First Steps: How Babies Become Toddlers DVD

Sometimes even the smallest step can be the culmination of an epic journey. This program analyzes the long, painful, and ultimately euphoric struggle a child undergoes to roll, sit up, crawl, fumble around aided by furniture, and finally take one giant leap for humankind. Enthralling footage of adventurous, rapidly developing babies shows how they build muscle power and coordination, practice rhythmic kicking, deal with the weight of their large heads, adopt their own customized crawling styles, learn to climb stairs, and, even more importantly, learn to balance on two legs. Viewers discover how mental mapping skills and a crucial, built-in fear of falling come into play. A part of the series Baby It’s You: The First Three Years. (25 minutes)

Length: 25 minutes

ORDER CODE: 41948

Copyright date: ©1994

Early Walking Instinct (01:50)

The average human baby will learn to walk in about one year, a feat it has taken the human race millions of years of evolution to accomplish. The walking reflex possessed by a six day old baby is gone by 12 weeks.

Walking Template in the Brain (01:25)

Before babies can walk or crawl they must develop muscle power and coordination. Rhythmic frog like kicking seems uncoordinated but it is a voluntary movement that is helping to organize a baby's brain.

Mastering Head Control (00:60)

The first physical problem to solve in learning how to walk is the size of a baby's head, which is twice the size of an adult's in comparison to its body. Physical control begins with the head and will work its way down through the body.

Controlling Upper Body (01:18)

A baby's ability to roll provides their first experience with independent movement. Rolling is a precursor to crawling. With no sense of potential consequences rolling can be risky.

Learning to Sit (01:22)

Learning to sit is a difficult physical test. Failed attempts at sitting leave babies in a natural crawling position. Sitting means babies have acquired the muscle power needed to balance their own bodies.

Mechanics of Crawling (02:08)

In an effort to crawl a baby moves backwards, partly because of her heavy head. Physical control is still working its way down her body so her legs are not as strong as her arms. Crawling requires detailed planning.

Why do Babies Crawl? (02:37)

Babies use different methods for crawling because they are not totally pre-programmed; they learn and adapt through experience. By creating the need to plan, crawling speeds up a baby's intellectual development.

Crawling Exploration (03:19)

Crawling marks the beginning of a new kind of exploration for babies. As babies piece their fragmented maps together they get a sense of how they fit into the world. Stairs are the last big challenge for a baby crawler.

Cruising (01:41)

Walking is not as efficient as crawling for a ten month old baby, yet the drive to get up on two legs is unstoppable. Cruising brings more of the world within a baby's reach and provides the opportunity to practice balancing.

Independent Walking (01:52)

It takes about 12 months of determination, triumph, and error before a baby learns to walk. This physical breakthrough is significant as something that makes them uniquely human.

Gaining Walking Experience (01:33)

Lack of foot arches and a duck like gate are obstacles to efficient walking. The sense of balance is not refined enough to tackle gradients. Walking stimulates the part of the brain that controls coordination and balance.

New Walking Skills (01:59)

Seven months after learning to walk much of a baby's awkwardness has disappeared. At this stage walking is used more for exploration than for getting from one point to another. He can run, sidestep, and change direction with ease.

Sophisticated Walker (01:23)

At just over two years old one walking down stairs is still a challenge because it demands greater balance and coordination that climbing up.

Credtis: First Steps: How Babies Become Toddlers (00:41)

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