Learning to walk

 

~ Interesting article from parenting.com ~

When will my baby walk?

Most babies take their first steps around their first birthday, but the age range varies from 9 to 18 months. Don’t worry if your baby takes a few detours along the way. Some kids never crawl — they go straight from standing to walking — and that’s perfectly normal. What’s important at this stage is that your child is using arms and legs together to become mobile. If your child is doing any of the following, walking is not far behind:

• Rolling around
• Crab walking
• Scooting
• Climbing stairs using his hands

Look at your child’s progress. Is he doing more this month than last month? Is he getting a little bit more of his body off the ground? If so, you’ve got nothing to worry about. If by the end of his first year he doesn’t make any effort to get around somehow, talk to your doctor.
How to encourage walking

It takes most babies about 1,000 hours of practice from the time they pull themselves upright to the time they can walk alone. To help prepare your child for taking those first few steps:

From birth:
The single most important requirement for walking: strong back muscles, which babies develop by lifting their heads while lying on their tummies. So make sure yours gets plenty of tummy time while awake. Place interesting toys and objects just out of reach for motivation.

Once she can sit:
Help her practice her balance and mobility by rolling a ball back and forth with her. Or hold a toy in front of her and move it from side to side, which will encourage her to lean this way and that. As she lunges forward or crawls, she’ll develop more strength in her neck, back, legs, and arms, as well as more control of her hips — enabling her to pull herself up to a standing position — and safely plop down again

Once she can stand:
Let her walk in front of you while you hold her hands — and periodically let go of one hand so she can experiment with balance. Or stand a few feet away from her and cheer her on when she’s standing on her own. Offer lots of encouragement and praise.

Once she can cruise:
After she has mastered standing, she may start to leave her handprints all over the house as she cruises from the wall to a chair to the coffee table. Help her by arranging sturdy furniture so she can make her way across the room. She may not yet be able to sit from a standing position, which she’ll want to learn to do before walking on her own. Be close by so you can help ease her butt down with your hand; then she’ll be able to sit without hurting her bottom.
Safety precautions

Your newly mobile baby can get around faster than you think! Step up your childproofing:

・Remove low tables with sharp corners that are hard to cover well enough to prevent injury. (Lacerations above or at the eyebrows are so common among kids learning to walk that in hospital emergency rooms they’re called coffee-table lacerations!)

・Put away furniture that topples easily.

・Scour your home for trailing cords or other items your child might trip on. Put away throw rugs, retack loose carpet, and have siblings pick up their toys.

・Install safety gates at the top and the bottom of the stairs, and supervise your baby whenever he’s on the stairs.

・Lock up all potentially harmful household substances.
Should I buy a walker?

The short answer: No! Canada has banned the sale of walkers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics supports a similar ban in the United States. Each year, thousands of children end up in the hospital due to injuries from using walkers, such as toppling down the stairs or reaching a hot stove.

Bouncers and elliptical seats aren’t good ideas, either. While they hold kids in an upright position, they don’t help them learn to walk any faster. In fact, these devices may even delay walking if they’re used too often. A child’s body is not aligned correctly when he sits in one of them. Your baby’s much better off on the floor or in a playpen.
Baby’s first shoes

When indoors, it’s best to let your child walk around barefoot. Her feet can grab slippery surfaces, like wood and tile floors, better. Outdoors, she’ll need a pair of shoes. For a perfect fit:

・Don’t shop for shoes first thing in the morning, since feet grow about 5 percent by the end of the day.

・Your child should be standing when you check for fit. You should be able to press the full width of your thumb between the tip of the shoe and the end of her toe, and there should be just enough room at the heel to squeeze your pinkie in.

・Let her toddle around the store in the shoes for five minutes, then take them off and look at her feet. If there are any irritated spots, nix those shoes — she won’t be able to break them in.

・Check the fit monthly, since feet grow rapidly at this stage. And be ready to make a trip to the shoe store every two to three months.

My story : My baby is now 8 months ++ and she is not walking on her own yet.She started the crab walking by holding on to the sofa and wall since 7 month,a week after she started to crawl n sit on her own. Fortunately she is a fast learner,because about after a week learning to stand while holding on to things,she can properly sit back.She spent the whole day practising them!She climbs anything she can now too.Hopefully i can see her walking soon!

When should I start reading to my baby?

 It’s never too early. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading aloud daily to your baby starting at 6 months of age — about the time when he’ll really begin to enjoy looking at books with you. But Jim Trelease, longtime read-aloud expert and author of the Read Aloud Handbook, says that you can start when your child’s a newborn. No matter what your baby’s age, of course, reading provides a great opportunity for cuddling and bonding.

Why is reading to my baby good for him?
Reading will help build your child’s vocabulary, stimulate his imagination, and improve his communication skills. In fact, the more you speak to your child from the get-go, the better it is for his growth and development. Studies have shown that language skills — and even intelligence — are related to how many words an infant hears each day. In one study, babies whose parents spoke to them a lot (an average of 2,100 words an hour) scored higher on standard tests when they reached age 3 than did children whose parents hadn’t been as verbal. A running commentary on the state of the neighborhood during your walk and naming your child’s body parts as you bathe him are good ways to chat. Reading is one more fun way to add variety to your verbal interactions.

What should I read to my infant?
For the first few months, your infant will be picking up on the rhythm of language — rather than the content — as he hears you speak. So when it comes to reading materials, anything goes — children’s books, a magazine, or even that novel you’ve been trying to finish.Your baby may be fascinated by pictures with bright colors and sharp contrast, though, so stock up on board books and picture books, too

My story : This is the book I currently read to my fareehah.It is fun because it has movable objects,and short so she can concentrate better.No use choosing a long story for your baby as they quickly loose interest.When i started reading to her,she was 4 1/2 months and she was not much interested.Now she always listen n looks at the pictures when i read it to her.I only use this book now,so that she will be familiar with the same words…maybe she will recognize it faster. Thinking of reading some malay story books i brought with us when she is bigger.