“-Oh, so she hasn’t walked yet…!” and away goes the other mother with a knowing smile on her face.
She knows all about it and now, I ‘m starting to get it.
Daphne never liked sitting down. To her it was like a phase, a necessary stop from lying down to standing up. She had made it quite clear she would be walking asap but we never thought it would happen so soon. We were caught off guard but here’s what helped a ton:
1. Take all dangerous objects and products away. It sucks as it means a lot of rearranging but you should be used to living in a hut rather than a house by now. The fact is Baby gets there in no time and although she might not have perfected the pincer grip, she manages to put all the wrong things in her mouth so fast it’s scary.
2. Sacrifice the cute for the safe during walking efforts. In other words, mind the clothes. Those fluffy socks look extra cute but Baby won’t, if it slips and falls down! The same applies for anything too slippery or too long.
3. When Baby tries to walk , you should be there 100%– attention undivided, without trying to juggle anything else at the same time. Cooking and cleaning can wait until the baby is safely in for some play yard time (or respective trained professionals have arrived).
4. Be prepared to increase nanny-hours , or, if you are tight on the budget, enlist the grandparents. Do about anything, but don’t underestimate how tiring this period- with all the stumbling and standing, walking and falling -will be. It’s physically challenging and you can’t expect to be on top of your game when you are tired, or not to be tired when your life has been through that massive change called a child.
5. seriously consider taking up yoga, as it will take a lot of inhaling-exhaling to accept that no matter what you do, a little scratch will probably appear at on part or another of that precious little creature…
(Tip: Get a pedi. Your feet will be featuring in a lot of pictures supporting those first steps and you don’t want to look like a vulture.)
