In this blog post, TINYHOOD expert and Board-Certified Pediatric Physical Therapist Brita DeStefano discusses how babies learn to walk, the signs they are close to walking, and how you can encourage their motor development from pre-walking through those first independent steps!
You might be: Rolling. Sitting. Crawling. All of these are great signs your baby is making progress in their motor development. But if you are like many parents I work with, you are anxiously awaiting your baby’s first steps.
You also might be wondering when those first steps will happen. The answer: every baby develops on their own timeline.
What I do know, though, is that there are things that you as a parent can be doing right now that will ultimately help your baby reach this exciting milestone.
When do babies typically start walking?
While most babies start smiling around 2 months old and rolling from tummy to back between 3 to 6 months old, the typical age range for walking independently varies widely — anywhere from 10 to 18 months!
This is because walking is a combination of many different skills. First, your child has to learn to pull to stand, then they have to learn to step side to side as they “cruise” along furniture, then walk across the room with assistance, and finally, walk all on their own.
Later, I’ll share ways you can help your child progress through these pre-walking milestones, but next, let’s talk about some ways you can prepare your home for a new walker.
How can I prepare my home for a new walker?
While play yards are great for younger babies to play safely, once your baby is crawling and pulling to stand, you’ll want to look into creating a larger “yes space” where they have room to move and, ultimately, practice their walking skills.
What this “yes space” looks like depends on your exact home, but it is essentially a room or part of a room that can be made safe for your baby to play as they wish. It’s a space where you don’t have to tell them “no” and redirect them all the time.
Many parents choose to make the living room or the nursery their baby’s “yes space,” but you can also invest in a larger playpen or even gate off a hallway if you don’t have the space or ability to babyproof a whole room.
How can I dress my baby to encourage walking?
If you have a baby who is mobile or close to mobile, be it crawling or walking, you really want to focus on stretchy, comfortable, nonrestrictive clothing that can give them a complete range of motion.
When it comes to footwear, I encourage parents to let their babies go barefoot inside so they can feel the full range of motion in their feet and can grip the floor with their toes. For this reason, I also suggest dressing your baby in play clothing that is footless.
If you are outside the house and need footwear, the best shoes for pre-walkers or new walkers:
~ Are lightweight
~ Have a flexible sole
~ Have a Velcro closure
~ Have a wide toe box
This wide toe box is often overlooked, but it is important because it allows your baby’s toes to spread out, which helps them balance.
How can I support pre-walking milestones?
Cruising, or taking side steps while walking along furniture, is an important pre-milestone to independent walking. And there are things you can do to build your baby’s cruising skills and get them closer to independent walking.
1. Encourage them to cruise in both directions.
You want your baby to be able to lead with both their left foot and right foot, so encourage them to cruise in both directions. Have a trusted partner sit at one end of the couch while you sit on the other and encourage your baby to cruise back and forth.
2. Encourage them to cruise along the wall.
Once your baby can comfortably cruise along furniture, up the challenge and have them cruise along a high, flat surface, like a wall. You can do this by placing sticky notes or painter’s tape along the wall and letting your baby pull them off.
3. Leave toys in their path.
While this might just sound like a tripping hazard, by leaving soft toys along your baby’s cruising path, you are encouraging them to squat down and pick them up, which ultimately strengthens their leg and hip muscles.
Is it okay to hold my baby’s hand as they are learning to walk?
Yes! Most babies learn to walk with assistance before they learn to walk independently, whether with a push walker or a caregiver’s hand.
If you do offer your baby your hand while they walk, I do have one caveat, though, and that’s to make sure you hold their hands down at shoulder height, not up above their head. This allows them to feel that natural forward weight shift as they walk, which they will need to walk independently.
You can start by offering your baby both hands, but as they get more confident, you can offer them one, or even just a single finger!
How can I encourage my baby to take their first independent steps?
If you have a baby who is reluctant to let go of your hand and take those first independent steps, you are NOT alone. This is super common and there are some things you can do to help.
1. Move the furniture further apart.
If your baby is confidently cruising from the couch to the chair to the coffee table, try moving the furniture a little further apart, so they have to reach out and maybe take a step or two before they can grab the next piece of furniture.
2. Give them a toy to hold.
Some children really need the comfort of holding something, but that doesn’t have to be your hand!Giving your child something like a ball or a Lovey blanket to hold while they walk can give them the feeling of security they need to take that first step.
3. Change the environment!
Bringing your reluctant walker to a new park or a store can offer them something interesting and new to walk towards, making them more motivated to finally take those first steps.
And once your baby does take their first steps, remember that the transition from crawling to walking is not instantaneous. You may find over the next few weeks, your child still chooses to crawl some times and walk other times. And when they do start walking full-time, it often looks a bit clunky and involves quite a bit of falling down. This is all totally normal. Give your baby the space and time they need to practice, and soon enough, they will be walking like a pro, and by 2, they will even be running!
For more tips like this, you can always check out my Tinyhood class Supporting Toddler Cruising, Walking & Beyond (12-24 months). It’s available to watch online, anytime!
