My Baby Only Goes Backward in Her Walker

Parents buy their little one’s walkers to help them move around with ease. I know that’s one of the reasons you bought yours too. But then walkers should make the baby move forward more than she moves backward. You should prevent her from moving backward, especially if they are still learning how to use the walker properly. Stop them from moving backward because she can get hurt when they trip and fall. Your baby moving backward with her walker will be strange to you if you are a first-time mum, but you will learn it normally with the time. 

Going backward has a reason, and most likely, it has not mastered well how to use and do it. So it is upon you to teach her how to move forward. We will look at how to teach your baby to move forward using her walker, encouraging her to do it independently.

Allow Her to Watch How to Do It

Babies learn through observing, so if you want your baby to move the walker forward, let her watch how it is done. You can be wondering how and where she will watch another baby moving with her walker. Don’t worry; you can use her younger sibling to teach her how to do it. Let the kid brother or sister sit on the walker and pull it around the house. 

It is not a must to look for someone else to do it for you. Why not pull it for her to see. It is somehow weird, but babies trust their mothers, so if she sees you doing it in a particular way, she will believe that’s the best way to do it, and she will comfortably imitate you.  

Encourage Her to Learn

You can also put them together on the walker and make her watch closely what the other kid is doing. If you let her participate, she might grasp faster. If you have a neighbor with a child almost the same age as yours and who knows how to move her walker, don’t be shy to request the mom allow your kid to watch her do her magic. 

You can go out in the field, place all of them in the walker, and allow your child to copy what the other little one is doing, and she will learn how to do it.

If you can’t, do this: be a digital mom, look for videos on YouTube and let her watch. When she watches and learns this, she will be encouraged to try and pull it forward as you wish.  

Assist Her in Pulling Forward

It usually is easy for your baby to push back then to pull forward. To encourage her to try moving forward, assist her by pulling the walker for her. You can also move her legs to help her pull the walker. Try moving her legs forward when she is in the walker, which will make it move forward and, in return, make the wheels move forward. 

When she notices the milestone she’s made, she’ll try to do it the same way you did to her alone and see if she will be successful. If she makes it, she will want to practice regularly perfecting the act.

Praise and Reward Her

Praising has a way of melting hearts. When your munchkin makes the baby steps and moves forward, don’t forget to praise her because it will encourage her to go on. You can sing to her in return or give her favorite food to make her go. 

A simple high five can also motivate her to keep moving. Rewarding her will make her know she’s doing it the right way, and she will do this regularly by herself with the mind of getting something in return. But your aim was not to reward her instead of perfect her moves, which you will achieve anyway. Remember not to force it down her throat; let her go at her own pace and will.

Place Her Favorite Toys or Snack in Front 

Babies adore their toys and will want to play and protect them from any harm. For you to encourage your baby to pull the walker forward, place her toys in front of her, and let her struggle to reach them. Your baby’s attempt to reach the toys ahead of her will make her move forward, learning how to propel the walker forward in the process. 

You can also have someone carry her favorite snack in front of her and tell her to go for it. Remember, if your baby is a foodie or is hungry, she will not resist coming for her snack. By going for the snack, she will make attempts to move forward. Ensure someone is beside her because she can get excited at the sight of her favorite food and move in a rush, which can make her slip and fall.

Bottom Line

Babies find it easy to move backward because their arms become strong faster than their feet, so they find it easy to push the walker back with their arms than to pull it with their feet. Their upper body parts are more established than the lower side, making pushing using the upper part a better choice. 

Having more power on her upper parts will instead make her push back and not to the front as you may wish. Know that these are signs she is developing, and she will improve over time but don’t forget to encourage her to continue using the walker by teaching her. It will be weird for her to move backward but praise and reward her for moving forward. Don’t be shy to help her move in the right direction and, if possible, allow her to watch and learn.