Most toddlers first figure out how to get down stairs around 12 to 13 months, usually by turning around and backing down on hands and knees. But walking down stairs upright, while holding a railing or your hand, typically doesn’t happen until closer to age 2. The full skill of walking downstairs with alternating feet develops between 27 and 36 months. Each stage builds on the last, and rushing ahead of your child’s readiness is where injuries happen.
The Typical Progression by Age
Stair descent follows a predictable pattern tied to your child’s balance and leg strength. Babies who are crawling generally figure out how to climb up stairs first, at a mean age of about 11 months. Descending comes a few weeks later, around 12 to 13 months on average. At this earliest stage, most infants (about 76%) instinctively turn around and back down feet-first. Others scoot down on their bottoms, slide face-first on their bellies, or attempt a wobbly walk.
By age 2, the CDC lists walking up a few stairs (not climbing) as a typical milestone. Around this same time, many toddlers start walking down stairs while holding an adult’s hand or gripping a railing, placing both feet on each step before moving to the next one. This “two feet per step” pattern is normal and reflects the balance control a 2-year-old actually has.
Between 27 and 36 months, children begin alternating feet on stairs, placing one foot per step the way adults do. This requires standing briefly on one leg, which is a significant balance milestone that takes time to develop. Some kids nail it closer to 27 months, others not until closer to their third birthday, and both are within the normal range.
Physical Signs Your Toddler Is Ready
Age ranges are useful guidelines, but your child’s body gives more specific signals. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia recommends watching for one key skill: can your toddler squat down slowly to pick up a toy from the floor, then stand back up with control? This movement requires the same thigh muscle control needed to lower their body from one step to the next. If your child drops straight to the ground like a sack of potatoes instead of bending gradually, their legs aren’t ready to manage stairs upright yet.
Other readiness signs include steady independent walking on flat ground for at least a few weeks, the ability to stand on one foot briefly (even with support), and enough coordination to step over small objects without losing balance. If your toddler still stumbles frequently on level surfaces, stair walking is premature regardless of age.
How to Practice Safely
Start with going down, not up. Most toddler stair injuries happen on the way down, so that’s where your practice time matters most. Begin by teaching the backward crawl or bottom scoot, which keeps their center of gravity low and gives them a reliable fallback method even after they start walking stairs upright.
When your child is ready to try walking down, position yourself one or two steps below them so you can catch a stumble. Have them hold the railing with both hands while side-stepping down. If your railing is too high for small hands, hold their hand on the open side instead. Practice on just two or three steps at first, ideally carpeted ones, and build from there.
One overlooked strategy: let your child practice the squat-and-stand motion on flat ground before introducing stairs. Set a toy on the floor and encourage them to bend their knees slowly to grab it, then rise back up. This builds the controlled knee-bending strength that translates directly to stepping down.
Why Stair Falls Are So Common
Falls are the leading cause of medically treated injuries in preschool-age children, and stair falls specifically account for 12% of hospital admissions and 18% of emergency department visits for falls in this age group. The most common injuries are head bumps (66% of cases), cuts and scrapes (14%), and fractures (12%).
Contrary to what many parents assume, most stair falls in children under 5 aren’t caused by baby walkers, toys left on steps, or being dropped while carried. About 88% of stair falls happen without any of those factors. The child simply misjudges a step, loses balance, or attempts stairs beyond their current ability. This is why matching your expectations to your child’s actual motor development matters more than any single piece of safety equipment.
Gates and Home Setup
Safety gates remain essential for any home with stairs and a child under 3. At the top of stairs, use hardware-mounted gates that screw into the wall or banister. Pressure-mounted gates (the kind you wedge into a doorway) can be pushed out by a determined toddler and should only be used at the bottom of stairs or in doorways. The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that gates designed for stair-top use include specific mounting instructions and minimum distance guidelines from the first step.
Keep gates in place even after your toddler starts practicing stairs with supervision. Unsupervised access is the real risk. Most families find they can retire the top-of-stairs gate sometime around age 3, once their child can consistently walk down holding the railing with alternating feet and no longer needs a hand. The bottom gate usually comes down earlier, since falling up a few steps carries far less risk than tumbling down a full flight.
When Development Looks Different
Children with certain conditions, including Down syndrome, hypotonia (low muscle tone), or developmental coordination difficulties, often take longer to master stair descent. The specific challenge is usually eccentric muscle control: the ability to slowly bend the knees against gravity rather than collapsing straight down or locking the legs rigid. If your child consistently struggles with controlled squatting on flat ground well past age 2, or avoids stairs entirely by age 3, a pediatric physical therapist can assess whether targeted strengthening exercises would help. For these children, the bottom-scoot method may remain the safest stair strategy for months or even years longer than typical timelines suggest.