How can you teach your child to walk?

Watching their child growing up is a great experience for parents.  Especially when child starts to speak and walk. Every moment is a special moment and you just don't want to miss. Isn't that right?

Walking is really the most important milestone in your child's life. This inculcates the feeling of independence in child leaving behind the babyhood. Mostly from eight months baby starts crawling, rolling over and gradually gain muscle strength and coordination required to walk. Most of the babies take their first steps sometime between 9 and 12 months and start walking fine once they're 14 or 15 months old.

Always remember Toddlers learn how to walk before they learn to listen. So just don't command your child with a thinking that they can understand what you are trying to teach them, actually they are not. You need to be very patient and opt some small techniques to teach your child to walk.

Lets try and understand how can we help our child to develop the skill of walking.

1. Inspect your home to prevent your child from getting hurt on sharp corners, ledges, and stairs while your teaching your baby to walk.   2. Once your toddler learns to crawl, help him continue to the next step of pulling himself up to a standing position. 3. Once you child starts to stand on their own, they will need support to go back down. May be in that state they start crying. Don't just pick them and pamper them but teach them how to bend knees so they can sit down without toppling over, and let them try himself.  4. Make sure he/she has furniture to hold onto for support as he tries to move himself forward. 5. Hold his hand as he learns to balance himself. You can encourage your baby to walk by standing or kneeling in front of him and holding out your hands, by holding both his hands and walking him towards you. He/she will eventually let go to walk without any aid.

6. Stay close. He will likely walk one or two steps before looking for support. After a few tries, he will be more confident to walk many more steps. Before you know it, your child will be walking and you will be trying to catch up with him.

7. When you're teaching your baby to walk it's important not to use a walker. They can be dangerous and can cause accidents and injuries.

8. You can also avoid shoes for your baby until he/she is walking around outside or on rough or cold surfaces regularly; going barefoot helps them improve their balance and coordination.

9. One of the most important things you can do to teach your baby to walk is encourage her to get a lot of exercise. Help her to develop coordination and balance by playing physical games and toys that promote dexterity.

10. Toys that allow your baby to push or pull are excellent to teach your baby to walk. You can also play by kicking and throwing balls. These little activities will promote eye-hand coordination and balance.

11. Do not push a child to walk too early as his legs may not be ready to support him. He will walk in due course.

12. Try to keep her walking at the same pace as you, and make sure you are not moving too fast for her/his to keep up. Start taking your child for a walk, Your very own neighborhood is the best place to begin. There is not a lot of traffic. Avoid places where temptation abounds like playground, pond, toy store, or candy shop.  

13. Never leave your baby unattended, in case he falls or needs your help.

Normally children starts walking once they're 16 or 17 months old however if your baby takes a little time to roll over and crawl, chances are he'll need a few extra weeks or months for walking as well -- as long as he keeps learning new things, you don't have to be too concerned. Babies develop skills differently, some more quickly than others, but if yours seems to be lagging behind significantly, bring it up with your doctor. Keep in mind that premature babies may reach this and other milestones later than normal child.

(Sources: babycentre.co.uk, associatedcontent.com, thebabycorner.com)