Have you been wondering what you can do to help your baby learn to walk? In this video, I’m going
to show you 8 activities you can do to get your baby closer to taking that first independent step.
If this is our first time meeting, I’m Dr. Belousov. I equip parents with knowledge so
they can care for their baby with confidence. This video is a part of my baby development
series. Some of the other videos will be linked at the end of this one.
A baby typically starts to walk between the ages of 10 and 14 months.
There is a progression of activities that your baby will need to master
leading up to her being able to walk independently.
Activities from her initial months of life, including tummy time, rolling over,
sitting, and crawling all play into strengthening the muscles that help support her ability to stand
and then walk. This is why the best way to prepare your baby for standing and eventually walking
is to provide plenty of time playing on the floor and encourage crawling.
Usually by 9 months, a baby will master pulling herself up to stand by holding
onto a parents hands or nearby furniture. You can help your baby improve her strength,
balance and visual tracking by doing an exercise where you hold onto her hands or forearms
and gently start to pull her up, giving her the opportunity to engage her core muscles
as she gets herself into a standing position. After having her stand for 5-10 seconds, slowly
lower her back to a sitting position and repeat again multiple times as your baby tolerates.
You can also help your baby into a standing position and place her hands on a sofa
or another piece of furniture. Allow her to support her own weight for as
long as she can while you are close by. Once your baby is able to pull up to stand
without help, you can transition to an activity of putting your hands above her hips while she
is standing. Slowly shift her body weight from one leg to the other in a side to side rocking motion,
as if you’re doing a little dance. Make sure your baby's arms are free for her to use for balancing.
To encourage your baby to start cruising around, while she is in a standing position
and holding onto furniture such as a sofa, place her favorite toy just out of reach
to one side. Once she makes a move towards it, you can keep moving the toy to get her
to keep cruising along the length of the sofa. If you’re finding this information helpful,
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To teach your baby to stand independently without support, while he is standing and holding on to a
piece of furniture, hold out a favorite toy item within reach. As he lifts one arm up
to get the toy, transition it closer to the other hand to encourage him to have both arms off the
supporting surface. Be patient and don’t rush him. It will take time to develop this skill.
As her muscles get stronger and she becomes more confident, she will start to independently stand
up on her own for brief periods of time. Make sure you have your baby barefoot
while he is learning to walk. It gives him the opportunity to feel different surfaces
and textures and these sensory signals provide more awareness to the feet.
Set aside several times throughout the day to practice walking with your
baby as she is learning. While holding her by the hands, you can walk around the room.
As your baby is getting more confident standing on her own, try to remove your support and give
her a chance to support her own body weight. Also give your baby a chance to take steps
by having one adult standing out in front of her with arms outstretched motioning for her to come
or holding a favorite toy, while another adult is supporting her in a standing
position by holding on to her waist, so her hands are free to help her with balancing.
As a pediatrician I want to take a moment to talk about baby walkers that look like this. The
American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recomends against parents using them with their babies.
Thousands of kids end up in the Emergency room every year due to injuries associated with using
these types of baby walkers. The most common are injuries due to rolling down the stairs.
Other babies get burns, because they can reach higher in a walker to grab pot handles
off the stove or spill a hot liquid or food on themselves. They can more readily reach radiators,
fireplaces or space heaters as well. There have also been cases of babies drowning because of
falling into the pool due to increased ease of getting around while in a baby walker.
Also the way that the babies legs are positioned when in a walker is not a natural stance.
It can teach the hips and knees to take weight in an abnormal position, which can lead to long-term
changes to the child's walking pattern and can sometimes cause longterm hip problems.
Also baby walkers teach babies to scoot around on their tip toes and
this strengthens the wrong muscles of the legs. However push walkers like this one are fine
to use. They help build strength, balance and confidence in a baby as she is learning to walk.
Remember learning to walk is a gradual learning process for your baby that takes
patience and practice. Continue to encourage your baby along and celebrate the little wins
as your baby progresses closer to taking those first independent steps.
In the comments section below, let me know
which of these recommendations you found to be most helpful.
I’m looking forward to seeing you in my next video.