When my eldest boy starting doing potentially dangerous things, like climbing up all manner of things, I had to make a choice.  I could try to stop him from doing it, or I could teach him how to do it safely.  Ultimately, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him, so I took the second choice.  I was so glad I did.

At a playground I encountered a over-protective mother that wouldn't let her daughter climb anything more than two feet off the ground.  My boy at about the same age was like a monkey, totally confident and able footed.  When the over-protective mother turned her attention away for but a moment her daughter was up high and stuck.  She couldn't get down safely and looked quite clumsy.  She became scared of the height and almost fell several times.

My monkey boy ended up being the saviour of the day.  As the equipment was designed for kids, it was difficult for me to climb up safely, but I gave it a go.  The other mother was too scared to even try.  By the time I got half-way up my monkey had made his way over to the girl and showed her step-by-step how to get down.  When she got to me I decided to just hold back and let my boy show her all the way down, remaining ready to catch her if need be.  She got to the ground without any further problem.

Her near paniced mother praised my boy's climbing ability and commented that her girl wasn't a good climber.  I just explained that he just has more experience because I let him learn how to do it, and maybe her daughter would do better, and be safer, if she had more practise.  The following week I saw them there again, and this time the mother was proudly coaxing the girl to carefully climb safely, a little bit at a time.  By the time our kids were in kindy, the girl could climb as well and as safely as any other kid there.

Be it stairs, play equipment, trees, or whatever, I recommend that you would be better off teaching your child as soon as she starts taking an interest, and give her lots of practise until she can do it safely and well.   Otherwise, she will do it anyway and get herself into a world of hurt.

As for getting down stairs safely, one stair at a time on their bottom works well, or if she is too inclined to stand up and tip forward, crawling down backwards works too.  If you have a bannister she can hang onto, get her using it.

Hi.When my son was born we were living in a split level house with about 5 stairs from one level to the next, going down. When my son learned to crawl he also learned to navigate the stairs. on his tummy!! Naturally i used to watch, so that he wouldnt fall and hurt himself, but before long he could fly up and down those stairs in mere seconds. I had a baby gate at the top, but i found it more dangerous than not. One day he had pulled himself up using the gate and it came loose and he very nearly tumbled  head firs t down the stairs. So, down came the gate. As he learned to walk we were always there to ensure that he held the railing , he fell a couple of times, but it was all part of the learning process andmy ex and i were always within an arms reach of him so that he didnt injure himself. That was only 5 stairs. In another house that had far more than 5 stairs we had a problem with my 18 month old nephew. He liked to  be up and down the stairs, and these ones were far more dangerous. My son has a Robosapien, andmy nephew just happens to hate it!!!!!!!!!!.. So..as a final straw my sister put the Robosapien at the top of the stairs. My nephew would see it and would decide it a much better idea to stay on the ground floor!. Not everyones idea of a good thing, but it worked.

Good Luck!!

Yes physically teach them to go backwards, even if it is sliding on there belly. That is how we taught  my son.
At the moment we are trying to teach him to walk down stairs - thats something i'm sure you will look forward to - NOT.
LOL and good luck.

Wow, she rolling along fast, your little one!!!  My suggestion is to invest on a good sturdy baby gate because you never know when she will sneak in the stairs to climb up. Either that, or block it with something that's hard to move but won't fall on her if you don't need to go up and down much during the day.

As far as teaching her to climb down, here's what I did with my son. Position her so that she looks like she's going to go up. And then pull her leg one at a time and let it touch the next step down. And then the other leg, then the other. Do this for her until she does it on her own. Also, teach her to approach the top of the stairs by going backwards.  If she crawls towards the stairs, make sure you turn her around so that her legs go down first. Again, do this until she does it on her own. By the way she's going, it won't take her long to figure this out. 

Stay safe!!