# Walker for CP?



## KidneyBeans

My little one is turning 2 at the end of the month and the specialist has suggested we think about a walker for the future. She just began sitting up unassisted at 21 months but can only do it for so long because her muscles are so tight in her legs :cry:

She does her own version of the army crawl without using her legs so essentially, she isn't crawling yet. Walking doesn't look like it will be happening anytime soon.

The specialist, with the help of the Physical and Occupational Therapists, have decided a walker would be beneficial to help her build the muscles needed for walking. They use a stander at her therapies but when they do, she screams!!!! We do all the exercises at home but her muscles are just too tight and she does not enjoy the standing. 

Just wondering about others experiences with walkers and their littles. We will be getting a stander soon (hopefully renting from the center) so we can do that more at home and get her ready for the walker. She absolutely hates the stander though. 

Thanks.


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## capel

DD had a walker and honestly, after a few months I rang them to get it back. It was huge, heavy, hard to use and incovenient. She did not have problems with the standing but it was very hard to use. I mean my house is small, the walker would not fit through corridors and she could only cross the living room with it. If we went outside even the smallest slope would drag her. It was so heavy she did not have the strength to push it. What is the point of a walker if she could not walk with it, only 4 steps then she was stuck. That was 3 years ago, so it migth have changed, so check the kind of walker they think it is siutable for her.There were two kinds of walker, one that encourages the child to lean foward and the other backwards. DD had the one lean forward. The lean backward seemed fine sizewise, but as she normally leans backward if by herself it was not suitable for her. Her best friend used one for 3 years (lean backwards) and she was quite independent. Now she can walk by herself...


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## Foogirl

Abby has something similar to this https://www.betterlifehealthcare.com/view_product.php?prodID=8213

It is really lightweight and goes through the average size door.


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## capel

Foogirl said:


> Abby has something similar to this https://www.betterlifehealthcare.com/view_product.php?prodID=8213
> 
> It is really lightweight and goes through the average size door.

This is what I meant by the lean backward walker that DD friend had and was fine. The other kind, lean forward that is very bulky. So it depends of how your child stand and if they need to be encouraged to lean forward or backward.


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## KidneyBeans

Thanks for the input.

We aren't sure what kind she would be getting as it was just a suggestion at this point, but I will bring up the leaning back one. The stander she uses now is where she leans to the front, so I hope that won't be the case with the walker.


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