walking confidence?

emmylou1313 · February 2014

lily still doesn't walk on her own. i not worried that she cant or wont be able too because she walks great when she is holding onto my hand or finger. she doesn't really even use be for balance its like she just needs me there. for a while she was standing great by herself and even taking a step or two and now if she lets go of my hand she sits down and sobs. is there anything i can do to try and encourage her to try on her own? i know for the most part its just her deciding but all she wants to do all day is walk circles around the house with me and if we don't its tears and feet kicking. its starting to drive me a little mad.

ExcitedAunt2b · February 2014

I can understand, Morgan walked for the first time because her cup was out of her reach and she stood up and walked over to get it. Once she realized what she was doing though she dropped down to her knees and crawled the rest of the way. Do you have any push toys that Lily can use instead of your fingers or hand? Those might work and will help her become independant.

LittleFish1 · February 2014

agree that a push toy (musical bus that LO can also ride upon), or even a laundry basket were items that helped LO be a more independent walker

emmylou1313 · February 2014

j3nnyb said:

I encourage DD to use her push toys. DH likes to play keep away with her to get her standing on her own. He holds something she really wants above her head and she'll stand up. Once she realizes she's standing, she immediately sits down.

She recently got this elephant ball popper toy and is completely enthralled while playing with it. Last night she was standing while playing with it and DH told me to scoot it over a little and she took her first few steps to stay close to the toy. She was so proud of herself when we started cheering.

@emmylou1313 - Does Lily have any exposure to toddlers in her age range? It might help if she sees her peers walking without their parents help. I recently started taking DD to Gymboree and the majority of her classmates are walking. When she noticed most of them were walking, she seemed to want me to help her finger walk more during class.

i have tried all of the walking toys and she doesn't like them much we have 3 different things ( sit in walker push walker and a bus you can ride or push) she runs in to stuff and then gets upset and wont touch it for the rest of the day. i try the keep away game again i think the extreme fussiness is teething and she will be less likely to trow a tantrum since it looks like its almost through.

she only has older children around her from others in the family. we dont have a lot of activity for children in our area. she wants to fallow the big kids but its still finger walking/ running.

im going to try that with the elephant we have one as well

LittleFish1 · February 2014

I agree with @j3nnyb that seeing others who are a little ahead does spark more confidence / willingness to try

JessAnnJ · February 2014

I agree that other children can be the biggest motivator.

If she doesn't like the push toys, are there certain things that she likes to pull herself up on that you can arrange around the room so that she can move from one to the other without taking a ton of steps? Maybe something like that will give her more confidence.

UnexpectedlyExpected · February 2014

DD lacked confidence. She was constantly cruising (since all the furniture was so close) and almost running with her push toys. I ended up spreading the furniture out a little more so she couldn't just reach and pull herself to anything. I placed her favorite things on a table in the middle of the room. This worked for us, she was taking steps within an hour and walking everywhere 2 days later. I hope your LO gets the confidence boost she needs, though I'm sure her independent walking days are closer than you know.

sweetsunnyc · February 2014

Ruby is the same way- She is a champ with her push toys and barley holds the tip of my finger when she's walking- she just doesn't like to take several independent steps. The most I have seen her take at this point was five between the couch and the table. I was concerned, so I called the pediatrician to see if there was anything I could do to encourage it. She basically said not much and they walk when they're ready. She also shared the story of her three kids- the older 2 walked before a year- the youngest walked at almost 18 months. They just do it on their own time

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