Tall Kneeling

In January this year, I emailed Matthew's physical therapist (PT) at school to ask how he was doing during his PT sessions. One of the things she said was that in the group he had difficulty staying in a tall kneeling (on knees, not sitting on buttocks) and half kneeling ( one knee up the other down on floor and balancing in this position).

When googling for information on tall kneeling, I came across Adaptivemall.com. We didn't need the equipment but it was very interesting to see that adaptive equipment to help with tall kneeling actually existed. Also to quote from the site:

Tall kneeling is achieved when someone is kneeling and the buttocks are not resting back on the feet. Tall kneeling can assist with the development of balance and leg strength. Note: This position can be difficult for people who have limited ankle bend (plantar flexion) or who wear ankle foot orthotics (AFO).

Matthew doesn't wear orthotics but he does have insole wedges in his shoes for ankle support since he has pronated ankles(but I don't think that matters). The gluteal/buttock muscles are needed to maintain the tall kneeling position. I imagine his gluteal muscles didn't inherently have the tone to easily get into a tall kneel and maintain it. He always preferred to sit on the backs of his feet to stabilize himself.

And of course, I wanted him to develop better balance and leg strength because that will make more physical play activities easier for him. So what do we do? We work on it at home!

How to Position?
His PT and NACD evaluator gave me a few suggestions:
- try kneeling at support surface.
- work on him imitating you go from sitting on heels to tall kneeling position, or in front of a mirror.
- (if he were still in diapers) try bridges, like when his diaper was being changed, ask him to raise his bottom up with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold the position for 5-10 seconds....move a train, ball under his hips to keep hips up.
- have him get on hands and knees and cross creep (crawl on hands and knees). Then while facing him, model getting up into a tall kneel and ask him to do it. From there play something or sing something while maintaining that position.
- practice kneewalking around the room to get things off of the sofa or low tables.

Which strategy worked for him? Asking him to cross creep and then get into a tall kneel to kneewalk and then pause in the tall kneel position helped him understand the concept of tall kneeling. So we played around with kneewalking a lot. He liked jumping and running on giant bubble wrap so I used that as our kneewalking activity motivator.



Within days, his kneewalking improved. More importantly, he was developing the balance and strength to maintain the tall kneeling position for longer periods of time. He'd still sometimes take 3-second breaks to sit on the backs of his feet but he could now easily return to the tall kneeling position without falling over.

Just yesterday, Matthew, Elizabeth, and I had lots of fun playing a fast-paced game of rolling the beach ball back and forth to each other in the tall kneeling position.

At age 2, Elizabeth had no trouble with tall kneeling at all. Seeing her easily play in tall kneeling was one of the many reminders of how much more work Matthew had to put in just to achieve what Elizabeth could do so naturally and effortlessly (relatively). It's at moments like that when one simply appreciates each child's development as it is and admires and learns from Matthew's determination and can-do attitude.

He Really Loves to Dance

He walks on over to the iPod stereo and pushes the "on" button. The radio station is preset to one of the local ones with few commercials and generally (relatively) better music (no explicit versions). Whatever is on, it's usually music with a good dancing beat and Matthew is rockin' it! Matthew LOVES dancing and it seems like he'll dance for as long as I let him.

Almost all literature I've read about individuals with Down syndrome include "love for music". Maybe it's true for all, maybe just the majority - I don't know. But I definitely think it's in his genes because I love dancing too (and so does Elizabeth).



Related post:
Matthew Likes Jazz

Toy Review Tuesday: Boards as Balance Beams

Walking the plank has never been so fun. It can help improve gait, which is the pattern of how a person walks (or runs).

According to the book Gross Motor Skills for Children with Down syndrome,

"walking on a balance beam will help to change your child's early walking pattern. In her early walking pattern, she will use a wide base, her hips will rotate outward causing her knees and fee to turn out, and she will take weight on the inside borders of her feet. By practicing walking on a balance beam, she will learn to walk with her legs and feet in a new position. She will learn to rotate her hips so her knees and feet point straight ahead."

As suggested in the book, we started out with a 1-inch thick x 8-inch wide x 6-foot long wooden board from our local home improvement store. I spray-painted stenciled numbers on ours since Matthew enjoys counting. It used to be an outside activity but I've since brought the boards indoors, in our hallway. Both kids enjoy walking on it whenever they are in the hallway.

Matthew has progressed to walking on the narrower 1-inch thick x 5.5-inch wide x 6-foot long board, mostly without assistance. I couldn't find the time to paint this board but it was equally enjoyable for both kids. Elizabeth walks along the narrower board with one foot on and one foot off. That's how Matthew started with the wider board.

The next step would be to walk on a 4-inch wide x 6-foot long (or longer) board, placing one foot in front of the other without assistance. I plan on getting a board that is at least 2 inches thick when he's ready for a bigger challenge. Being just a little bit higher off the ground can be scary for many kids. A 1-inch thick balance beam helps take away the fear of falling from a higher surface and focus the attention on walking within the set boundary.

These wooden boards also double as a racetrack for little horses or as a motor speedway.

Fancier (but more expensive) balance beams are also available from various retailers. Googling "balance beams for kids" on amazon.com will show many varieties of balance beams. The book "How To Teach Your Baby To Be Physically Superb" by Glenn Doman, Douglas Doman and Bruce Hagy has a detailed plan on how to make a sturdy, height-adjustable balance beam.

A word of caution: Leaving the boards in the middle of the hallway at night can result in stubbed toes. Bill learned that painful lesson one time at about 2am.

Matthew Likes Jazz

Simple, spontaneous moments can be a lot of fun. Sometimes they turn out to be one of the most special moments I have with my kids.

We usually listen to kid music. Matthew enjoys songs by Greg and Steve, The Laurie Berkner Band, songs from the Kindermusik class he was in a couple years ago, and other similar kid music.

The other day, I had my iTunes playing an audio recording of Matthew's cousin reading a book for him. It was in the iTunes list on my laptop. Before I could click on the stop button, a lively jazzy song came on.

Matthew started dancing. He could not contain his excitement. He loves music. He loves to dance. I turned up the volume and we danced. We twirled. We moved around the kitchen. We made up simple dance moves (a fun way to practice listening to directions, reinforce body awareness and body movement).

Elizabeth danced for a little bit then decided to play with cups instead.


"The Blue Room" by Tommy Dorsey from the album "Anthology of Big Band Swing".

It was a lot of fun and brings a smile to my face whenever I think about it. We're going to do this more often.

Toy Review Tuesday: Tunnel 6'

Tons of fun!

Hours of fun!

Lots of laughs and squeals!

For everyone! Well, unless you're too big to crawl through in which case you'd get stuck or have a hard time crawling through this 6-foot fabric tunnel. Ask me how I know this.

Believe it or not, short little me had a hard time army crawling through. (I can hear you laughing from here.) The only time I tried, Matthew and Elizabeth thought it was so funny that they crawled in right after me. Of course, I couldn't get through as fast as they could so they ended up crawling right on top of me in that very tight space. And of course, they thought that was even more hilarious. After two or three times of being crawled on, I eventually inched my way to the other side. As much as I loved how much they enjoyed this, I never attempted to crawl through again.

Bill tried crawling through the tunnel too and yes, he didn't make it out the other side. I decided to tell him about my tunnel experience AFTER he was stuck. Insert halo here.

Toy Review Tuesday: Bubble Wrap

"Warning: To avoid danger of suffocation, keep plastic bag away from babies and children. Do not use this bag in cribs, beds, carriages or playpens. The plastic bag could block nose and mouth and prevent breathing" -- a common and standard warning found on plastic bags and similar plastic sheets.

I remember enjoying popping small bubble wrap between my fingers when I was younger. And I still do to this day. It's oddly soothing for me.

Despite the warning, I laid a sheet of bubble wrap on our floor. It was an open invitation for the kids to pop the air-filled plastic bubbles.

The bubble wrap made it extra fun and motivating for Matthew to practice jumping -- not that he really needs any extra motivation to jump these days ever since acquiring lift-off with both feet simultaneously. He'll jump just for fun even without bubble wrap but it was more fun to hear pop! pop! pop! with every jump. Of course!

What big brother does, little sister tries too. Matthew can jump about 2 inches off the ground and land feet first on the bubble wrap. Pop! Pop! Pop! Elizabeth positions herself -- arms to her side, feet wide apart, knees bent -- then tries to straighten up to jump but lands bottom-first on the bubble wrap. Pop! Pop! Pop! Then she laughs and does it again and again. And again.

We're adding "jumping on bubble wrap" to our list of fun gross motor activities (done with adult supervision).

Toy Review Tuesday: Slide - Indoor & Convertible

An indoor slide is a fun thing to have especially when it's too hot, cold, or rainy to be outside.

It took me about 20 to 30 minutes to put our slide together. It is also actually convertible to a chair and table or bench. I haven't tried any of the other configurations yet though but here are a couple of photos of the side of the box.

I love that this slide generally isn't tippy. In our current configuration, which is pictured below, the only time it has threatened to fall on its side was when Matthew put most of his weight into pulling on the top sidebar. It's easy to climb with more of a wide step instead of a narrow ladder-type set-up. The slide is about 14 to 15 inches wide.

We've had this set since Matthew was a year old. Here he is in this video when he was 16 months old. Introducing the slide to him, I sat him at the top and encouraged him to slide down. He got the hang of it and learned to shift his weight forward to help propel himself.



Elizabeth, at 11 months old, is enjoying the slide too. She crawls up the steps and I help get her legs out in front of her at the top of the slide.

Matthew loves to slide on his tummy. He also doesn't mind sharing the slide and taking turns with Elizabeth.

Since Christmas, Matthew found it interesting to have various things go down the slide like balls, snowmen, cars, anything that fits and slides. So I've used this as a simple, mini speech and language activity with repeat phrases for him to parrot and practice articulation. Some examples are:

Go ball go!
Go car go!

OR

Ball slide down. Weee!!
Car slide down. Weee!!

Toy Review Tuesday: Alphabet Foam Floor Mat

Foam floor mats come in many colors and varieties. We have the alphabet floor mat. The square pieces are interlocking and the letters pop-out for some puzzle fun.

We don't really use it as a "sit down and put together the puzzle" toy though. We enjoy it as just a floor mat.

Activities We've Liked

Create an infinite path. After I modeled walking/ hopping/ jumping/ naming letters as I randomly stepped on them, I got Matthew's attention. He thought it was pretty funny, giggling the whole time he was walking as fast as he could on the foam letters. Round and round the living room floor around the ottoman.

Create a simple obstacle course. I put a wooden board across one area for Matthew to step on and off it whenever he got to it. We have fun AND work on leg strength at the same time.



Connect all the pieces together to form a giant rectangular mat. Lay a quilt and/or blanket on it. Top with pillows. It makes a comfortable lounging/ play area. Matthew and Elizabeth had fun just rolling around on the makeshift bed.

Create a path of letters. Play an impromptu game of "Stomp on/ Touch/ Point at the letter ___."

A line/ path of foam letters also make a fun road for matchbox cars, a landing strip for an airplane, or even a substitute railroad for trains.

Do you have floor mat play ideas you'd like to share? We'd love to try them!

Cons
Matthew is way past the 'mouthing toys' stage. But there's something about these foam pieces that he likes so sometimes I'll catch him biting or chewing on a piece. Elizabeth is teething. I find her chewing on the pieces too sometimes. We have a "no chewing/ biting foam" rule here. The foam pieces are confiscated and rinsed.

Storage was an issue until I rearranged the toys and dedicated one toy box for all the pieces.

Clean up is tedious. Luckily, Matthew and Elizabeth don't take the pieces apart too often.

Toy Review Tuesday: Rody Inflatable Hopping Horse

We welcomed Rody the Pony into our home when Matthew turned 3. I guess he's just a fancy version of the hopping ball. Bill says he looks like a weird rabbit, not a pony.



Rody offers a few advantages over the hopping ball. For Matthew, Rody is easier to mount and dismount compared to the hopping ball. Rody is easier to hop on. Given that he is a hopping toy, there is a real possibility of falling over to the side or forward as weight is shifted on the horse while bouncing.





We started out by spotting Matthew very closely as he had a tendency to fall sideways. But since he's a little stronger now and has better reflexes and control, he will ride Rody and purposefully fall off Rody in a very controlled manner and say "Whoa!". It's one of his favorite things to do.

He can independently ride Rody and move a couple feet forward with him but not down the full length of our hallway yet.



Elizabeth's interaction with Rody is limited to chewing on his ears and crawling over it when on its side. She gets to ride Rody too but only with me holding her. The toy is rated for ages 3 to 5 so it will be a while before Elizabeth goes bouncing around the house on Rody by herself.

Toy Review Tuesday: Easy-Grip Pegs & Pegboard

Matthew played with the Easy-Grip Pegs & Pegboard for the first time when his developmental therapist in the Early Intervention program brought this to our house. He was 2 years old. It was initially used for developing hand-eye coordination and improving his finger and hand grasps on small objects. As Matthew has a relatively great attention span, getting him to sit for this activity was not a problem.

But he initially was not drawn to the pegs. It was love at first bite with the foam pegboard. He just loved to mouth it and bite it. We redirected his chewing to putting a few pegs into the holes, hand over hand and always ending on a good successful note - one guided peg in was a success. Keeping the activity short, simple, frustration-free and seemed to be the keys to holding his interest, especially for the next time she brought this toy.

Over time, he was liking this toy so much that I included it in his Christmas wishlist in 2009, afterwhich he got his very own set from Beyond Play. He also eventually outgrew the desire to bite the pegboard.



To date, Matthew has used this for:
- putting pegs in holes
- stacking as high as Matthew can stack
- learning colors
- counting
- sorting colors, playing same and different

Sequencing is another activity for these pegs but we haven't tried that yet. He is now 38 months old.

Tackling Fine Motor and Gross Motor Simultaneously
Lately, with Elizabeth getting more mobile and more interested in Matthew's toys, I've been using this to help her practice get from sitting to kneeling and reaching for pegs to pull out of the board. I taped the pegboard to the back of a whiteboard, just slightly out of her reach.

She just turned 8 months old today and requires only a tiny bit of support while kneeling since she does not have low muscle tone (hypotonia) like Matthew. At 8 months of age, Matthew was nowhere near crawling and he could sit with boppy pillow support. Needless to say, Matthew would not have been able to do this at 8 months, maybe at 13 months.

When developmentally ready and if we had this toy when Matthew was younger, this would've been a good one to use for leg and hip strength by moving from sitting on heels to a full kneeling position instead of the full range of motion (full sit to full kneel). And with good support to make sure he was not using any compensatory movements during the activity. I did something similar when encouraging him to pull up to stand with a vertical surface using the Leapfrog Fridge DJ as his motivator.



Wrist Movement
I actually learned the tip to stick the pegboard on a vertical surface from Matthew's preschool teacher. I saw it in his classroom and his teacher said it helps with wrist movement leading up to writing. I tried it and the wrist is certainly angled differently when working with a vertical surface compared to a horizontal surface.


Overall, a great educational and developmental toy with no bells and whistles. I'm glad we have it.


Related post:
Toy Review Tuesday: Leapfrog Fridge DJ

Toy Review Tuesday: Shopping Cart (Little Tikes)

The shopping cart is one of those "grow with you" toys. We have the Little Tikes Shopping Cart.



In Matthew's experience, it was not a good pull-up-to-stand toy because:
1) the handle was too high for Matthew to reach and get a good firm grasp when he was sitting on the floor.
2) it rolls very easily and didn't stay put when Matthew tried using it to pull up. He tried when it was on the linoleum though. Maybe it would've been better if it were on thick carpet.
3) it tipped over (forward) when Matthew pulled up on the front part of the cart.



As a push toy, it worked very well when Matthew could steer and didn't rely on it to hold his weight too much. He started pushing it around successfully when he was almost walking independently. He was 21 months in the above photo and had started taking independent steps at that age.

We tried giving Yuri a ride in it but he didn't like that at all.



I've even toyed with the idea of taking this shopping cart with us on one- or two-item grocery runs and use it for a real-life (as opposed to pretend play only) learning experience that he can associate with his shopping cart. But I decided it was too much work for me. I know he gets the idea of grocery shopping though. While he sits in the cart, he enjoys putting (unbreakable) items into the shopping cart for me. There are several grocery stores that have kid-size shopping carts although none in our area.

As Matthew's language improves and his interest in more elaborate pretend play increases (and when Elizabeth is older, she may force him to play pretend grocery store with her), he'll be "shopping" around the house for items. So if the TV remote or car key goes missing, it'll probably be in the cart, right?

Toy Review Tuesday: Brilliant Basics Activity Walker (Fisher Price)

We borrowed the Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Activity Walker from the cousins. This was the very first walker that Matthew used.

We decided to introduce a walker toy when Matthew was pulling up on the coffee table at 15 months and teach him to walk with it. He was also creeping (on his hands and knees) at this point. Being a visual and kinesthenic learner, we moved his legs for him one at a time just to show him the motions. We didn't get very far with this as he clearly wasn't ready to move forward on the walker yet.

After a month of trying it on and off, he began to take a few steps with it while leaning heavily on it. He took steps with his arms bent and his chest right up against the handle. It supported his weight without a problem.

Another month later, he was leaning less on the walker. However, there were a couple of instances when it slipped out from under him when the front part ran over a rubber ball, lifting the two front wheels. With him leaning on the handle, which was directly over the two back wheels, the walker reared up and sent Matthew crashing down. He was upset moreso because of the bad surprising fall. He was not injured. This would not have happened had he not been using the handle to support most of his weight.

The ability to steer came in the 5th month after introducing the walker. He was 20 months old. At this point, he was cruising from one piece of furniture to another and cruising along the sliding glass door and other flat surfaces (perpendicular to the ground). He was hardly relying on the walker to support him. He was not walking independently yet.

He began taking several independent steps at 21 months.

Pros and Cons
The pros:
- Lightweight yet sturdy.
- Collapsible for easy storage or transport.
- Perfect height for Matthew when he started. He is generally in the 40th - 50th percentile for height in the growth chart for boys with Down syndrome.
- No fancy bells and whistles and lights on this walker but it does sound out when tapped or upon impact with another solid object. I think that the less distraction there was on the walker, the more it will be used as a walker rather than just a "sit-down-and-play" toy.
- Good for pulling up as long as Matthew wasn't completely relying on it to stay put. It can roll away.
- Easy to steer on carpet (berber), linoleum, hardwood, and tile.

The cons:
- It has slipped out from underneath Matthew twice when the two front wheels ran over a small rubber ball and lifted off the floor. As long as all four wheels are grounded, then it's fine.
- Climbers would be tempted to climb the front side. Not safe as it could roll away, especially on non-carpeted flooring.

Better walkers by Fisher Price or other toy manufacturers might exist. But overall, this walker served us well except for the unfortunate slip-ups, which could've been avoided. This is by no means a bad starter walker and I'm glad we have it. It will see more use soon when Elizabeth gets up and moving.

Toy Review Tuesday: Little Tikes Push & Ride Racer

This was the perfect first riding toy for Matthew. He got it for his 1st birthday and was on it when he was 13 months old. The seat was just the right height and width for him. At 13 months, he was 28-1/2 inches tall and just beggining to commando crawl (tummy crawl). I liked the fact that his feet could touch the ground when seated on this. As a rider, it's very sturdy and solid. I never worried about it tipping over.

He had enough torso strength to maintain his balance and stay on. He only slipped off twice. But I was also usually nearby to help him keep his balance until he got used to riding.

It took him a couple of weeks to learn to propel forward. The rider rolled with so little effort on the linoleum kitchen floor than on carpet so we started on the linoleum. His discovery was accidental. We had put a big sticker on the front. He was leaning over trying to reach it while seated, causing the toy to move forward. So he would lean forward to make it move and then follow with both feet pushing off at the same time.

It wasn't until he was 14 or 15 months old when he started using his feet more than his weight to move the rider and could go on the carpet. And he was probably at least 17 months old when he could propel with alternating feet and steer.

He started using this as push toy when he was 21 months old, which was the same month he started walking independently up to 3 or 4 feet at a time. He could also pull up to stand using the back of the rider. It didn't tip over when he pulled himself up on it but it would roll away sometimes, especially if it was on linoleum or tile flooring.

Overall, a good, simple, sturdy riding toy that Matthew enjoys. It has seen many miles of use in our house and will see many more in the upcoming years. We tried using it outside a couple of times but our cement driveway scratched up the wheels and made it harder to steer. So this remains an indoor toy.

Walks Down Stairs

One of Matthew's goals for the next 12 months is to develop the skill, balance and coordination needed for walking down stairs holding the rail only. His current method is to crawl down backwards. While he can walk down a single 5-inch step without my assistance (see blog entry "All By Himself On A Single Step"), he needs one-hand assistance when walking down a series of steps, especially when they're more than 5 inches high. That is, until 4 days ago when he wanted to walk down the stairs holding the rail without my help.

In Patricia C. Winders' book Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome, tracks gross motor milestones based on her observation of 154 children with Down syndrome. "Walks down stairs marking time holding the rail" is #39 on her list and is described as "facing forward, holding the rail with one hand and the other at his side, he steps down with one foot and then brings the other foot to the same stair." data for this particular milestone was available on 50 of the children in the sample. The average age when children achieved this milestone was 40 months. 68% of the children achieved it in 30 to 50 months of age. 95% of the children achieved it in 20 to 60 months of age.

In Sue Buckley and Ben Sacks' article "An overview of the development of infants with Down syndrome (0-5 years)," children with Down syndrome walk down stairs with help between the ages 24 to 60+ months, with the average age being 36 months. Typically developing children achieve this milestone between ages 13 to 24 months, with the average age being 17 months.

So 4 days ago, Matthew walked down the stairs holding the rail, taking one step at a time (marking time). He did it all by himself in a very controlled manner. I was in front of him the whole time, taking pictures and ready to assist in case of a mis-step. He reached the bottom of the stairs with a big smile as I gave him a big hug and high fives. He was so proud of himself. And so was I.

The more practice he gets with this emerging skill, the better he will get at walking down stairs. It will get easier as he grows taller too.

Other similar gross motor milestones he needs to work on are walking up stairs one step at a time holding the rail and walking up and down stairs holding the rail alternating steps. He'll get there - one step at a time.

Treadmill Training - Did It Help?

I was recently asked if treadmill training helped Matthew take steps on his own. Matthew was born with hypotonia. His physical therapist (PT) had remarked that it was mild from what she has seen in her many years of experience. Matthew started taking more than 3 independent steps when he was 21 months old. According to the article An overview of the development of infants with Down syndrome (0-5 years), children with Down syndrome begin to walk independently between 13 to 48 months old. According to the same article, kids without Down syndrome walk independently in the age range 9 to 17 months old.

To be honest, I think it was more of a combination of things we did that helped. Not to mention, Matthew was very self-motivated too. He giggled everytime he took a few steps without support, as seen in the video on a previous post "Walking". At the time he started walking, he was receiving physical therapy twice a month, 45 minutes to 1 hour per session, at home.

We tried treadmill training for about 2 months starting when Matthew was 19 months old. I have a video of him on the treadmill on a previous post "Treadmill Training for Babies with Down Syndrome. At 19 months, Matthew was already able to push a sturdy push toy several feet forward but he still needed to improve his stability and balance. He could also pull to stand and cruise sideways holding on to furniture.

Without a push toy, we had him walking with 2-hand support (hands above his shoulders). We had him walk barefoot on our front lawn and in our house. We also had him walk with shoes on. We walked up and down a 30-degree slope on the one side of our house to help improve his leg strength.

When he felt more stable, we tried to switch holding his hands in front of him instead of above his shoulders. Then we gradually decreased support, going from 2 hands to just 1.

Motivators
We keyed in to what motivated him. He loved balls (and still does). Showing him how to "kick" an air-filled, light ball by walking into it (with hand support of course) motivated him to move forward.

Our cat, Yuri, also motivated him. I always had to be careful that he didn't grab a handful of fur.

There were also a select number of toys that motivated Matthew to walk from point A to point B on his own. But I believe his biggest motivator Bill or I. He got the most enjoyment out of walking to and from Bill and I.

Other Factors
Matthew has hypotonia. It causes laxity in the joints (hips, knees and ankles) that may make it more difficult to walk without support. I'm thankful Matthew didn't have much issue with that. His ankles rolled inward slightly but they were strong enough that Matthew felt stable enough on his feet to walk. He did not require orthotics.

When he did start walking, his physical therapist looked for compensatory movement patterns paying close attention to his gait, trunk position and overall posture. This article "Physical Therapy for Children with Down Syndrome" by Patricia C. Winders provides a lot of good information on physical therapy and explains compensatory movement patterns.

Did Treadmill Training Help?
I think it might have just a tiny bit since we didn't do it often enough. I tried to get up to 8 minutes per day but the most he ever wanted to be on it was close to 2 minutes. It might have helped more if we did it more frequently during the day and added more play elements to the activity to keep his interest. It was worth doing though just as an additional exercise for him.

If it didn't interest him at all, we wouldn't have tried it. Forcing him to do something he doesn't like would only teach him how to get out of doing it. Ultimately, I think it's the strongest motivating factor that will help - with most milestones. Of course, it is also important to look at and address any physical attributes (tone, posture, joint laxity, overall strength) that might be an obstacle to walking independently.

Also, some kids might just need more time to gain the confidence for this awesome milestone.

Question For Readers
Did you try treadmill training? Did it help your child?

Related post:
Treadmill Training for Babies with Down Syndrome
"Walking"

Toy Review Tuesday: Soccer Set

We got this soccer set by Little Tikes for Matthew on his 2nd birthday in October 2009. We didn't get it out until this year in the spring though to give Matthew more time to develop more stability while walking, especially on our uneven, weed-ridden front lawn. He had just started taking independent steps when he was 21 months old.


The goal structure is made of metal, which makes it sturdy and doesn't blow over easily on windy days. It doesn't come apart at all if the ball is kicked into the goal with force.

This soccer set has been great for kicking practice. The ball with this set is slightly smaller than a standard-sized soccer ball and it's perfect for Matthew. But we use the standard ball anyway as there is a smaller chance of him tripping with it. He used to trip over the ball (big or small) and over his feet quite often when he first started but he's gotten much better at it now. However, I don't think he's ready for the World Cup just yet.


The set comes with mini orange practice cones which we sometimes line up and guide Matthew in and around them while holding a ball - just because it's fun. When he's older, we can practice weaving around the cones while kicking a ball for coordination. He can learn fancy soccer footwork and moves from his cousin when he's older, if he's still interested in soccer.



Right now, he's happy with simply kicking and throwing the ball around. It would be more fun with friends. (Elizabeth hasn't developed her soccer legs yet.)

Soccer, anyone?