Multipath routing mechanism is vital for reliable packet delivery, load balance, and flexibility in the open network because its topology is dynamic and the nodes have limited capability. This article proposes a new multipath switch approach based on traffic prediction according to some characteristics of open networks. We use wavelet neural network (WNN) to predict the node traffic because the method has not only good approximation property of wavelet, but also self-learning adaptive quality of neural network. When the traffic prediction indicates that the primary path is a failure, the alternate path will be occupied promptly according to the switch strategy, which can save time for the switch in advance. The simulation results show that the presented traffic prediction model has better prediction accuracy; and the approach based on the above model can balance network load, prolong network lifetime, and decrease the overall energy consumption of the network. Multipath routing mechanism is vital for reliable packet delivery, load balance, and flexibility in the open network because its topology is dynamic and the nodes have limited capability. This article proposes a new multipath switch approach based on traffic prediction according to some characteristics of open networks We use wavelet neural network (WNN) to predict the node traffic because the method has not only only approximation property of wavelet, but also self-learning adaptive quality of neural network. When the traffic prediction that the primary path is a failure, the alternate path will be displayed promptly according to the switch strategy, which can save time for the switch in advance. The simulation results show that presented traffic prediction model has better prediction accuracy; and the approach based on the above model can balance network load , prolong network lifetime, and decrease the overall energy consumption of the network.