GM.B.72 WALKS ALONE, ARMS HELD HIGH

The joy of independent walking needs no explanation. To see their child walk alone is the goal of all parents.

Your child will start walking with her arms held high to reinforce her trunk stability and she will move quickly, because she doesn’t yet have the control or the balance to move slowly.

How to Asses

Method: Place your child standing in the middle of the floor or leaning back against a wall or supported by furniture. Encourage her to walk to you. Score plus if your child walks alone for 4 or 5 steps.

How to Teach

There is a tremendous gap between the last walking skill (walking, one hand held) and walking alone. It is a huge psychological hurdle and requires a tremendous amount of practice and encouragement. Many children are physically capable of walking but do not have the confidence to take off. The only solution is practice.

Method 1

When your child is walking happily, one hand held, start to hold her behind the wrist so that she is no longer grasping your hand. This is a gradual weaning process from the thought that she must be grasping something before she walks.

As her confidence increases, lessen the strength of your grip and allow her arm to more as she walks rather than holding it rigid for her to use as a support. If she is very reluctant to let go your hand, you can make use of a broom handle or piece of doweling, and when she has mastered this, a piece of hose tubing.

You hold one end of it, she the other, and this way you can wean her off your direct support.

Method 2

Practise walking between 2 people. Kneel a short distance apart. Stand your child, her back towards you, in front of your knees. Allow her to balance in standing first, then tell her to ‘Walk to Daddy’. When she gets to the other person reward her with a big hug, then turn her around to walk back to Mummy! Repeat this over and over again until she knows she is not going to hurt herself and gradually her confidence will increase to take those few steps unaided.

Once your child is confident enough to take 1 or 2 steps on her own, the problem then becomes to gain control enough to be able to take 8 or 10 without toppling forward.

So the emphasis changes from encouraging her to step a few quick steps to being able to step 1 or 2 steps, then stop and gain her balance before she steps again. Place her standing in the middle of the floor, ask her to walk and now introduce the word ‘slowly’. After 2 or 3 steps, touch her gently on her chest and her back simultaneously (only one finger touch is necessary) to stop her walking. Allow her to regain her standing balance, then let her walk 2 or 3 more steps. Continue this for 8 or 10 steps. When she’s reached the predetermined goal, reward her with ‘Good girl, you walked slowly’. Give her every opportunity to experiment with walking herself. Separate the furniture so that she can walk short distances from one item to another. Place her a few steps from the table or bed and encourage her to walk to it. The more walking she does, the better she will become at it. Estimate the percentage of time that she spends each day on her feet and try to increase it. Try to spend as much time as possible with walking children the same size as your child. Borrow a small walking child for half a day to provide a model for your child.

Again, if your child is walking with legs wide apart, use the headband (as described in GM.A) around her thighs for part of the day, to encourage her to walk with her legs closer together.