How to train toddler to walk longer distances?

[PickledElectricity]

When I say "longer" I mean 5/10 minutes. We are lucky to live in an area where there are 2 playgrounds within walking distance and a parade of shops up the road, and he likes going to Costa for a babyccino so I'm not dragging him to places he doesn't want to be or anything like that.

To the park - 5 mins.
To the shop/cafe - 7 minutes.
To nursery - 15 mins. A stretch/long term dream.

DS is 20 months old and runs around the house nonstop from the moment he wakes up until he goes for a nap/sleep.

But when we try to take him for a walk he will go to the end of our road max (1 minute if that) then refuses to walk and wants to be picked up.

I don't always want to drag the pram around and have the inevitable battle of getting him into the pram in the first place.

Any tips?

Scooter!

He'll get there, our DD at that age used to just run in the opposite direction to where we were going (out in the countryside, not on pavements etc), then all of a sudden she just seemed to get it. I'd say the best thing to do if you are going somewhere like the park, is to kindly explain that you can't carry him, so if he doesn't want to walk you'll have to go home instead, and make sure you follow it through.

He'll always insist on being picked up if you always give in and pick him up.

Just a thought though, are his shoes okay? Does he wear them in the house, or is he barefoot in the house? Maybe have a look at that in case he finds them uncomfortable to walk in.

Well it seems fairly obvious to me.
Your child seems to have loads of energy and also likes to go places where something he likes happens.
Just start walking with him and when he wants to be picked up say mummy can't carry you and turn around and go back home.
I think he'll soon get the hint that to walk gets him a reward.
Not walking gets him back home.
If you really think he can't walk that far then just take him a little further each time you go out, but don't pick him up and carry him to the reward.

Take them when they are fresh.
Put a reward at the end.
give them time.
accept you’ll have to carry them a lot.

Also…i spend a lot of time “racing” and “going to the next tree… no not that one the other one further along” 😬

I took all 3 of my DCs out for little walks around the neighbourhood.
They enjoyed everything they saw; birds landing close by, a cat on a lawn, cars, people who stopped to say 'hello', all the things kids at that age like.
Mine expected no physical reward, as there was no cafes nearby, no stores, nothing but houses.
They learned to walk distances,by walking each time, a little further.

By the time my DD was nearly 3, she was able to walk at least a mile.

Her reward was seeing her DF where he was working, sharing his lunch with him, and enjoying the praise he gave her for walking as far as she did.
My DCs all still enjoy walking, which is no bad thing!

I hasten to add, she walked WITH me, not on her own!

Mine got a pick up and cuddle any time they asked, but I'd just stand there holding them until they got bored and wanted to get down and walk again. They soon learned only to ask if they were really tired! For times when I didn't have time for that I resorted to outright bribery. It's amazing how far and fast a toddler will move if they get a chocolate button every 50m 😂.

Play a game. Who can run to that tree fastest.
What's behind this gate is it aaaaa crocodile snap snap snap.
Is there a bear in that garden, quick, run past it.

You get the idea.

We tell stories. Either familiar ones - like reciting all of Julia Donaldson - or I make up ones about characters he already knows, currently he likes stories about Thomas the tank engine. He could walk a mile at 20 months, 2 miles at 2, 4 miles at 2 and a half and now at nearly three he can do 6 with the right motivation!

Also agree with PP about chocolate buttons 😂

tedious isn't it!

The only solution I found was to make the act of walking a background thought by singing songs, telling stories, noticing interesting things, marching/silly walks competition... so the focus is on enjoying the time not getting the walking done.

I just made the not picking them up quite matter of fact, 'oh no, that's not happening'... move along a few steps, notice something fascinating...

The only time getting progress along on foot didn't take mental effort on my part was if we had other kids with us or we used the balance bike (brilliant!)

The flip side is that my kids never grumble about walking, and the school love them on days out as they put the reluctant walkers with them. they will go miles and miles now. But at 20 months old there is no magic bullet.

Like most parenting the tedious groundwork is a major investment, can be quite draining, but well worth doing it as often as you can (obviously, there are times when you just have to put them in the buggy and get where you're going when you are in a hurry... or on the brink of murder).

And when I used to see parents taking the path of least resistance (saw same parents regularly, so not judging one tiny snapshot), those are the same kids who still make a fuss about using their legs some time later because they aren't getting wheeled along with snacks or a phone in their hand.

Until he was past 3, my Gds wouldn’t actually walk anywhere. If he could run, preferably very fast, that was OK, but e.g. trying to get him to walk at a normal pace on a pavement was a losing battle - if we didn’t take the pushchair he’d want to be carried. At least once he sat down and refused to move until dh picked him up! It was a major PITA.

I once read that it’s a hangover from ancestral behaviour. Apparently young/baby monkeys will very happily charge around playing while their mothers stay put, but as soon as the mothers move off, the young ones immediately expect to be carried, and they are.

Oh Yes! Buttons... You've reminded me, I used to carry Gold Coins (fake plastic pirate toy coins). It is really easy to plant them when they aren't looking and then get them to find them... discuss the fairies/elves who left them for him to find as he's being such a good boy (or whatever)! Is there another coin behind the next bush?

We had fun, but oh man... when you're sleep deprived etc.
hahaha. Oh well, they grew out of it eventually thank bloody goodness

I remember Rolos featuring in DS's first mini-hike on field paths.

We used to do different styles of walking. So we would take turns to do say "giant steps", hopping, tiptoeing etc. Both DDs' absolute favourite was "squashed tomato" where you blow a raspberry and they/you run for as long as your breath lasts. It was amazing how quickly we would get to places.

@Malbecfan sounds ace! And aeroplanes... don't forget aeroplanes... or super heroes - though unbuttoned coats as a cape are better when there isn't slush on the ground.

But just walking.
As in walking along nicely. One foot after another until you are at your destination?
That doesn't happen when you're 20 months. <shudders>

But, the actual question of how do you train your toddler to walk... all the silly games and making it fun... that is the training. :)

To be fair @WomenInConstruction if I shouted "squashed tomato" when we were all together last week, they would have laughed, blown a raspberry and run. They are now 23 and 25. Old habits....!

We used to do the don't step on the gaps if it was a paved street and most were so we hopped along really. We would try and time it so we could see the same dogs being walked which my DS loved. And we always talked or sang or skipped. It was the best fun after rain where we could splash in puddles.

Brilliant! 😂

See it's not just training - it's more effective than that - it's indoctrination. 😁

My third child had to walk half a mile everyday, with lots of stairs/uphill roads when she was 2 to 2,5.

I never convinced her to walk it, but we developed our own play routine and she was mostly willing to run it.

Let me know if you ever figure out the trick to making them walk though ><

Just use a pushchair, they are only little

When DS was that age DH was a SAHD and had an accident that meant he couldn't drive or push a buggy, so he walked everywhere with DS. Distraction, silly games, incentives and bribes all played a part, but they'd regularly walk a mile and a half to town and back so it definitely worked. (They came back happy, but one of them was always pretty tired!)

Save yourself the hassle and just use the pram

My 8 year old still doesn't like walking

I agree with the silly games. Otherwise toddlers are clever. They will either say they can't walk on the way back from the park, or they will say they don't actually want to go to the park even if they do, which means they don't want to walk. (Mine didn't do this but regularly claims he doesn't want to play outside if he actually doesn't want his coat on). We went on a lot of walks to 'look for cats', or most recently 'see how many Christmas trees we can spot'.