Comments on: You can’t run before you walk…but you can do a lot of crawling.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:38:00 +0000

My 1st son was a preemie (6 weeks early). He learned everything when he was ready including walking. My 2nd son was 18 months younger than my 1st and I remember carrying my olderst when both very pregnant and with a newborn. He walked around 18 months but wasn’t steady for a while after that.He would however walk holding onto a ribbon (wierd, I know). After a while we just let go of the ribbon and he continued to walk on his own, holding the ribbon. You never know. My 2nd son walked on his 1st birthday.

By: Amy Wright

Amy Wright — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:09:00 +0000

Both of mine waited to walk until about 2 weeks after we had our 3-hour diagnostic appointments for physical therapy. So, you could try that. Spend lots of time waiting to have someone official evaluate her so that she can have the last word by getting up to walk the next day.

By: BusyMommy

BusyMommy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:56:00 +0000

I don’t if it will help, but M didn’t walk until I put the diaper bag in the seat of his own stroller and let him push it. (The diaper bag weighed it down and the fact that he was getting so much freedom was HUGE for him.) Personally, I love that Annalynn has her own mind and I doubt that you are going to convince her to do anything until she is good and ready:D Her strong will served her well as a premie and, when channelled, will serve her well as an adult.

By: Annie

Annie — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Your daughter is a cutie! And her name is Annalyn? My name is Annie Lynn! :D Strange again, how our lives cross. :)

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:36:00 +0000

my nephew was exactly like this. They took a long jumping rope and tied it in a loop. Then sat on hte floor and put it around their (parents) bodies and held it in a tight loop and encouraged him to walk in the middle and he had sort of handlebars on both sides to support him, but flexible enough for him to learn to balance. I think it helped. That and wearing ankle supporting stiff shoes to get him off his toes…
But you are right, she just do it when she’s ready!

By: Mom2fur

Mom2fur — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:11:00 +0000

How about a little stroller or a toy shopping cart she can push around? I’d guess that she’ll eventually spot something ‘up higher’ that she’ll want, and let go of the cart to go for it.
You’re smart not to worry. I doubt she’ll be crawling into the bus for kindergarten. But I do get remember heavy they are (I have four ranging from 18-26) and how mommy just needs a break!
She is a button, btw!

By: Larissa Smith

Larissa Smith — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:03:00 +0000

Try helping her to walk, but rather than letting her hold your fingers, have her hold onto pencils or some other easily gripped item. That way, you can hold on as well, but if she seems steady enough, you can let go without her changing a thing, or just let go of one. It gives kids a sense of security to have something to hold onto, regardless of if it actually provides support.

I’ve heard that a push toy can keep kids from learning to balance straight up because they are used to leaning on the toy a bit. I’m not sure that’s true for every kid, but it’s worth considering.

By: Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:30:00 +0000

Thanks, everyone! I probably should have explained that Annalyn does stand and cruise, and she crawls and climbs a ton. And the push-behind stroller she has? The few times she’s pushed it, she does it on her knees!

By: HonorMommy

HonorMommy — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 22:26:00 +0000

Ariana didn't pull herself up to stand until she was over a year old and she didn't walk until she was 18 months...now she runs and jumps and dances and plays as hard as anyone.

I agree with putting toys up on couches, end tables (without sharp corners of course!), little toddler table/benches to roll cars /balls on are nice too...basically anything that encourages her to stand because the more she stands, the easier it is to get her to want to walk.

By-the-way...if you don't already have one, I HIGHLY recommend the Incrediblock by Fisher Price. It encourages standing and walking around the block and it is a toy my 4 year olds STILL play with (of course we have every peek-a-block fisher price has ever made to go with it!)

Another tip is from my friend Sarah who's daughter would only walk if she were holding her hand. One day she put little finger-sized sticks in her hands and she walked using the sticks...like training wheels :-D. Once she realized there was nothing attached to the sticks, she didn't need anything anymore.

Good luck! :-D

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 21:41:00 +0000

The push behind toy worked really well with our kids- they both walked early but this helped with all the falling down and crying and I would think it would also help with the moving in the first place. However, it will be a long LOOONG time before she’ll be stable enough to hold onto your hand and walk beside you. Beware the double hand holding! Kids love it. Parent’s backs hate it! I had to stop very quickly with Aiden and he learned how to walk just fine and I never did it with Katie, and she’s even more stable than Aiden was, and walked around the same age too.