We talked about when will your baby walk yesterday and I mentioned that it is better not to rush them. Your baby develops at his or her own personal rate. Still there are things you can do to help facilitate your baby’s development without rushing them or pushing them beyond what they are ready for.
How Can I Help My Baby?
When your baby begins to try and pull him or herself up to stand, you may have to help them figure out how to sit back down again. It sounds funny, but remember – your baby has never walked and when they are learning to stand and pull themselves up right – it makes sense that they have to learn how to get back down again.
Some babies will cry when they get stuck because they are scared, frustrated or both. This is the time to take action to help them learn and develop. It’s important to not just pick your baby up and plop them back down into a sitting position. You have to restrain yourself from doing it for him or her and instead, demonstrating how they need to bend their knees in order to sit back down. You will have to do this repeatedly for a while. Babies learn by rote and practicing, they need quite a bit of practice to master the stand up and the sit down.
What About Actually Walking?
You can get a toddle toy for them to hold onto and walk around with. It’s important that you choose a toddle toy that has a wide base and that is extremely stable. They are going to be unstable enough without the toddle toy toppling over. During their first toddling steps, it’s just as easy for them to hold your hands and toddle along. You might want to be on your knees because he or she will enjoy this new sensation of toddling and hunching over can give you a heck of a backache.
Don’t be surprised if they take a step by themselves and then either stop or immediately sit down. In my experience, a lot of babies actually startle themselves when they realize they are walking without holding on to anything. You’ll have to practice not startling the baby during this phase too. It’s also very typical for a baby to toddle a step or two, see something really interesting and drop down to speed towards what they want.
When they are learning to walk, they aren’t very fast and patience is an acquired trait. It’s important to not get frustrated with them and let them set the pace. If they want to pull up and practice walking, go for it – if they want to toddle and play with their toys or explore their world – that’s okay too. During the early stages of learning to walk – try to avoid shoes if you can. Babies need their toes for balance and shoes make that very difficult.
Finally, remember to keep up with your baby proofing. You don’t want your baby to practice their walking on hard tile because that can hurt when they fall. Go for soft carpet and cushioned areas. If you have coffee tables or sharp edged objects in a room, get them off to the side, or drape something over them to help with the cushioning for when they fall.
Oh – one other thing you moms and dads can do for your baby who is learning to walk? Don’t get freaked out every time they fall. They are going to look to you for a reaction. You want to give them a smile and a friendly “OOPSIEDAISY” to encourage them to get back up. They can scare themselves, they don’t need you to panic and trigger a scare in them.