Baby’s First Steps September 19, 2008

We make such a big deal out of when a baby takes his first steps. In fact, the age at which your child took his first steps will be ingrained in your Mommy memory forever, just like your child’s birth weight and time. Personally, I think walking is a bit overrated, since you can’t manage to keep them out of trouble ever again once they start, but here are some things you might want to know, anyway.

For some reason, everyone seems to think that a baby should be walking by his first birthday, but the fact is that most babies don’t walk until after this time. There are a few who walk as early as nine months of age, but a great many who don’t take their first steps until fifteen months. And, if your child is a late walker, it has absolutely no bearing on his intelligence.

The age at which a baby walks is often genetic. Walking very early or very late often runs in the family. My husband walked at nine months, and I walked at ten months, so we were unlucky enough to have a daughter who also walked at ten months. She was very petite, so she looked like the world’s tiniest walking human. She also scaled the kitchen counters before she was a year old, so you can see what I mean by “unlucky”.

When your baby walks is also often related to his size. Babies with short legs usually walk sooner than those with long legs (a balance issue) and thinner babies usually walk sooner than their more plump counterparts.

Pushing your baby to walk is not a good idea, but providing him the opportunity to learn is critical. If you force your child to endure daily practice sessions, he may just rebel and refuse to walk for quite a while. On the other hand, if you keep him in swing or playpen all day, he’ll never have the opportunity to try out his skills. Give him some supervised time on the floor, and he’ll figure the rest out with or without your help.

If, by chance, your child is not walking by the age of eighteen months, it is best to have him checked out by a doctor. There is not necessarily anything wrong, but most babies are walking by this age, so have him examined as a precaution. But, don’t be too eager, because once he starts walking, all the rules change. Someone, though I don’t remember who, once said, – “We spend the first two years of our children’s lives teaching them to walk and talk, and then the next sixteen telling them to sit down and shut up.” It’s so true.

 

 

Eating Spinach With Your Toddler September 18, 2008

Once your child begins to leave the world of baby food behind, meal times can be a roller coaster ride. Toddlers are notorious for being fickle and picky eaters. But, how you handle your toddler’s eating habits at this age can have an impact on their eating habits for life.

Toddlers thrive on routine, including mealtime routines. When you disrupt this routine, it can wreak havoc. Unfortunately, sometimes this need for routine means that your toddler wants to eat the same food at every meal for six weeks. Don’t obsess about this, but do continue to introduce new foods. For instance, if the favorite is macaroni and cheese, you might try switching the menu to the same macaroni noodles but with a little butter instead of cheese sauce. Then add some grapes or apple slices, and see how it goes. Lie about the name if you need to (this is macaroni and butter cheese, yum!), but offer some alternatives.

My experience has been that alternatives will only be tolerated if the rest of the routine is maintained. So, I never try to get a toddler to eat a brand new food in a restaurant. Only in the privacy of my home, where she can sit in her usual seat, at her usual time will I offer some new food. The main point here is that you must continue to offer other foods. If you are content to let them munch on French fries and mac and cheese forever, they may never be willing to try new foods.

One of the best ways to get your toddler to try new foods is to eat them yourself. My daughter wants anything I’m eating if I haven’t offered it to her. So, when she asks to try it, I grudgingly give her a few bites of my food, making sure she understands that I was really enjoying it, but am willing to share. After a couple of days of this, she is ready to eat the same food, calling it her own.

Don’t lose hope- nutritionists say that most children get a fairly well rounded diet if one is offered to them. Just find the healthy foods they will eat, and offer those more often than the less healthy ones. But, keep trying those new foods so that your child is reminded that there are more things to eat than macaroni and cheese!