Baby's First Steps: A Guide to Walking Milestones

According to the children’s classic film “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” you gotta Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be walking ‘cross the floor. When it comes to your baby, learning how to walk is perhaps the first major milestone in a long list of accomplishments. Walking is a greatly anticipated infant achievement. It’s a sure sign that your little one is entering the toddler zone (and some serious babyproofing is in your near future). This article provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and supporting your baby's journey to walking.

Average Walking Age

The average age for babies to start walking is about 12 months. But some take their first steps even earlier or much later - and that’s perfectly OK. Babies’ first steps are usually around their first birthday (12-15 months is the expected time when walking happens).“Babies can start walking as early as 9 months,” Dr. Marshall shares. “It’s also normal for babies to take more time and start walking at 17 or 18 months.”

And once they get to hobbling along on two feet, they may not master the new skill of walking right away. “Expect a wide-based gait for a while,” she adds. “It takes a bit of time to get their balance. Your child might not be up and running until around 15 to 18 months old.”

Signs Your Baby Will Walk Soon

At around 9 to 12 months, watch for these signs your baby will walk soon:

Pulling themselves up to a stand.
Standing for a few seconds before falling over or standing without support.
“Cruising” or holding onto furniture to guide them while they’re walking.
Increased fussiness or sleep changes as a result of growth spurts or feeling tapped out from concentrating.
Standing while playing
Standing without leaning or arm support

“What’s most important is the ability to independently pull themselves up to a complete stand,” says Dr. Marshall. “That’s the big milestone that occurs just before babies start independently walking.”

Read also: Right Age to Start Swimming

How Babies Develop Walking Skills

Babies aren’t born light on their feet. It takes time for a baby to take their first steps and learn how to use their arms and legs to boost their mobility. Each and every skill they learn is based on a previous lesson they’ve mastered. In the end, a combined effort of skills that require their arms, legs and core muscles is what makes walking possible.

In general, babies learn to walk in the following stages:

3-4 months: Babies may use their arms to push themselves up for brief periods while they’re lying on their stomach.
6-7 months: Babies start to sit on their own. Babies typically start sitting with support around 4 to 6 months and can sit independently by 6 to 9 months.
6-9 months: Babies start crawling. Many (but not all) babies learn to crawl between 7 and 10 months old. Your baby may do the classic crawl, commando crawl on their belly, or scoot on their butt - it's all normal.
9 months: Babies often start pulling themselves up to stand while holding onto furniture (known as “cruising”). Babies start to pull themselves up so they can stand for brief periods.
9-12 months: Babies start to cruise, going from one piece of furniture to another. Cruising usually happens between 9 and 14 months. Cruising occurs when baby takes tentative steps while holding onto furniture, like a couch or a sturdy table (another reason why it’s so important to childproof!).
11-13 months: Babies generally start walking on their own.

Not every stage is needed to master walking and not all babies learn to walk in the same way. Some babies may be delayed in learning how to walk, especially if their parents were late walkers. Others may even skip crawling altogether, while some might crawl on their hands and knees or commando crawl (pull themselves along on their stomach).

Before a child begins walking, they must first develop core strength, balance, and coordination, all of which are built during earlier milestones like sitting.

Support and Encouragement for Your Baby

As your child grows, they’ll often mimic what others say and do as they learn to develop their own personalities. When it comes to walking, babies sometimes need an extra hand, too, to guide them or encourage them to develop the skills necessary to stand on their own two feet.

Read also: Top Toys for One-Year-Olds

Here are a few ways Dr. Marshall recommends encouraging your baby to walk. Walking begins with baby getting comfortable on their feet. Encourage baby to play in a standing position.

Lend a hand: Once your baby can pull to a stand, hold their hands to help them take steps. You can also help them much earlier, too. During the first couple months of life, when you hold them upright on your lap, while supporting their head and neck, you’ll notice a small kicking reflex - a sign their basic instincts are kicking in. From 3 to 4 months, you can hold them upright on a firm surface so that they can push through their legs and start to build those leg muscles. For support in these early phases, hold baby at their rib cage (not their arms) to promote use of their core muscles.
Use props: “Push toys can be helpful. They’ve got four points on the floor, so they’re very steady, and your child can use them for support as they pull up and move along,” notes Dr. Marshall. Common household items can do the trick, too. Flip over a laundry basket, which is typically babies’ height and will steadily scooch along with them as they stand or push it. Giving safe, age-appropriate push-toys (not infant walkers - more on this below) can inspire your child to walk while picking up some speed. Infant play grocery carts or musical walking toys with wheels and handles can bring joy and assistance to beginning walkers.
Create safe, baby-proofed areas in your home where there's plenty of room for your baby to move. Make sure your home provides a safe and spacious environment for your baby to practice sitting, standing, and walking. Use soft play mats or carpets to cushion falls and remove any sharp or dangerous objects from their play area. Giving your baby plenty of floor time in a safe environment will encourage natural exploration and movement.
Encourage baby to play in a standing position. Have them stand without support by giving them toys to use in both hands while standing. Once they seem comfortable standing, it’s time for a challenge! You can start by encouraging them to take individual steps over short distances.
You can also hold your baby’s hand or give them a blanket to hold while you hold the other end and walk.
By giving your baby plenty of opportunities to develop their muscles, balance, and coordination, you're helping them get ready to walk. Give your child lots of things to do and see. Take walks around your yard and the neighborhood or visit a local playground. At home, you can make an obstacle course of pillows or boxes and encourage your child to walk, climb, and crawl through it. Buy a few balls to practice kicking and throwing.
Tummy time is one of the most important activities for your baby’s development, as it strengthens the neck, back, and core muscles needed for sitting, crawling, and walking. Try to make tummy time a positive experience by getting down on the floor with your baby and using toys or a mirror to keep them engaged.
Once your baby begins showing signs of readiness for sitting (usually around 4 to 6 months), you can help them practice sitting with support. Place your baby in a seated position with pillows or cushions around them for stability. As your baby gets stronger, gradually reduce the amount of support you provide.
Active play is key to helping your baby build the strength and coordination they need for both sitting and walking. Encourage your baby to explore different movements, such as reaching, twisting, and shifting their weight. As your baby gets closer to walking, you can introduce activities that support standing and cruising, such as holding onto furniture and taking steps while holding your hands.
If you notice your baby enjoys an activity - like jumping on your thighs or in a baby jumper - encourage them to keep doing it.
Once your baby is standing and cruising, you can encourage them to walk by standing or kneeling in front of them and holding out your hands. Or you might hold both of their hands and let them walk toward you.
Give your baby a walking toy to use for balance as they walk.

What to Avoid

Avoid baby walkers: Baby walkers are devices with wheels that you sit your child in to propel themselves around. They may be handy for giving you some time to get chores done around the house, but they’re also known to cause thousands of head and neck injuries every year. “They can be dangerous around open doors and stairs and can also get stuck in places,” Dr. Marshall warns. Baby walkers that suspend your baby in a seat over a wheeled base are unsafe enough to send thousands of children to the hospital every year. Some research indicates that these types of walkers can also be related to delays in walking. Several countries, including Canada, have banned these types of baby walkers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called for a ban in the United States. Also, walkers don't help babies learn to walk: According to the AAP, baby walkers can delay a child's first steps. Furthermore, you shouldn’t leave your child unattended as they practice their new skill.
“If you need to step away for a minute, put your baby in a play area that they can’t escape from or in their crib or portable playpen,” she stresses. “Babies always find something to get into, so the best thing to do is get down on all fours and look around to see any dangers you need to block off.”
You might want your baby to defy all statistics, but it’s vital to encourage walking in a positive, safe, and developmentally appropriate way.

The Role of Footwear

While tiny shoes can melt even the hardest of hearts, they’re not necessary for a child to learn to walk properly. “We need shoes when we’re protecting our feet or going outside,” Dr. Marshall clarifies, “but within the home, bare feet or socks with rubber grips on the bottom are just fine.”

In fact, being barefoot may help your child feel the floor better, which could actually help them move along. Going barefoot helps improve balance and coordination. "Babies learn to walk by gripping the ground with their toes and using their heels for stability," says the AAP. "This helps develop the muscles needed for walking and is easier to do without socks or shoes."

Outside shoes should be comfortable, flexible, and closed-toe.

Toddlers need protective yet flexible footwear when they’re out and about.

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Flexible, non-skid soles. Shoes with nonskid soles enable your child to grip the floor when walking and can prevent falls. The soles also need to be flexible to allow for more natural foot movement.
A rounded, wide-toe box.
Velcro or straps.
A flexible, supportive heel cup.
Minimal bulk.

Check the fit often, because toddlers can grow out of shoes every few months.

When to Consult a Doctor

Every child grows and develops at their own pace, but what’s healthy for one child may not be the same for another. Talk to your pediatrician if your child achieves all the milestones leading up to walking but isn’t walking independently by 18 months. The CDC recommends talking to your child’s pediatrician if they’re not walking at all by 18 months and not walking steadily by age 2. If there’s any concern about developmental delays, your doctor will be the first to let you know what may be going on in that tiny body of theirs.

“If they’re achieving all of their milestones, be patient because they may just need more time,” Dr. Marshall says.

Some important signs to watch for are:

Overall resistance to walking
Stiff legs
Inability to take weight on their legs or steps independently
Arms held back
Difficulty lifting neck or straightening back
Prolonged toe walking
Frequent falling and poor balance

Keep in mind that babies have different timetables, and premature babies may reach this and other milestones later than their peers. If your baby was premature, date their milestones from your due date, which pediatricians refer to as your baby's adjusted age.

You may also worry that even a slight delay in walking could indicate additional developmental and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism. While the results of a small 2012 study concluded that early motor delays may be a risk factor for future communication delays in children at risk of autism, for children with a low risk of autism, parents should not jump to this assumption.

Other times, the delay could be mere personality.

What Happens After Walking?

Walking means big changes for your baby and for you. For your baby, learning how to shift their weight onto one leg to take a step forward with the other means more mobility, independence, and a fresh view. Your baby’s first steps may happen anywhere from 9 to 18 months of age, a wide range that represents the uniqueness of each child’s development. On average, babies tend to start walking independently between 12 and 15 months.

After those first magical steps toward independence, your child will begin to master the finer points of mobility:

Standing: At 14 months old, your toddler should be able to stand alone. They can probably squat down and then stand back up again, and they might even work on walking backward.
Steadier walking: By 15 months, your child may be pretty good at walking. They might walk with their legs fairly far apart and their feet pointed outward. This is normal and helps maintain stability.
Climbing stairs: At about 16 months old, your child will begin to take an interest in going up and down stairs - though they probably won't navigate them without your help until age 2. Make sure you have baby gates at the top and bottom of stairways. By 18 months, most toddlers can climb on and off a couch or chair without help.
Dancing: By 18 months, your little walker may also enjoy dancing to music.
Jumping and kicking: Around age 2, your child's steps will be more even, and they'll get the hang of the smooth heel-to-toe motion that adults use. They'll also be getting better at running and jumping, and they may try to kick a ball.

By the time your child's third birthday rolls around, many basic movements will have become second nature. They'll be able to walk up and down stairs with one foot on each stair.

Common Walking Behaviors

Toe Walking: Toe Walking happens when children walk on their toes or balls of their feet. Some children may toe walk because of low muscle tone, a short or tight tendon in their leg, or just out of habit. Many children “experiment” with toe walking, trying it out but ultimately outgrowing it.
Some babies will go back to crawling. They may take a few steps, but then opt for crawling as their mode of movement. To encourage them to walk, try shortening the distance you are asking them to walk. This helps them to gain confidence in their walking, so they can gradually build up the endurance for longer distances. Additionally, continue to encourage standing while playing, so they get more comfortable on their feet.

Fear of Falling

Do not fear a little fall! Baby will most likely be clumsy when they first begin walking, and that is totally normal. To keep them safe, make sure they aren’t surrounded by anything hard or sharp, and stay by their side as they get the hang of things. When they fall, encourage them with a positive voice.

tags: #baby #milestones #learning #to #walk