Where to buy soft play / toys to help DD gross motor skills?

[Oranjes]

DD is ten months old and we want to help encourage her gross motor skills. She can roll both ways and, if she is sitting on our knees, can pull herself up onto the sofa seat. We’re not quite sure how else to encourage her to- do we just kneel in front of the sofa all day?!

When we go to sensory class, she enjoys standing up at one of those light up cubes.

So I wondered if we could or should buy a little soft play kit which has steps and a slope and a little ball pit. It might give us some ‘tools’ to use to encourage her.

Has anyone else done this? And, is there anywhere we can go to buy in person or do we have to order online. I’d be happy to buy second hand on FB marketplace but DH would prefer to buy new.

They have soft play kits in Smyths but you don't really need anything , the sofa, chairs, cushions, maybe a yoga ball or something. Of course take her to playgroups and small soft plays every so often but mainly it's just a matter of leaving her to explore and figure it out.

Amazon...I bought a set of big soft cubes that my DS can climb on, they're fab. The montessori pikler climbing frames are great but i think closer to 18 months. We have a big playpen which DS can pull himself up on, make sure there are some surfaces he can pull to stand on (I assume there is a sofa).

I wouldn’t bother. She’ll get there in her own time and those soft play sets are expensive and they outgrow them so quickly. Just pull the cushions off the couch and put different textured blankets down for her to roll about in.

Nope, she sounds like she’s doing great. I’d just let her explore her world. Take her out and let her play in the park, go to a woodland and she can pull up on logs and trees, get some wooden spoons and a colander and cups of water and let her bang and play in the garden. Just use your environment.

Thank you all. I heard tonight that a NCT friend who is a day younger is now walking and it’s made me feel a bit crap tbh! Just desperate to try to help her in any way we can.

Get a grip on this as soon as possible. Parenting is going to be a long and miserable journey if every time another child meets a milestone before yours you feel crap.

Let me tell you now there will always be another child who will walk earlier than your child, will feed themselves better and earlier, eat better, speak earlier and clearer, read earlier, be better at maths and faster on sports day, have more friends and a better part in the school play and on and on and on.

To help you do that I'd highly recommend the Bluey episode Baby Race (Season 2, Episode 50).

For you to watch, not the baby.

You need to knock that behaviour on the head otherwise you’re going to find parenting very stressful and unfulfilling. As you must know, walking at 10 months is very unusual, many don’t until nearer 18 months or sometimes later. It is really unhelpful and unfair to compare your daughter to others. Try and let those feelings go and focus on spending enjoyable time with her. Agree with prop, you don’t need soft play toys. Just get creative at home instead 😃

That's early to walk. You could be waiting another 6 months and it would still be totally normal.

It's not some kind of personal failing, she'll walk when she's ready. You could do some damage if you push her before she's ready and she doesn't have the physical infrastructure to support herself.

Does ahe have a medical problem why the hurry?

Don't stress too much, honestly. You've got a lifetime of comparisons ahead of you.

Oh, and my mum and dad swear I was walking at 9 months. Sad to say I did not grow up to be some athletic champion. I'm a perfectly average middle age woman with a mum tum.

Comparison is the thief of joy

I get how you feel though. We had a 1st birthday party with our NCT group and ALL the babies were walking except mine Once I realised what a stressful time the other parents were having,
constantly chasing their babies, I realised I should be enjoying the phase before walking more.

As another poster has said, watch Bluey's baby race - have a tissue ready for the ending though 🥹

To answer your original question, I honestly wouldn't bother buying anything special. Baby will get there in their own time and use normal household items to steady themselves

Being an early walker isn’t always great. The child’s spatial awareness isn’t always as developed as their walking skill. A friend’s baby cracked their head open on a coffee table soon after they started walking. DH was walking at about 9 months. He broke his leg at about 10 months!

It's hard not to get caught up because it's so exciting when your baby reaches a milestone but it isn't a race and it doesn't mean anything if your baby isn't first. Babies don't follow a set order. While one baby is busy working on gross motor skills a other one is sat there absorbing speech and being an early talker with a huge vocab. My ds refused to to crawl, cruise or walk till 14 months. He just used to sit, point and say "dat". Then his speech exploded and one day he crawled to the sofa, pulled himself up and cruised along it and took a wobbly step toward me. What I'm trying to say is they all have different patterns and you aren't a failure because another NCT baby walked first. BTW, ds is now a 6 foot teenager and a very competent walker who just did Ten Tors this year. He was also one of the first in his year to learn to read because he had such a big vocabulary from being an early talker.

My mother used to say she wished she could give all babies a t shirt that said “This Grows Up Atomatically”

DS walked at 12m (steps on his first birthday) but then was diagnosed with fine and gross motor skill delays needing years of OT so it really can all change in an instant!

The pikler triangle was great for him, and our local climbing centre did a great class for toddlers that helped a lot. A wobble board for balance as he got a bit older.

But agree, once you move on from walking it’ll be potty training, reading, writing, free reading, pen licences…there’s always something!

@WonderingWanda you could pretty much be describing my DS (including Ten Tors!)

What I found with DS he didn’t like doing things unless he could do them well. So didn’t do much cruising or wobbly steps. Started walking later, first attempt at standing and tentative step didn’t go well so didn’t do it again for a couple of months and just carried on crawling, and then one day just stood up unaided and walked properly. Talking was the same, didn’t really mimic words back, but would suddenly use them in context. All DC are different.

It is hard when you see other DC doing things before yours especially when young so you are looking for milestones all the time but there is a reason why milestones have a wide age range for them to be achieved in before you might need to start worrying.

You don’t need to spend vast sums of money on trying to achieve milestones quicker

Children arent all the same, they specialise in different things. My son was late walking but loved to sit in his cot playing with baby books and puzzles. He was completing complex lego sets before he could read but was never very sporty. Make sure you give lots of opportunities and encouragement to move, but so long as you arent actively preventing her developnent eg by sticking her in a car seat or in front of a screen for hours on end, dont stress.

10 months would still be classed as early walking so please stop worrying and relax and enjoy your baby. Things like placing toys along the sofa to encourage them to cruise can help but generally they will get there in their own time. Try to avoid time confined in containers. In a bit a push a long walker (not a sit on one) can be good.

Up to 18 months is normal for walking and generally if they can bear weight and stand against things a bit before then there is unlikely to be much to worry about.

Smyths do sell a reasonably priced soft play kit but unless you have a huge house I wouldn’t bother.