Picture this: you’re at the shops, hands full, kids in tow, and out of the corner of your eye you spot your youngest leaning waaay too far into the handrail on the escalator. Cue the mum sprint, the sharp “hey, stop that!”, and the deep breath once everyone’s safely at the top.

If this sounds like your last three trips to Westfield, you’re going to want to keep reading, because it turns out almost every other parent in Australia is living the exact same moment.

It’s not just you.

New national research commissioned by Schindler has found that more than two in three Australian parents (68%) have had to quickly grab, stop or pull their child away from something they were doing near an escalator or lift, and for one in five of us, it’s happening at least once a month.

The most common culprits? Kids standing or dragging their feet too close to the edge (37%), playing with the handrail (36%), making a break for it and running onto the escalator (28%), or treating the steps like their own personal playground (23%). Separately, 64% of parents say their child has done at least one of these things in the past year, which honestly makes us feel a lot better about our own “not today, buddy” moments.

Child psychologist and mum, Breanna Sada, says this data should be a weight off parents’ shoulders rather than another thing to worry about.

“If you’ve ever had to pull your child back from the edge of an escalator or told them to stop leaning on the handrail for the tenth time, you’re not doing anything wrong. Two in three Australian parents say exactly the same thing,” Breanna says.

“Children are naturally curious about moving objects, and an escalator is one of the more fascinating things they’ll encounter in a shopping centre. The goal isn’t to make kids fearful of them, it’s to make the safe behaviour so familiar it becomes automatic,” adds Breanna.

Basically, your kid isn’t naughty, they’re curious.

Here’s where it gets interesting. While most of us are pretty switched on when it comes to intervening in the moment, the research found some real gaps in the why and what-if:

• Almost half of parents (47%) say they aren’t actually familiar with the specific safety rules kids should follow on escalators and lifts
• More than a third (38%) admit they wouldn’t feel confident knowing what to do if their child’s shoe, clothing or something else got caught

Which, if you’re anything like us, is a slightly uncomfortable “oh… same” moment.

The good news, according to Breanna, is that most of us are already doing more than we think.

“Most parents are already teaching safety without realising it. Reminding kids to hold hands, stand still, or face forward. What’s often missing is just a few extra specifics, like keeping shoes and clothing away from the sides, and knowing that the emergency stop button is there to be used if needed. These are small additions to habits families already have, not a whole new set of rules to learn,” Breanna explains.

5 Simple Habits to Add to Your Next Shopping Trip

With the spring school holidays kicking off across Australia and plenty more centre visits on the horizon, here are five easy wins to build into your routine, no extra mental load required:

1. Hold hands and stand still. Face forward, stay in the middle of the step, and avoid the sides.
2. Step on and off carefully: encourage children to watch their feet at the top and bottom of the escalator.
3. Keep shoes, clothing and shoelaces, especially soft or flexible footwear, away from the sides and moving parts.
4. Don’t play with the handrail or lift doors including not entering or exiting a lift while doors are closing.
5. Know the location of the emergency stop. If something becomes caught, stay calm, use the emergency stop button and call for assistance rather than pulling.

Schindler has also put together a free series of Ellie & Esky resources including colouring-in sheets, a school holiday activity book and a safety pledge certificate to help turn these habits into something the kids will actually enjoy, rather than another lecture from mum. You can grab them at Schindler’s Ellie & Esky Learning Hub.

So next time you’re doing the escalator scramble, remember; you’re not failing at parenting, you’re just one of two in three of us.

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