How to teach a child to walk?

Happy parents observe the first steps of a normally developing child at the age of 9-18 months. And if you look at these timing of the beginning of walking in children, it becomes clear that this is a very individual skill. So there is no single standard for all babies.

In practice, many children develop according to the norms described in the pediatric literature - first they learn to crawl, then stand on their feet in the crib, move, holding onto the sides of the arena and furniture, and, finally, take the first steps without support. But there are also many children who skip the crawling phase and start walking almost immediately after learning the sitting skill.

And the answer to the question of young mothers about the beginning of their babies' walking is "the child starts to walk when it becomes sufficiently developed for this skill."

How many months do babies start to walk?

Most babies take their first independent steps at the age of 12-15 months. At the same time, there are children who begin to walk at the age of 9 months, and there are completely healthy babies who take their first steps at 18 months and later.

The age at which the child will go is influenced by many factors:

If the baby begins to take the first steps and gets sick, then this may postpone his attempts to walk on his own.
If the first attempts at walking were accompanied by painful falls, this can also affect the speed of learning to walk.
Faster and more active babies learn to move on two legs even before their first birthday. Intensive and unhurried toddlers begin to walk later - after a year.
If the child is large, then usually he takes the first steps later than a thin baby, since it is more difficult for him to physically hold his body while walking.
Kids with a calm temperament also learn to walk later, because for a long time they do not dare to abandon their proven method of movement (crawling).

See the next video for more on this.

8 months is not early?

This question is often asked by mothers whose children try to walk earlier than their peers. Note that the child's body can withstand significant loads if the child goes through the stages of development on his own, that is, no one pushes him to sit or walk. In children who take their first steps, the legs may begin to bend, but age does not affect this problem.

It is not very good if the child missed the crawling stage and at 8-9 months immediately began to rise on his legs and take steps. Pediatricians call crawling a very beneficial step because it strengthens the muscles. A toddler who crawls a little is at increased risk of developing lordosis, kyphosis, and scoliosis, because his muscles may not be prepared to walk. So parents should support the stages of development of the child's musculoskeletal system in the first year of life.

When to sound the alarm?

Even if your child is a cheerful and cheerful toddler, and also actively crawls, if he is already 15 months old, and he has not started walking, it is worth going with the baby for a consultation with specialists.

If the baby is already 18 months old, but he has not started walking, it is imperative to go to an orthopedist and neurologist.

How to strengthen leg muscles?

A child can take his first steps later if he has insufficiently strong leg muscles or has hypertonicity (the legs are very tense and the baby does not stand on his entire foot, but rises on tiptoe). With hypertonicity, you should consult a doctor, but special gymnastics, which can be performed at home, will help strengthen muscles and better develop coordination.

Exercises:

To consolidate the ability to stand independently sit the baby in a squatting position facing away from you and, holding the baby by the hips, swing the baby back and forth. This will force him to stand on level feet. You can start doing this from 9 months, but if the baby is in no hurry to get up when swinging, it means that he still has weak leg muscles and this exercise should be postponed for now.
To develop coordination, you can exercise on a fitball from 6 months (let the ball be medium in size and not fully inflated). Having put the baby on the fitball facing away from you, firmly hold the child by the hips and tilt him in different directions.
Once your toddler has learned to stand up, use a favorite toy to reinforce this skill. Move the toy across the floor (the baby will crawl after it) to the chair, and then lift it so that the baby wants to climb to the toy, grabbing the chair.
With a baby over 9 months old, you can "walk" using two sticks or a hoop. Taking two sticks approximately 1.2 m high, let the standing child grab onto them and place your hands on his handles. Then slowly begin to move forward, rearranging the poles as if they were skiing. If you decide to use a hoop, have the child inside and you outside. Start moving the hoop back and forth in a circle. So you will push the baby to move.
If the child already knows how to move around the room, holding your hand, teach him to step over the obstacle. Such an obstacle can be a rope or cord at the level of the crumb's knees. Pulling the rope between the furniture, bring the baby to it and offer to step over.
If the child has already learned to step over his legs when an adult is holding his hands (usually at 9-10 months), invite the child to hold onto a stroller or toy stroller. As soon as the stroller starts to move, the child will reach for it and begin to walk. Support the stroller so that it does not travel far away from the child. The best option is a gurney-walker.

First steps - recommendations

You should not put your baby on its legs if his body is not yet ready to walk.
It is important to encourage the movement of the baby. Exercise with your baby, put him in the pool, exercise at home with a fitball, encourage crawling.
While the baby is learning to walk along the support, consider where it will be safest. Let the baby "train" next to an ottoman, sofa or other durable furniture.
It is advisable to teach your baby to walk without shoes and socks at home. Walking barefoot stimulates the nerve endings in the feet and promotes hardening.
Ideally, the child's walking should not be an end, but only a means. So use the child's motivation and curiosity in teaching, for example, suggest that the baby go to mom, a toy or other goal. Position the target one or two steps away from your baby.
You should not compare your child's walking progress with other toddlers. If peers are already walking, and you are not yet, do not get upset or disappointed, but praise for each, even a small success.
If it's too cold at home to go barefoot, buy socks for the crumbs with rubberized soles.
If the baby falls, do not panic or scream. Try to calm the baby down and make this episode not very noticeable for him.
Keep the baby in the stroller less when walking. Let the stroller become just a transport to the playground or park for the first birthday. Encourage your toddler to move more and play with children.
Make your home as baby-safe as possible. Sharp corners of furniture, floor fragile vases, opening doors of cabinets with household chemicals, electrical outlets, slippery rugs, hanging tablecloths, fragile objects - direct your attention to these little things.
Do not support the baby with your armpits, as this is fraught with spoiled posture and deformation of the feet. You can hold your baby's hands or forearms.

Do I need to use a walker?

Trying to help kids quickly master upright walking, adults create various educational products. There is often debate about the usefulness, uselessness and even harm of such things. One such controversial device for learning to walk is the walker. They are a round table with a seat and wheels. The seat height can often be adjusted. When a child sits in such a device, he can push off with his legs and move around the room.

There is always a lot of debate about the walker. They have many supporters and many convinced opponents. In fact, if you avoid buying dangerous cheap models, use them at the age indicated in the instructions, and follow safety precautions, walkers are not harmful.

For the opinion of Dr. Komarovsky on the use of a walker, see the following video.

Important points in using a walker:

The device is not suitable for children who have not yet learned to sit.
A toddler in a walker should not be left unattended.
An unnecessarily long stay in this device causes stress on the baby's back.

However, as harmless as walkers are, they are also useless (when it comes to walking skills). The kid in such a device does not walk at all, but rather pushes off the floor and rolls around. At the same time, he does not maintain balance at all, does not learn to coordinate movements, and is also completely protected from falling.

In just 1 year, thousands of accidents occur due to walkers, because the child moves very quickly in them, at such a speed that he could not develop on his own. The child in the walker must be constantly monitored, otherwise he may fall down the stairs or, for example, crash into something.

In addition to walkers to help parents teach children to walk, there are such devices:

Wheelchair or walker wheelchair. The child holds on to its handle and pushes the stroller forward. Other movable toys are also good - a cart, a car, a baby carriage and others.
Rein. With the help of such a design of straps, an adult insures the baby from falling during his first attempts to walk on his own.

Recommendations from E. Komarovsky

A well-known doctor considers walkers to be a useful device only for parents, because they allow the mother to get a little respite for a while in communication with the baby. But since the walker does not at all speed up the baby's transition to upright posture, Komarovsky recommends purchasing an arena for the same purpose.

The undoubted harm of walkers, according to the doctor, is associated with too early giving the child an upright position. First, the baby must strengthen the ligaments and muscles by crawling, and only after that learn to walk. If parents use a walker, they should remember about moderation and leave the child in them for 30-40 minutes, no more.

Toe walking

Walking on tiptoes while learning to move on two legs is absolutely normal. This is due to the good development of the calf muscles in babies, which are responsible for the movement of the feet in the sagittal plane (front to back). It is they who ensure the rise of the child on toes while walking.

Also, tiptoeing can be a symptom of neurological problems, but it is never the only manifestation. So, if the child does not have other adverse symptoms, you should not worry about tiptoeing the baby.

Choosing shoes

The baby should buy the first shoes at the end of the day, because usually at this time the leg expands. Putting your baby on a new pair of shoes, let the baby stand in it for a while or even walk around the store. So you can check if the shoes are crushing, if they are spacious, if there are spots on the skin of the feet.

Features of the first shoe for a child:

high firm heel;
comfortable clasp;
elastic sole;
natural material;
strength;
ease.

Do you need an instep support?

As for the instep support in the child's first shoe, the opinions of orthopedists were divided:

Some doctors are sure of its necessity as a prevention of the development of flat feet.
Other experts argue that the instep support, on the contrary, weakens the muscles of the foot. It mechanically forms the curvature of the foot, which should develop naturally in the child. These orthopedists recommend choosing loose enough shoes for walking, with the sole bending, and also giving the little one to walk barefoot whenever possible.

We consider walking on the street in shoes with an instep support as the optimal solution, and walking barefoot at home.

We back up

When the baby has learned to walk, it is important to look at your apartment through the eyes of a child and take the necessary precautions:

The child will now be able to reach those items that he could not take before, for example, a cup of hot tea on the coffee table;
Remove the tablecloths, fasten the cords, because now the baby will use them to catch on.
Remove light objects that the child can lean on so that they do not move when the child grabs them.
Set aside a "training" area where he will walk. The floor should not be slippery. In some cases, you will have to rearrange at home.

You can periodically create a special "obstacle course" of safe furniture for training your baby. But be at this time close to the child and watch his movements.

Solving possible problems

In the process of mastering walking, the following difficulties are possible:

Frequent falls. Poor vision is the cause of this problem. So, if the crumb often falls, an examination by an ophthalmologist is recommended.
Fear of walking on your own. Most often this is a psychological problem arising from a painful fall or fright. Do not scold the kid and do not rush him, but approve of his actions and support.
Hypertonicity of the leg muscles. Its consequence is constant walking on toes. In case of increased tone, gymnastics and massage are usually prescribed.
Incorrect position of the feet while walking. The normal position is parallel foot placement. Due to weak ligaments, deviations from the norm are possible - the child can "clubfoot" (the feet are turned toes to each other), walk on tiptoes with the foot "piled up" outward, or "roll over" the foot inward. In case of any such deviation, it is important to immediately go to the orthopedist and start the correction on time.

To learn how to teach a child to walk, see the program "Living Healthy".