Easier way to walk baby
January 6, 2010 4:55 AM Subscribe
How can I help my energetic baby to walk, without breaking my back?!
Our 8-month-old boy wants to be on his feet ALL the time.
He can't yet walk on his own, so Mum or me have to hold his hands while he walks - or even runs - around the house.
He gets upset if we don't comply, but the constant bending over is killing our backs.
Any suggestions gratefully accepted. We live in the UK.
Thanks.
Our 8-month-old boy wants to be on his feet ALL the time.
He can't yet walk on his own, so Mum or me have to hold his hands while he walks - or even runs - around the house.
He gets upset if we don't comply, but the constant bending over is killing our backs.
Any suggestions gratefully accepted. We live in the UK.
Thanks.
Does he show any interest in those toys that babies can push around to help them walk?
posted by drezdn at 5:22 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by drezdn at 5:22 AM on January 6, 2010
He's not the boss of you. You are not obligated to be his perpetual plaything. This is the age where what babies need and what they want start to diverge, so if he's upset you won't help him all the time, he'll still survive fine.
It's great that you want to help him walk, but 8 months is early for that anyway. Give him other stuff to do. Those seats with toys attached to them keep babies busy for 15-20 min at a time or so, plus let them practice pushing their feet down. When my son was that age, he was crazy for a bouncy chair that hung in the doorway. He sat in that and boinged up and down for as long as we'd let him.
Let him figure out crawling and scooting. Once he's independently mobile you'll have a whole new set of fun challenges in preventing him from mouthing everything in reach.
posted by mneekadon at 5:24 AM on January 6, 2010 [6 favorites]
It's great that you want to help him walk, but 8 months is early for that anyway. Give him other stuff to do. Those seats with toys attached to them keep babies busy for 15-20 min at a time or so, plus let them practice pushing their feet down. When my son was that age, he was crazy for a bouncy chair that hung in the doorway. He sat in that and boinged up and down for as long as we'd let him.
Let him figure out crawling and scooting. Once he's independently mobile you'll have a whole new set of fun challenges in preventing him from mouthing everything in reach.
posted by mneekadon at 5:24 AM on January 6, 2010 [6 favorites]
Get him a walker like this? My 8 month old grandson is hell on wheels on his. He loves it. Get a used one.
posted by Daddy-O at 5:25 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by Daddy-O at 5:25 AM on January 6, 2010
I don't know about in the UK, but wheeled walkers are viewed as very dangerous in the US. It's too easy for babies to fall down stairs or tip over somehow.
The bouncy chair I was talking about is this. It gives babies a chance to push off the floor without going anywhere, except up and down.
posted by mneekadon at 5:29 AM on January 6, 2010
The bouncy chair I was talking about is this. It gives babies a chance to push off the floor without going anywhere, except up and down.
posted by mneekadon at 5:29 AM on January 6, 2010
My kid loved his Jumperoo. I wish we'd bought a used one as he only used it for about 2 months but for those two months, it was The Place To Be as far as he was concerned.
posted by Kangaroo at 5:37 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by Kangaroo at 5:37 AM on January 6, 2010
My 10mo is just emerging from that. My ideas:
- Lie down on the floor on your side and let him prop himself up on you and walk around you
- Turn over a laundry basket/milkcrate/cardboard box and let him push it around
- Both my kids liked this push cart from Ikea and it's held up really well. A few convert into ride on toys for when they get to that stage.
The other option is to give him more interesting stuff at ground level when you need a break: old catalogues, colored cellophane, aluminum foil, old telephones, plastic bottles tightly closed and filled with a mix of colored oil and water, etc. The list goes on and on...
posted by cocoagirl at 6:00 AM on January 6, 2010
- Lie down on the floor on your side and let him prop himself up on you and walk around you
- Turn over a laundry basket/milkcrate/cardboard box and let him push it around
- Both my kids liked this push cart from Ikea and it's held up really well. A few convert into ride on toys for when they get to that stage.
The other option is to give him more interesting stuff at ground level when you need a break: old catalogues, colored cellophane, aluminum foil, old telephones, plastic bottles tightly closed and filled with a mix of colored oil and water, etc. The list goes on and on...
posted by cocoagirl at 6:00 AM on January 6, 2010
Here's another option if your primary concern is the bending over aspect. We used it with some success while our little one was learning to walk.
That said, I disagree with mneekadon. There are plenty of kids out there who start learning to walk at 8 months. And plenty who never bother with crawling. You may have a fast learner on your hands. Best of luck to you.
posted by Morydd at 6:33 AM on January 6, 2010
That said, I disagree with mneekadon. There are plenty of kids out there who start learning to walk at 8 months. And plenty who never bother with crawling. You may have a fast learner on your hands. Best of luck to you.
posted by Morydd at 6:33 AM on January 6, 2010
When I read this I immediately thought of a product I'd seen online recently: Walking Wings, a sort of harness that allows you to stand straight while walking with your baby. I have not used it and don't know if it would work very well, but there it is.
posted by carmen at 6:37 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by carmen at 6:37 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, strollers and push carts are great. If part of his interest is being mobile, he can get a lot more places more quickly with one of these, rather than the bulky walkers or immobile bouncers.
posted by RajahKing at 6:39 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by RajahKing at 6:39 AM on January 6, 2010
If it's any consolation, it's a short window where they want this kind of help and the suffering you go through now will be fondly viewed down the road.
Been there, have the bent spine to prove it.
posted by unixrat at 6:42 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Been there, have the bent spine to prove it.
posted by unixrat at 6:42 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: For when you do want to indulge him, there are harnesses out there like this or this - but in the manner of the former option, I just used a pashmina scarf that I had around, and it was just fine. That's to answer the question about how to help yourselves.
But, really it sounds like he's got energy to burn and wants to achieve mobility and to explore a world he recently discovered is larger than the ten feet surrounding him. And of course you want him to push his new abilities, explore his boundaries and develop physically. But to help him, teach him to help himself, by teaching him that he CAN help himself. We all know kids need limits as well as boundaries, and to expand on mneekadon's very good point - you can't be his unlimited source of mobility-enabling - and if he squawks so much about your not complying, he might be that much more motivated to push himself once he knows your limits.
To use up some of that energy and give yourselves a break:
He might like something like a Jolly Jumper, if there are such things over there. Walkers are also discouraged here in Canada, but an exersaucer-type toy might help, if you don't have one.
To give him some freedom to move: A little pushcart might work. Or one of those ride-on toys that he can push or be moved around on, as linked to above.
I suspect that left to his own (a little supervised benign neglect) he'll first need to get past his frustration (also an important learning experience that shouldn't take too long) and might start "cruising" the furniture. That should satisfy his need to roam, though maybe not his need for speed. Which is also fine. As has been said, he needs to go through all of the stages leading up to walking himself. The pulling up, balancing, standing... And then what I read once was the hardest stage: Balancing on the one foot just long enough to put the other forward. He's got to do all that himself. Here's a good little article that covers this.
posted by peagood at 6:57 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
But, really it sounds like he's got energy to burn and wants to achieve mobility and to explore a world he recently discovered is larger than the ten feet surrounding him. And of course you want him to push his new abilities, explore his boundaries and develop physically. But to help him, teach him to help himself, by teaching him that he CAN help himself. We all know kids need limits as well as boundaries, and to expand on mneekadon's very good point - you can't be his unlimited source of mobility-enabling - and if he squawks so much about your not complying, he might be that much more motivated to push himself once he knows your limits.
To use up some of that energy and give yourselves a break:
He might like something like a Jolly Jumper, if there are such things over there. Walkers are also discouraged here in Canada, but an exersaucer-type toy might help, if you don't have one.
To give him some freedom to move: A little pushcart might work. Or one of those ride-on toys that he can push or be moved around on, as linked to above.
I suspect that left to his own (a little supervised benign neglect) he'll first need to get past his frustration (also an important learning experience that shouldn't take too long) and might start "cruising" the furniture. That should satisfy his need to roam, though maybe not his need for speed. Which is also fine. As has been said, he needs to go through all of the stages leading up to walking himself. The pulling up, balancing, standing... And then what I read once was the hardest stage: Balancing on the one foot just long enough to put the other forward. He's got to do all that himself. Here's a good little article that covers this.
posted by peagood at 6:57 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh! And one article I read recently, plus links to others on walking here.
posted by peagood at 7:02 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by peagood at 7:02 AM on January 6, 2010
YOGA BALL!. Let the kid push it in front of him as he runs madly around the room. Hover, if you must, but most of the toddling kids I know who pushed yoga balls around were fine with the supervised benign neglect and rarely tumbled while pushing the yoga ball around.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:15 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by crush-onastick at 7:15 AM on January 6, 2010
Those walkers are not only dangerous if you live in a home with stairs or inclines, but they actually don't help babies learn how to walk any faster and can delay development.
Babies love jumparoos (listed above) and mini-strollers. The toy strollers seem unstable but they're actually great. I was worried when my 1 year-old charge started using them when she was unsteady on her feet, but she was a pro. The jumping harnesses that you install in doorways are probably safe too, but they stress me out with the baby jumping so close to hard wood doorways.
posted by zoomorphic at 7:32 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Babies love jumparoos (listed above) and mini-strollers. The toy strollers seem unstable but they're actually great. I was worried when my 1 year-old charge started using them when she was unsteady on her feet, but she was a pro. The jumping harnesses that you install in doorways are probably safe too, but they stress me out with the baby jumping so close to hard wood doorways.
posted by zoomorphic at 7:32 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Zoomorphic's right. Walkers that you put the baby inside are not a good idea.
As the mommy of a new walker, I have to tell you that you're just going to have to put up with it for awhile.
We have this thing and he loves it.
posted by k8t at 8:28 AM on January 6, 2010
As the mommy of a new walker, I have to tell you that you're just going to have to put up with it for awhile.
We have this thing and he loves it.
posted by k8t at 8:28 AM on January 6, 2010
My daughter loves this simple cart. It doesn't take up much room. It's not overly branded and doesn't have any pointless parts. It can be used in many ways. Before she could walk independently, my daughter could walk around while pushing the cart. She enjoyed climbing in and out of it. A friend could ride in the cart, while she pushed. She could ride in the cart, and we could give her wild joyrides across the living room. It's also a handy storage item for random toys.
Like others have said, the holding hands while walking thing only lasts a short while, so take heart. Now I need to hold onto her hand with an iron grip if I don't want her running away from me.
posted by tk at 8:29 AM on January 6, 2010
Like others have said, the holding hands while walking thing only lasts a short while, so take heart. Now I need to hold onto her hand with an iron grip if I don't want her running away from me.
posted by tk at 8:29 AM on January 6, 2010
Oh, my!
He sounds like our son at that age, and really our son from four months to that age. We went to a park that had push around toys, and he would latch on to sturdy boxes and push those around the hallway of our apartment. By 10 months, he was walking, and now at a year, he doesn't show much interest in pushing things just to push things these days, though he still does occasionally.
But mostly I wanted to chime in to commiserate and to wish you the best if he turns out to be an early walker like ours who started walking at 10 months. He didn't spend long on taking steps -- he kinda just launched into walking.
As for your back, I found if I regularly did some core exercises, my back tolerated the abuse better. I try (and am not always successful) to do some number of ab exercises each day as well. It really has helped. I also started seeing a chiropractor, and that has helped as well, and not just with my back but with my legs and my arms as well. That last may not be for you, but if you can fit in just a little bit of core strengthening each day, I think you'll find it'll help with your back pain. I know it does with me!
Baby Zizzle even helps with resistance in some of the core exercises by sitting on my stomach and bouncing up and down as I do them.
posted by zizzle at 8:59 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
He sounds like our son at that age, and really our son from four months to that age. We went to a park that had push around toys, and he would latch on to sturdy boxes and push those around the hallway of our apartment. By 10 months, he was walking, and now at a year, he doesn't show much interest in pushing things just to push things these days, though he still does occasionally.
But mostly I wanted to chime in to commiserate and to wish you the best if he turns out to be an early walker like ours who started walking at 10 months. He didn't spend long on taking steps -- he kinda just launched into walking.
As for your back, I found if I regularly did some core exercises, my back tolerated the abuse better. I try (and am not always successful) to do some number of ab exercises each day as well. It really has helped. I also started seeing a chiropractor, and that has helped as well, and not just with my back but with my legs and my arms as well. That last may not be for you, but if you can fit in just a little bit of core strengthening each day, I think you'll find it'll help with your back pain. I know it does with me!
Baby Zizzle even helps with resistance in some of the core exercises by sitting on my stomach and bouncing up and down as I do them.
posted by zizzle at 8:59 AM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Wow! What a response!
Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my query.
My boy does have a little walking cart, but he can only walk in straight lines with it!
I'll check out the various harnesses etc with a view to throwing some money at the problem. Both my wife and I are older than the average first-time parents so our backs aren't as supple as they should be.
Thanks again for all your kindness.
posted by Blackwatch at 9:01 AM on January 6, 2010
Thank you all for taking the time to reply to my query.
My boy does have a little walking cart, but he can only walk in straight lines with it!
I'll check out the various harnesses etc with a view to throwing some money at the problem. Both my wife and I are older than the average first-time parents so our backs aren't as supple as they should be.
Thanks again for all your kindness.
posted by Blackwatch at 9:01 AM on January 6, 2010
My daughter decided to skip crawling and wanted to walk right away. I'd say around 6 months we got a jumperoo. She loved it and it got her used to pushing off with her legs. Eventually we upgraded from that to a walker at about 8 months. Greatest thing ever. She would tear around the apartment in that thing. We don't have stairs so that wasn't a concern for us. By 10 months she was walking on her own.
If you do get a walker don't get the ones that fold flat. Theres always the danger the thing will just collapse while your kid is in it. We got one with solid legs from Graco. Its bulkier, but sturdy as hell.
posted by Nyarlathotep at 9:09 AM on January 6, 2010
If you do get a walker don't get the ones that fold flat. Theres always the danger the thing will just collapse while your kid is in it. We got one with solid legs from Graco. Its bulkier, but sturdy as hell.
posted by Nyarlathotep at 9:09 AM on January 6, 2010
You don't have to throw money at the problem. Use a long wooden cooking spoon to bridge the gap between your hand and his. Someone in my family - I can't remember who - did this. Mom held one end of the spoon, kid held the other end. Eventually, when kid was doing pretty well, mom let go and kid kept walking with the spoon up in the air.
posted by Dojie at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by Dojie at 9:38 AM on January 6, 2010
My baby liked pushing kitchen chairs all over the house before she was walking alone. We have felt pads on the bottoms, so they slid and didn't destroy the floor. The chair was steadier than the baby push cart thingy. She would also push the big coffee table around, but that got destructive quickly.
posted by artychoke at 9:56 AM on January 6, 2010
posted by artychoke at 9:56 AM on January 6, 2010
He's not the boss of you. You are not obligated to be his perpetual plaything.
If a baby cries, you need to do your best to respond. Far from creating needy children, attachment parenting actually promotes emotional independence.
Anyway, we have a 9-month-old, and we use an exersaucer. It's a win-win.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:52 AM on January 6, 2010
If a baby cries, you need to do your best to respond. Far from creating needy children, attachment parenting actually promotes emotional independence.
Anyway, we have a 9-month-old, and we use an exersaucer. It's a win-win.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:52 AM on January 6, 2010
We had to do a little rearranging of the living room, and taught our little guys how to cruise. We set things up so that they could go across the couch, then over to a chair, then across a table and back. I would move the toys so that at first they were at one end and then they were at the other end. That kept them busy for a pretty good chunk of time as long as I kept moving the toys around.
We also set up one of those really inexpensive mirrors that usually go on the back of a bathroom door. We put it on the wall sideways and let them cruise back and forth along that. The little narcissists loved it.
posted by TooFewShoes at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
We also set up one of those really inexpensive mirrors that usually go on the back of a bathroom door. We put it on the wall sideways and let them cruise back and forth along that. The little narcissists loved it.
posted by TooFewShoes at 12:06 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
If a baby cries, you need to do your best to respond. Far from creating needy children, attachment parenting actually promotes emotional independence.
KokuRyu, I absolutely agree with you. Up to a point. Babies need and deserve to feel safe and cared for. We certainly went the attachment parenting route, including cosleeping, nursing til he was 3 (he's now 7, almost 8), etc. A parent should respond when a baby cries.
That said, once a baby gets old enough to have goals apart from survival (ie eating, sleeping, getting his butt wiped), sometimes he's going to be frustrated, not because his needs aren't met, but because he wants to do things he's not capable of doing. It's your job as a parent to teach him how to self-soothe, and how to handle that frustration. You can hop to his specific desires, or you can redirect. If you always do exactly what he demands, without offering alternatives, he'll expect only that, and become harder and harder to redirect.
Just speaking from my own (somewhat challenging) experience.
posted by mneekadon at 1:18 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
KokuRyu, I absolutely agree with you. Up to a point. Babies need and deserve to feel safe and cared for. We certainly went the attachment parenting route, including cosleeping, nursing til he was 3 (he's now 7, almost 8), etc. A parent should respond when a baby cries.
That said, once a baby gets old enough to have goals apart from survival (ie eating, sleeping, getting his butt wiped), sometimes he's going to be frustrated, not because his needs aren't met, but because he wants to do things he's not capable of doing. It's your job as a parent to teach him how to self-soothe, and how to handle that frustration. You can hop to his specific desires, or you can redirect. If you always do exactly what he demands, without offering alternatives, he'll expect only that, and become harder and harder to redirect.
Just speaking from my own (somewhat challenging) experience.
posted by mneekadon at 1:18 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Once again - thanks for all your input. I particularly like the wooden spoon idea!
Cheers!
posted by Blackwatch at 1:33 AM on January 7, 2010
Cheers!
posted by Blackwatch at 1:33 AM on January 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by biggity at 5:22 AM on January 6, 2010