this same thing right now too. We have two staircases - both with gates top and bottom (one is sort of a makeshift gate because regular gates will not work). Jessica is very good at going up the stairs, but I have no idea how to get her to come down safely. I'd like to start teaching her soon (closely supervised of course). I have a relative who used the butt bump down the stairs method with their children, but the one time I tried that with my daughter I got the sense she was going to pitch forward. I'm thinking the backwards tummy method might be best, but it looks like everyone struggles with this.

[Bug-n-Bears-Mommy]

When Bear's PT learned that we were moving to a house with stairs he started teaching him to go down on his belly feet first. He would say "down, down" and Bear would turn around and just go. It was amazing how fast he caught on.