How to Teach a Baby to Walk - Steps to Help Your Baby Learn to Walk (And What to Avoid)

0:00 - Over the years practicing as a paediatric occupational therapist, I have seen parents do lots and lots of different things to try and help their little one, take those first few steps. Because it is super exciting and it's something they want their baby to do desperately. But some of these strategies are really not that helpful. So in this video, I'm going to cover the do's and don'ts when you're trying to help encourage your baby to take those first few steps.

0:32 But before we do, make sure you click on that free PDF document in the description box below, which covers the developmental milestones, you can be expecting for your little one in their first year of life. This will give you an invaluable peace of mind, as you'll know when to be expecting certain skills and when to be concerned. So first let's cover what you can do to help your baby learn to take those first few steps and walk.

0:55 So the very first thing that you do need to encourage is encourage your baby to play in standing. So how you do that is place all their toys up on an elevated surface. So that might be the coffee table. Initially your baby is just going to kind of interact and play with those toys. But as they get more and more comfortable in standing, you'll notice that your baby starts to move around a little bit more when they're standing.

1:23 So they start to let go of that couch briefly. So what you can do to try and encourage your baby to progress from standing holding onto the toy or the furniture, is start to encourage them to let go with of one hand. So you can start to hold a toy up to the side. So you can place it just out of their reach up high and start to just kinda shake it and make lots of noise.

1:48 And what that will then do is encourage your baby to just hold onto the furniture with one hand and then reach out and grab that toy with the other hand. So there briefly letting go and that spur the developing their standing balance. And you wanna ensure that you do that to both sides. Now, the next thing you wanna encourage is your baby to start cruising. And how you do that, is by placing the toy on the lounge, but you place it just out of their reach, off to the side.

2:18 So it's on the lounge, but it's out of their reach. And what that encourages your baby to do is that they will look at that toy, be tempted to grab that toy and they will move their hand along, and then they'll start to move one foot to the side and then shift their body weight, and then lift the other foot. And they'll start to do those sideways steps. And this is helping to strengthen those thighs and bottom muscles, which are required to walk.

2:45 Now when your baby is getting really comfortable in cruising, so they're doing it quite easily. What you might start to see is your baby starts to cruise along vertical surfaces. So they might pull themselves up into standing and then use the wall or a glass door to walk along. Now you can encourage your baby to kind of further develop their cruising skills by placing furniture at 90 degrees. So instead of cruising all along the lounge and then stopping.

3:12 You can place a dining chair beside the lounge at 90 degrees, so that encourages your baby to reach out and place their hand on that dining chair and then kind of bridge the gap, and then transfer onto that dining chair. So it's helping to get them to get more confident in cruising and take a little step to go between furniture. Now, once your little one is confident in cruising, this is a great time to introduce a baby push walker.

3:45 So that's the wooden walkers or those plastic walkers. What they are is essentially a piece of equipment that your baby can hold on to and walk in a forward direction. So when they're cruising and they're comfortable to do that, I would just generally place that push walker beside them. When they're up in standing, holding onto the lounge and you might see your little one reach out and grab those handles on the push walker, and then start to go in a forward direction.

4:12 Now you can be there to help slow that push walker down. And if you want advice on what type of push walker to get then make sure you check out the video linked above. But you can also slow that push walker down, so that it doesn't kind of roll away on your little one and scare them. Once your little one is walking with ease, using that push walker, then it might be time to start to encourage them to walk really short distances without support.

4:39 So how you can do that, is by having two adults opposite each other. Now you wanna make sure that you're not very far apart. Because if you are too far apart, your little one is going to straightaway think, nope, I can't do it, and instead of walking, they will get onto their knees and crawl to the other adult. So you wanna be nice and close so they only need to take a few steps. And if you are doing this where your baby is walking between two adults, what you wanna try and remember is to not hold your arms out in front of you two, when your baby's walking toward you.

5:11 Because by holding your arms out in front of you, you are encouraging your baby to fall forwards. So if they are coming to you, what you wanna do is keep your arms by your side, and that will encourage your baby to walk toward you rather than fall into your arms. Now, if you don't have two people there, you can encourage your baby to start to walk independently for short distances between furniture. So that might mean that you place the couch and the coffee table at 90 degrees from each other so perpendicular to each other, and just a little bit of space.

5:45 And that means that your baby will need to take a few steps to move from that couch, onto that coffee table. And then as they get more and more confident, you can start to move those pieces of furniture further and further apart. Now, another big thing that is really important for us to remember is that our babies are going to fall over lots and lots of times. It generally does not hurt them. But as parents when we watch our little ones fall over, we automatically gasp or make really scared noises and that can actually make your baby fearful of getting up and moving around.

6:26 So when your baby falls or when they're trying to take those first few steps, you need to ensure that you use a really encouraging happy voice. Because that will tell your baby that walking and standing isn't something to be fearful of. And when they take those steps, obviously you're gonna make big big, lots of celebration and noises to tell them that they did an amazing job. And lastly, you wanna ensure that when your baby's learning to stand, cruise and walk, they aren't wearing shoes or socks.

6:57 And that is because by going barefoot, that helps in the development of those muscles in the feet, and also ensures that they're getting the sensations from their feet, which will help in their balance and coordination. Also wearing socks means that the floor is often really slippery, so it's hard for them to get traction, to then stand and then walk. Now let's cover the don'ts, for when you're helping your baby learn to walk. The first one is don't use a baby walker.

7:26 Which is where you place your baby in a slung seat, and they use their feet to kinda propel the equipment around the house. It's been linked with some significant safety concerns, and it also has been linked with potentially causing some developmental delays. It's not helping your little one learn to walk, because it's not putting them in the position that encourages them to develop those underlying motor skills and strength required for walking. The second one is don't use an exersaucer.

7:57 Or if you are using an exersaucer or any other types of baby equipment you limit it. Because placing them in this pieces of equipment, doesn't help in their overall development in increasing those general muscle tone and skills required for walking. It's the floor time activities and the pulling to stand and standing and cruising, that help your baby develop these skills. The third thing is don't freak out if your little one prefers to crawl. So it's really common for babies who are learning to walk to alternate between walking and crawling.

8:32 And that is because crawling is quicker. If they've learned to crawl, they're significantly faster at it. So if there's a toy across the room that they want straight away, instead of walking towards that toy they're going to get onto their hands and knees and crawl to it because it is significantly quicker and easier. As your baby gets stronger, they will start to use walking as their main means of getting around. And the fourth don't is, don't hold your baby by their hands to walk them around the room.

9:01 And that is because you're not working on their skill of walking. What you are doing is essentially playing with your little one. Because when you are holding them by the hands to walk, you will see your baby's body start to tilt forwards, which means that they're going to be standing and walking with their toes pointed. You'll also notice that you are automatically adjusting their balance. So when they start to lean to the side and they would fall if you weren't there to support them.

9:29 What you will do is you will automatically move your hand up to bring them back upright. And lastly, when your baby is walking with you, their feet are going to be moving really, really quickly because they're off balance, and they essentially wanna get back into their center of gravity. So these reasons means that holding them by their hand, isn't actually helping them learn the skill of walking. So those are the do's and don'ts of helping your little one learn to walk.

9:57 Have lots of fun chasing your little one around the house. And make sure you click on that free PDF document in the description box below, and hopefully I'll see you next week where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks. (soft music)