Has your baby started pulling herself up and standing? Doesn't that make your heart melt? Maybe your baby was crawling and has decided to start standing by themselves, or maybe they never crawled at all. Walking is one of the greatest milestones to see your baby complete in the first year, although not every baby will walk by the time they are one. But if you would like to encourage your child to walk, there are a couple of things you can do.
Move Furniture
Encourage your child to 'cruise' along the furniture. Cruising simply means using the furniture to stand up and walk along side. Strategically place furniture in your house so that your baby can go from the sofa to the coffee table and from the kitchen chair to the cabinets in the kitchen.
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Praise Your Child
Every time your child transfers from one piece of furniture to the next without sitting down, praise them. Let them know how proud you are so that they will repeat it. And if they stand with no hands, praise them more!
Practice Makes Perfect
They say that babies need around 1000 hours of practice before they will get the hang of something. So, practice, practice, practice! Hold your child's hands and encourage them to walk toward you. Do this as many times as you can a day. Eventually, you'll want to only hold one of their hands while they walk toward you so they can experience balancing themselves.
These are just three things you can do to encourage your little one to walk. Keep in mind though, that babies can't be forced to do something. They can only do what they want when they are ready. Just remember to keep a smile on your face and practice all the time!
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