Evaluation of toddler different strategies during the first six-months of independent walking: A longitudinal study

- Twenty newly walking toddlers were observed using inertial sensors for six months.
- Changes in gait temporal parameters, coordination and gait strategies were evaluated.
- Results showed a developmental shift at 2 months of walking experience.
- Different gait strategies were identified based on collected data.
- Pendulum mechanism characteristics appeared after one month of walking experience.

Twenty infants (age 10-16 month) were analyzed using inertial sensors over a 6-month period after the onset of independent walking. Changes in gait temporal parameters, coordination and gait strategies were evaluated. Gait temporal parameters showed a developmental shift at 2 months of walking experience: after this period, a change in the developmental trend was present in most of the analyzed parameters. Cadence results showed that the increased velocity is more due to an increase in step length than to an increase in cadence, after the first two months of independent walking. Different gait strategies were identified during the first month of independent gait based on collected data; after one month, characteristics of the pendulum mechanism were present in each examined toddler.