Welcome to this video in the Getting ready for first steps video series.

My name is Tanya and I'm a pediatric physiotherapist with Alberta Health Services.

In this video, we'll talk about what you'll see as your child learns to take steps forward using you or a toy for support.

Your child may practice walking with support for months before they're ready to take steps on their own.

We'll talk about some different ways to practice this skill with your child.

Try them, and find which ones work best for you.

Once children are stronger and more confident cruising by taking sideways steps around furniture, they'll start to turn their body to walk forward with one hand on furniture for support.

They'll also start wanting to walk while holding on to you or to a toy that moves.

This helps your child learn to balance.

It can also make you feel like you're spending the whole day bent over holding your child while they take steps.

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Children develop more strength and balance working on cruising with one hand on furniture or walls than they do with their hands held or holding on to a toy.

When they practice cruising, they're using their own core and muscle strength to balance rather than relying on you.

It may feel like you're holding your child back by not walking with their hands held a lot at this stage.

Remember, your child still needs that crawling and cruising time to build their strength and coordination.

It can be really fun for your child to take steps while you hold them up and do all the balancing for them.

When you hold your baby up high by their hands, they may lean forward and walk on their toes.

They are stepping, but they're not walking and balancing.

In all of these examples, a child could not walk on their own with this pattern.

They would fall if you weren't holding them up.

Being able to balance is an important part of walking.

What can you do instead of holding their hands up high?

Try holding your child at their rib cage or with their arms held at or below shoulder height.

This helps your child to use their muscles to balance rather than leaning forward and relying on your hands.

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If your child really likes to hold your hands, think about having them hold on to you rather than actively lifting them up.

Once your child is more confident walking with your support at their body or with their arms held low, you can try giving them a little less support.

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Try walking with your child holding only one hand.

Give them a toy to hold in the other hand and hold your child's hand at or below their shoulder height.

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You'll need to walk slowly so that you don't pull them off balance.

Make sure you sometimes walk holding their right hand and sometimes holding their left hand so that they learn to balance both ways.

You can also try giving support without directly holding their hand.

Hold their elbow or their forearm instead of their hand, as they may be less likely to notice when you decrease support or even let go briefly.

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This works well when they hold toys in their hands.

You can also let them try to walk while they hold something a little less supportive than you or the furniture.

Try having them hold on to the same toy as you.

Something like a wooden spoon still gives them something to hold on to, but with less support than your hand.

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Many children like to practice walking with push toys.

This can be a lot of fun for your child, but it's not something your child needs to learn how to walk.

To use a push toy safely, they should be able to pull up to stand at the push toy by themselves.

Use a stable push toy with a handle that's at your child's chest height and that's wide enough for your child to step between the wheels.

As they pull themselves up to stand, you can help to steady the toy so that it doesn't roll away from them.

Sometimes the toy can start rolling quickly and your child can't keep up as they start to walk.

You can try these ideas to slow it down a bit for them.

Walk on carpet or foam tiles rather than laminate or hardwood to make the toy go more slowly.

Weigh the toy down to make it more stable and move more slowly.

You can use something like a bag of rice in a toy with a basket or shelf.

Push toys are not the same as baby walkers.

Baby walkers are illegal in Canada because they're unsafe for children to use.

A specialized walker used by children with a medical diagnosis is also not the same thing as a baby walker.

Specialized walkers can help your child if your medical team has recommended them for your child to use.

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You don't have to buy a special push toy.

Sometimes pushing the stroller, a large cardboard box, a chair, or a laundry basket are just as much fun.

It's a good idea to put something inside to make it heavier and more stable or help steady it for them as they're walking.

You can give your child even more ways to work on their balance while they're walking with support.

Have them squat to pick up toys on the ground while they're playing and put them into a basket to play store or help clean up.

They may also like practicing walking outside the house or help pushing the stroller.

This concludes our video about Walking with support.

Watch our video on Standing independently to learn more about one of the last stages before independent walking.

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Find information, support, and services for you and your child by clicking on the link in the description.​​