12 week old trying to walk - product advice

[Insomnimummy]

My DD is almost 12 weeks old and has been demanding to be held upright so she can walk with our support. She has been doing this for the last 4/5 weeks and now cries if we do not help her.

I'm very proud of how fast she is developing, but its exhausting and painful spending most of the day hunched over someone whos under 2ft, helping them walk!
I have been seraching for products to help my DD develop her muscles and practise walking, such as door bouncers and walkers. However I can't find any that are suitable for a 3 month old, they all appear to start at 6 months.
Does anyone know if and where I can get a baby walker for a 3month old? At this rate by the time she reaches 6 months she will no longer need one!

Mine would stand up a lot. If you keep doing it the automatic stepping reflex will continue..
I would focus on the sitting up as its unlikely they would be able to walk before then , as you need to be able to balance your top half before walking generally(thats why sitting is from 6m and walking from around 12).

Just because they do something like crawling, cruising and sitting early doesnt guarantee walking early as it is very different, down to confidence unlike the others.
Mine sat at 5.5
Crawled and cruised at 8
Walked at 13m
She just couldnt see the point
We got her shoes the week after her birthday and she took some steps in park after a cat.

Clearly kids shouldnt be put in walkers for ages when they are much too young. But they do develop at different rates.

Physiotherapist do not recommend any type of 'walking' toy for any child and they are quite sniffy about jumperoos!

Babies need floor play and tummy time to build the right muscle groups for eventual walking. Those motor milestones (crawling, sitting etc) are needed to achieve walking.

My daughter also walked unaided at 9 months and never had door bouncers, walkers or jumperoos!

Huh? What's the hip thing? I'm not sure I've heard that before. Can you explain?

Sure hon, there's been some links made between things like walkers and hip dysplasia. I'm not sure how proven they are but it out next off! I'll try to find some websites when I'm on the comp tomorrow but I know that's why they recommend only using them for a limited amount of time. I got DS a jumperoo at about 5 months but I was very strict about how often he was allowed in it.

Stupid phone! *put me right off

Something in my memory seems to think there was a link to toe walking as well. Hmm it's been a while!

My DDs are 23 and 20 when baby walkers where very common. And Tummy TIme never existed!
Both my DDs developed differently in ways which would be frowned upon today, but both have developed without any problems

Dd1 hated lying down. She sat at 5 months but refused to crawl. She howled if she was put on her tummy. She had a walker from 6 months and started walking at 12 mths.

Dd2 on the other hand loved being on her tummy. She rolled her way around the room at 5 months and caused havoc she hated the baby walker, never crawled and walked unaided at 9 months.
You can try all you like to make babies follow the advice of the time, but a lot of babies have their own ideas!

Oh I see! Yes sorry. I've definitely heard it about walkers, also jumperoos, front pack slings, and door bouncers. I really don't think that holding them up to let them kick against the floor is the same thing though. It's about them being dangled by the crotch and the legs hanging. You can reduce the risk by limiting time spent in those kinds of toys (I don't like walkers anyway, too dangerous to give them more motion/speed than they can actually handle)

Toe walking is an issue with walkers if their legs are too short to reach the floor with flat feet, because it encourages them to walk in the tip toe position. It's thought that this may be an issue with bouncers and jumperoos but not certain - advice again is to make sure they can reach the floor with flat feet rather than just with tiptoes.

My personal view (am not a physio) is that walkers are probably more harmful as they're offering something unnatural, because the body's weight is being held up and the momentum is being done by legs which aren't actually strong enough to walk and hold up weight. This is totally different to actually walking which they will do later because that is more about weight bearing - if you tried to walk by pushing along at the floor with your feet you'd fall over, what we actually do is balance on one leg and then transfer our body weight to be centred on the other before moving the first leg, and repeat so quickly we never think about it.

However, door bouncers and jumperoos are only offering the kind of thing that babies/parents do naturally with minimal support, being held roughly in one place while they kick against a firm surface. They're still problematic for hips because they hold the legs in a position which is unnatural later on but I think they can have good points as well, unlike walkers which the only good point seems to be "the baby has fun and it looks cute".

I don't see how babies developing would be frowned upon Crawling isn't a developmental stage anyway, many babies never crawl.

Not sure how a 12 week old demands to be 'walked'. You are the adult!

Goodness OP, your day sounds bloody exhausting with all the activities you have planned.

I think I did very little with my DD at 12 weeks other than a bit of 'tummy time' whilst I drank ANOTHER coffee to get through the morning..

What in th blue fuck is tummy time. What lentil weaver invented that shit?

Tummy time is putting a baby on their front. Nothing more complicated but necessary these days because babies are put to sleep on their backs because of SIDS.

It isn't lentil weavery and is advised by medical professionals.

You mean WHICH lentil weaver sigh. Slight over reaction - it was created because primary school age children who slept on their backs as babies didn't develop physical skills as well as the previous generation of tummy sleepers. Solution: get them to spend a bit of time each day on their tummy. HTH.

Errr. ...... Crawling is a developmental stage.

Just because all babies don't do it (most do) doesn't mean it should be made unattainable by sticking a baby into a walker!

The best you can do is buy a yoga mat and let her do lots of tummy time. And apart from that just hold her and let her push herself up. My dd2 was like that - I just did lots of tummy time and would hold her in my arms where she always tried to get up. She crawled at 5 months and walked at 7 1/2 months. But tummy time is best so she builds up all the muscles needed for crawling / sitting / walking. I would stay clear of any other products.

Why is everyone so defensive? I don't like baby walkers, I already said.

Crawling is not a developmental stage. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing or should be avoided, it just means it's not a good marker of development because some babies never do it.

If you don't get that then you're not understanding what a developmental stage is.

You won't find it in your red book and it isn't asked about by HCPs.

CecilyP
'I am not supporting her weight when we do this - she is'

Only one way to find out if that is true and that is to let go, but I wouldn't recommend trying it as you already know what the answer is. It is natural to think your baby is special but no baby is so exceptional that they stand or walk at 3 months. "

I don't know why the op is being doubted when she says her dd can support her own weight when standing. Her dd could be supporting her own weight but still fall over if let go as she hasn't developed a full sense of balance yet.

I have a photo somewhere of one of mine at 3 months, standing up holding onto the seat part of a chair. She didn't attempt to move forwards and couldn't get back down but she was holding on and supporting her own weight standing.

DS was like your DD, and he loved the doorway bouncer from 3 m.

Babies do not get "bowed legs" from walking young, they get bowed legs from rickets as they always did, even in the 19th century where that pearl of wisdom comes from. Fortunately very few have rickets these days (although it is making a comeback!).

DS was in a walker at 5 m because he was just happy when he could walk around. Walking around holding one hand at 6 months, walked independently on the dot of 10 m. Nothing really could have stopped him. The alternative was to have him screaming all day every day.

And to the naysayers- there is a range of normal development and inevitably some children will fall either side of it.

Physically my DS was the size of a 6 mo at 3 mo, and had the developmental skills of a child much older virtually from birth. I didn't realise that it was unusual until my next three children were born.

DS never crawled despite hours spent trying to teach him. He never spent much time on his tummy because he would scream until he was blue if I did. He couldn't really roll over until he was 5 months. He was sitting unreliably at 6 months, still requiring a cushion behind. It wasn't ideal, but it was what it was.

He is now 20 and exceptionally strong. He climbs and can walk 50 miles without breaking a sweat. Always had above average body strength- people used to think he worked out when he was in his teens.

It happens.

I wish I'd know more about the importance of "tummy time" (bit cringy sounding!)

My dd hated being on her front and never crawled. I was reassured by HCPs and family that lots of babies never crawl and I was a bum shuffler according to mum.

DD has quite severe dyspraxia (amongst other things) and I still feel regret that I didn't encourage her more and wonder if it would've changed things.