Going up stairs
Many babies first go up stairs by crawling, at around 11 months. Walking up stairs holding a hand or rail comes later: in four countries, about half did so by about 17½ months.
How sure are we?
Not sure yet. Only one study has measured walking up stairs so far, and the age differed a lot between countries. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is combining strength, balance and planning to manage steps.
In the four-country study, the age for walking up stairs differed a lot between countries, from about 15 months in India and Turkey to about 26 months in South Africa, and the study linked differences like this to how much children get to practise, such as climbing stairs. Children with stairs at home crawled up them younger.
We don't yet know the age by which nearly all children walk up stairs.
A main source for the ages
Similarities and differences in child development from birth to age 3 years by sex and across four countries: a cross-sectional, observational study
Ilgi Ozturk Ertem, Vibha Krishnamurthy, Mphelekedzeni C. Mulaudzi, Yanina Sguassero, Hakan Balta, Ozlem Gulumser · 2018 · Lancet Global Health
- Children
- About 4,900 healthy children
- Where
- Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey
- Ages
- Birth to 3½ years
- How
- Trained staff asked parents open questions about what their child could do, at health clinics
- What it found
- Found the age by which half of children reached more than 100 milestones. Most came at similar ages in all four countries, and for boys and girls. For example, half of children waved bye-bye by about 11 months and said a first word by about 9 months.
- Limits
- Only four countries and no rural areas, children from city clinics, and only healthy children (about half of those who came were left out for health reasons). It gives the age for half of children, not the full spread.
A main source for the ages
How and when infants learn to climb stairs
Sarah E. Berger, Carolin Theuring, Karen E. Adolph · 2006 · Infant Behavior and Development
- Children
- About 730 families
- Where
- Not given in the summary we read
- Ages
- About 8 to 15 months
- How
- Parents' reports
- What it found
- Babies first went up stairs on their own at about 11 months on average, nearly always by crawling, and came down at about 12½ months, usually backwards.
- Limits
- We have only read the summary. These are averages, with no spread of ages.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026