GM.B.70 WALKS, ONE HAND HELD

Gradually you are lessening your child’s support when walking. Walking with one hand held demands a lot of balance, because the support is asymmetrical.

This is an enjoyable activity for parents, because you can walk with her in your normal manner (maybe having to bend over slightly, depending on your relative heights!)

How to Asses

Method: Hold your child by one hand below shoulder level and walk with her. Score plus if your child walks for 2 metres without overbalancing.

How to Teach
Until now, walking forward has been assisted by 2 hands – either 2 hands held or 2 hands gripping the cart handle. To suddenly lose half this support will be a bit frightening initially. You may start by giving your child something to hold in her free hand.

Standing to the side of her, hold one arm – one of your hands on her upper arm and one holding her hand. Your hand closest to her body will be very necessary to help her balance initially. Give a direction such as a ‘Walk to the table’, and only attempt to walk 2 or 3 paces at first. You may find that she will swing around to face you and hold onto you, so keep the supporting arm well forward and is she starts to overbalance, stop and wait for her to recover.

It may be easier if you walk her with her free hand close to the wall and encourage her to touch the wall if she needs extra support, rather than swinging around to clutch at you.

Reduce the support you give her by moving your hand further down her arm to her elbow and then to her forearm. As you make each of these changes you may need to take her back against a wall so that her free hand can use the wall for support if necessary.

Gradually increase the length of your one-handed walks, and go from the table to a chair, chair to the lounge, lounge to the door, etc. Again, practise as often as possible in bare feet, or supportive boots if she goes over at the ankle, and with trainer pants rather than bulky nappies. If your child has low muscle tone and/or walks with her legs far apart, use an elastic headband (as described in GM.A) around her thighs to keep her legs together. Walk on different surfaces (carpet, vinyl, concrete and grass) as all these surfaces require different adjustments of balance.