Your baby took their first steps and are now toddling around the house exploring their world. Walking is one of the many exciting phases of development! But taking those first steps are just the beginning of mobility milestones. Did you know it’s just as important for your child to learn how to walk backward?
Imagine Pediatric Therapy is here to explain why, while walking backward is a milestone not often celebrated, it is critical to a child’s physical and mental development.
Why is walking backward important?
Children usually begin experimenting with walking backwards between 18-24 months of age, not long after they master walking forward.
Walking backward helps strengthen muscles that are not used when walking forward, such as the child’s calves, glutes, and quadriceps. This muscle development is important for future physical development, such as climbing. Walking backwards improves overall gait, balance, and mobility, all important for coordination and fall prevention.
There are also mental benefits associated with children walking backward. Backward walking enhances the sense of body awareness and movement in space, strengthens thinking skills and enhances cognitive control. A recent study suggests that walking backward can also increase a person’s short-term memory. After all, walking backward involves asking your body to go where you cannot see, so you must remember where you’ve been and navigate that, even if just walking backward in a straight line.
What does it mean if a child is not walking backward?
If your child is not walking backward by the time they are two years old, ask your pediatrician to check their progress. It is possible that your child is a late bloomer; developmental milestones are set as just a guideline based on the average of when children begin displaying the behavior.
Coordination is a combination of what your child’s brain wants to do and what their body can do. Being unable or unwilling to walk backward may be a sign that your child has underdeveloped muscles or that there is an underlying mental delay.
Intervention to Assist in Walking Backward
Your Imagine Pediatrics physical therapist will evaluate your child and create a plan of treatment. Your physical therapist will assess your child’s strength, gait, and coordination, typically asking your child to walk approximately 20 feet forward and backward to look for muscle symmetry. Muscle symmetry analysis checks to see if your child leans to one side and if their arms and legs move in a coordinated fashion. We’ll also inspect your child’s shoes to see if wear is uneven.
If your child becomes fatigued by short and simple exercises, we may need to work together on muscle development. Your physical therapist will develop an exercise program and assess your child’s progress regularly.
To encourage walking backward, your therapist may hold your child’s hand and slowly introduce walking backward together, one step at a time. We may use props such as a mirror to assist your child, so that they can still see the room around and behind them. Your child may be given a pull toy so they can focus on the toy following them as they walk backward. They may also practice walking backward with a buggy or rolling support so they have something to hold.
It’s Never Too Soon for Intervention
Early intervention helps your child reach necessary physical and developmental milestones sooner, making them more able to reach the next goal. The sooner you contact Imagine Pediatric Therapy and request an evaluation, the sooner your child will be able to conquer their next milestone.
