Children learn to walk between ages of 9 months to 18 months. It entirely depends on their physical growth, nature and health condition. Many kids start walking as they turn 9 months old while a few others start it later.
Though you can’t specify as to when your child will start taking those wonderful steps, but you can always encourage him or her to take that first step.
Your encouragement will build up the confidence for walking in your child.
Look for the Signs
Many babies start crawling initially and then they slowly learn to stand up and then try to walk. However, there are many kids who start walking without crawling. If you find that your child often rolls around, craws, can climb stairs taking support, then it’s a sure sign that your child is gearing up to take that first step. You will have to monitor your child’s progress month by month. You should keep a watch on your child’s physical growth. Don’t worry if your kid doesn’t start walking even after one year. Normally children learn to walk around their first birthday, but a few learn late.
Building Confidence in your Child for Walking
1. Strong back muscles are what help your child in walking.These muscles are developed when your baby lifts his hands while lying on his tummy. To make sure that this hand lifting is done more often, try holding toys or other attractive things above him that would make the child keen enough to reach out to them.
2. Once your baby is able to sit on his own, try to engage him by placing toys around him like colourful balls or other musical toys. Roll them from one side to other side. Your baby will try to move towards the direction of toy. When he tries to crawls to catch toy, he will build up more strength in his back, arms, neck, legs and gain control in his hips. In this way, he will try to stand up.
3. As your kid learns how to stand up, he gradually tries to walk with some support. When your baby is sitting, put his toys on sofa or bed or stool or at level where your baby can reach easily by standing. He will try to stand up in order to catch that stuff. Once he stands up by holding on to some support, put another toy slightly far from him and cheer up by clapping and instructing him to move. It will motivate your child to walk and catch the object. Remember, you should keep the things at safe places. If he fails to stand up on his own, you can lend the support of your hand.
4. Once the child learns to walk holding on to some support, say by holding your hands, try to let him walk without that support. But this needs to be a gradual process. Check as to how far your child is able to walk with some support. If he can walk confidently with support for more than five or ten minutes, he can learn soon to walk easily without support.
5. Hold your child’s hand when he tries to walk without any support. Teach him this way for few days. If mother and father can sit on opposite sides and encourage child to go from mother’s side to father’s side, he will learn the thing quickly. Keep less distance initially.
Some Precautions to Take
When your baby starts learning the skills of walking, you should take necessary precautions to protect your baby from any injury or harmful objects.
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Keep any pointed object, or breakable object like glass furniture away from your child’s reach.
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Do not keep your bathroom or toilets door open. You should also close your entrance door or balcony door.
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Ensure that all your electrical sockets are sealed with safety caps so that the child doesn’t put in his fingers while he walks around.
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Always keep a watch on your child, even if you become busy in the kitchen or get engaged in other work. It is very essential to keep constant watch as your child can move at any place by crawling or walking. He is also habituated of putting objects in mouth; therefore, you should be very watchful to protect your baby from such activities.
Every child starts to walk at different ages. Therefore, parents need to keep patience if their kid learns walking at later stage. Just keep encouraging him to take that first step!