Encouraging Toddlers to Walk with the Hape Ducky Push Pal

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When Mia was born, as she was a ‘first’ we didn’t have any points to measure her milestones by, just the other similar-aged children at baby groups and stuff so when Lottie came along, it’s been really difficult not to immediately compare her to Mia.

Mia walked at 14 months and so when Lottie still was barely crawling at that stage, we did start to worry a little about it. In my heart I know nothing is wrong and as I’m writing this Lottie is still not walking at 18 months old. This isn’t too much of a problem in itself as she stands and cruises along the furniture now but because she’s really tall, she looks a lot older than she actually is and this causes other people confusion when we are out and about!

We have been trying to encourage her in various ways, but she just isn’t bothered about taking those first proper steps on her own. We have a paediatrician appointment next week but to be honest, I don’t think they are going to say anything at all! One of the things we have been doing to encourage her as well as giving her endless positivity and praise when she stands up at the sofa, is to use toys as a reward. So, when we were asked if we would like to have a look at the Push Pals, I snapped one up for Lottie to give it a go!

We have always tried to buy wooden toys when the girls were really little but obviously this gets harder and harder as they get older and want more and more plastic tatt (as we call it!). But Hape is one of the largest producers of toys made from sustainable materials. They are creatively designed as well as being eco-friendly which sounds good to us!

Encouraging toddlers to walk

Hape have created some lovely toys and we were sent the Ducky Push Pal for Lottie to see if we could entice her to walk! The Push Pals come in a ‘fusion of bright colours and friendly characterful motifs.’ There is a Bumblebee and a Ducky in the collection. The Ducky is so cute and as your child pushes it along, it waddles with its moveable, webbed feet which looks just like a duck slapping its feet as it walks! It also flaps its wings and Lottie absolutely loved it when she first saw it!

Lottie has just started saying ‘quack quack’ when she sees ducks in the park so I knew that she would love Ducky! She keeps touching his feet and making them go around and around. She can’t manage to walk him along yet as it’s a bit tricky when she’s not walking herself, but we are trying to get her to give it a go and I’m sure she will soon!

The Hape Push Pal (£19.20) is really well made and feels like a high-quality children’s toy. I love the fact its wooden and eco-friendly too! The bright, colourful characters are really eye-catching and little ones will love them! A great toy for encouraging toddlers to walk! I will definitely be taking a look at their other ranges as I would be more than happy to kit Lottie out with some more sustainable toys.

Have you ever bought/considered wooden toys for your child?