Teddy is moving, moving. Over the last 6 to 8 weeks, I would say he spends more time just moving around than anything else. He has gone from mostly rolling to crawling, pulling to stand, and cruising on his feet during this time. It's been a huge explosion. And with that explosion has come a new found discovery - our stairs!
We live in a 4-split level house. So we have 2 "upstairs" areas and 2 "downstairs" areas. They are separated by a large staircase (regular size). Then each of the other levels are separated by a small stair case (4 steps). So, stairs are a big part of our family's life and something that kids need to learn to use independently. I thought I would share a little about how we approach stairs in our Montessori home.
Goals
First, I just want to make our goals clear here.
Safety: I want my kids to be safe in our home. And I firmly believe that giving gross motor opportunities without adult intervention (just spotting) keeps my kids safe. They learn the limits of their own bodies and understand what risks they can take and which they cannot. Following natural gross motor development practices help keep Ted safe.
Independence: Our goals are never to push independence on our children before they are ready for it. But, to support the amount of independence that they want and are ready for. By giving access to our stairs, we are opening up opportunities for independence. He can access his bed and bedroom, he can access the bathroom. If we closed the stairs completely, these opportunities would be gone.
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Big Stairs
I do want to make a distinction between the types of stairs in our house because we approach them differently. Our big stairs are gated. The risk of injury is much higher on those stairs because of their size so closer supervision is necessary. While I would let Teddy climb up them, I don't want him to independently access them at this point. We use this gate which I love because it can be opened up by pretty young toddlers. It's also easy to shut which is great with so many kids coming up and down them.
If these were the only stairs in our house, I would still make a daily (probably even more than once a day) effort to give access to the stairs to Teddy at this point. He is more than capable, but it's a matter of being able to supervise him closely enough to give free access.
Smaller Stairs
Now our smaller sets of stairs, I don't use gates - ever. From the time our babies are born they are given access to the stairs. They discover them on their own, pull up on them on their own, start to climb up and down on their own. Every movement they make is their own. They learn to trust their bodies, they gain confidence and skills at the pace that is right for them, and ultimately they learn to become quite safe and agile on the stairs.
I see my job only to spot for safety. Of course, I'm not going to intentionally let them get hurt. At Teddy's age, we watch him very carefully to see if he's playing with the stairs. I can often be found sitting on the stairs with my older babies as they go up and down for long periods of time.
One thing I won't do is move their bodies. I will catch them if they start to fall (which honestly is very rare) but every movement is their own. I am there not to teach but as a safety net.
Just as a reminder, I'm sharing what works best for our family and our situation. Every family will need to do what they feel comfortable with. But, I encourage everyone to really consider risk, benefits, and not to underestimate babies.
How do you approach stairs at home?
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