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Baby Your Moving: It’s All About Balance

Baby Your Moving: It’s All About Balance
February 13, 2023MelaniePediatricsUncategorized

We use our balance skills to maintain our body positions when we are standing, sitting, and while we are moving. As adults, we use our balance skills every day, all day. We use them when we walk, step up onto the curb, as we put on our pants, ride a bike, or when we walk up the stairs.  Children first start using this skill when they try hold their head up during tummy time. Next comes sitting and seated balance. They need skilled balance to stay seated independently and even more when they start to reach out to interact with their environment. Next, they rely on their balance skills to stand and eventually work up the courage to take their first steps.  As they get older balance becomes more dynamic, or movement based. This is when children really start to play and move around their world which requires them to start working towards those upper-level-adult-like balance skills. We often work with kids on single leg stance first. We practice this in many ways including marching, stepping over obstacles, kicking a ball, and of course just standing still on one leg. As they begin to master those skills, we work towards walking on a line or standing on a balance beam. Some harder tasks are climbing up the stairs reciprocally, or with only one foot on each step, and balancing with our eyes closed.

Balance is an important skill that allows kids to move around the world as independently and safely as possible. As winter weather often keeps us indoors, I have found some balance activities that you can do at home to ensure your child continues to work on and improve this essential skill.

 

For your littles that are cruising along your couch waiting to be brave enough to take their first independent steps:

Surface Transitions:

Use your couch and coffee table or ottoman to create two equal height surfaces. At first, keep the surfaces within your child’s arm’s reach of each other. Place your child’s favorite toy on one side and then move it to the opposing surface. They will, hesitantly, turn their bodies and lunge or step forward to that next surface and play with the toy there. Continue this process and as your child becomes more confident, move those surfaces farther and farther part. Soon they will be taking small steps between them all on their own.  You can also try this set-up with using two people – Seeing the excitement in your eyes after each step will be very motivating for your child!

For your independent walkers that are craving their next challenge

Dynamic surfaces and obstacles:

Place some obstacles on the ground to create an obstacle course. Some obstacles can include benches to step up onto, toys or hurdles to step over, and pillows to walk on. These obstacles mimic this we interact with in our environments like curbs; uneven ground like snow, grass, or sand; and any object we have to step over to remain on our intended path. Your child may need you to hold one or both of their hands as they learn how to navigate these obstacles and gain confidence. Some ways you can make this more challenging once they are confident are using less assistance, timing them, or challenging them to a game of “The floor is lava” so they don’t step off the obstacles.

Here are some games and toys that can make working on our balance indoors more exciting:

Another important aspect of balance we work on in therapy with stationary balance or balancing while standing in one spot. There are several ways to work on this at home. You can stand with your feet as close together as possible, stand with one in front of the other or in tandem stance, stand heel-to-toe where your back foot toes are touching your lead foot’s heel, and standing on one foot. Children can start working on all of these as they hold onto a stable surface, like a chair or countertop. As they gain confidence and skill, they can work on trying these with no hands. A good goal is to be able to stand in the feet together, tandem stance, and heel-to-toe stance for 30 seconds and on one leg for 10 seconds without holding onto any supportive surface. Some things to avoid are swaying hips back and forth, wrapping our elevated leg around of balancing leg, and bending at the hips. You can have our child try and have a still, calm body, as they stare at something in front of them. If all of these become too easy for your child and they need the next challenge, try them all while standing on a pillow!

Here is a toy to make working on our stationary balance more exciting:

Taylor Schaffer, PT, DPT

EA Therapeutic Health

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