Encouraging Your Baby to Walk With Stride Rite

This post is sponsored by Stride Rite. As always, I only work with brands I use and love. Thank you for helping me support them. 

I still cannot get over the fact that our little boy is one! The first year was full of so many milestones and it was a huge learning curve for all three of us. Now that I’m a little more settled in my role as mommy, I am even more focused on helping our little one learn as much as possible and supporting him as he continues to grow. While he has reached those first big milestones such as crawling, saying ‘mama’ and ‘dada’, getting his first teeth and eating solids–we still have one big milestone that we are working towards: walking.

As a mom, I have done the research. I’ve Googled probably a little too much and worried “why isn’t he one of those kids that walks at 9 months?”. Well the answer is simple: because all babies/toddlers are different! While he is pulling up, cruising around and starting to stand on his own; I am doing all that I can to encourage him to walk. I know that walking will happen when he is ready -but I am working on a few things to help him become more confident as he transitions from crawler to walker. 

Encouraging Your Baby to Walk

Floor Play.

Playing in the floor with our little one is one of the best parts of my day. We spend time in his room and pull all of his toys out. I have noticed that when we are in his ‘safe space’ (his room), he is a lot more apt to pull up and try to stand on his own. It just makes sense: as adults, when we are in an environment that we feel safe in, we are more trusting of ourselves and our surroundings. The same is true for babies. Letting your little one explore small areas of your house at one time is a lot less overwhelming than letting them crawl around the entire house. Of course-there is a time and place for that, but try to give your little one time in their room or play area for a bit each day and you will see that they become more willing to pull up and stand in their ‘safe zone’.

Trust Your Child’s Timing.

I know, as moms, this is difficult. We want them to stay little, but we are so worried about them hitting the next milestone. Trust them. Trust that your little one will walk when he’s ready. Trust that she will know exactly when the right time is to start walking. And enjoy the time before they do start walking … because, from what I hear, our lives change once they start walking.

Give the Gift of Comfy Shoes.

Let’s face it, when we are wearing uncomfortable shoes-we want to sit down as much as possible. The same goes for our little ones! If they are in shoes that aren’t comfy, are too ‘mushy’ or even too rigid, they are more likely to want to sit down. Stride Rite shoes are our ‘go to’ shoes for our little one. Their Soft Motion shoes are perfect for little ones learning to walk! They are flexible enough to encourage movement, the rounded edges help to prevent stumbles and falls, and they are easy on/off-which is a major plus when you have a toddler that hates getting dressed. The best part is they come in a wide variety of styles and colors–so many, in fact, I couldn’t pick my favorite. Our little one has the Dawson style and they are adorable-perfect for dressing up or down! I highly recommend Stride Rite, no matter what age your little one is-their little feet are growing and changing so fast, it is important to have the BEST shoes around for them!