-Is your child tripping a lot?
-Falling more than you think they should be?
-Not paying attention to obstacles and bulldozing right through them?
-Wondering when this is an issue?
You’re in the right place, and you’re not alone! I get this question ALL. THE. TIME.
After your child starts walking, they are developing a mature/adult-like walking pattern until they are SIX years old 😯 but they should have pretty good balance 3-6 months after starting to walk.
Lots of times what gets in the way is lack of attention to the floor and obstacles in the way. Here are some solutions for this:
✔️Bring your child’s attention DOWN! Play with balls, balance beam, or outside with rocks, grass or dirt. Bringing your babe’s attention down to the floor will help them recognize this field of their vision and any obstacles in their way.
✔️Choose hard activities! This may look different depending on motor skills, but choose activities that force your child to focus on what their feet are doing. This may be walking on a curb, up and down steps, rock walls/ladders, or even taking steps in shallow water in the pool.
✔️Use a verbal cue EVERY TIME (that is the key). A lot of times our kids move fast, but we can anticipate that they may trip over that book in the middle of the floor. If you see this coming, go up to your child. Stop them in front of the book. Point to the book and say “watch your step” (you can use a different phrase, but make sure you use the same one EVERY time). After you say “watch your step”, help your child step over or around the book. Pairing a verbal cue with action is a good way for little ones to start learning cause and effect and they usually respond really well to verbal cues.
✔️Use my favorite toy 😍 this toy is in my free ultimate gift guide (link here), under ages 12-18 months (supervised only because the balls are small). Ball poppers are the best. You can pop the ball, it shoots across the room, and your child has to scan their environment to find that ball, follow it, pick it up, and bring it back! It is a fantastic toy to work on bringing attention down and stepping over and around obstacles instead of running right through them!
What has worked for you to keep your child from tripping and falling? Let me know!
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