How a Baby Learns to Walk
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Taking That First Step
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Most babies are walking by the time they reach 12 to 15 months of age. Even though some babies may take those first steps at 9 months, on average, children tend to be closer to 16 months old before they are walking well. Before babies can walk, they must develop muscle strength and coordination. They do this by learning to sit, roll over and crawl. Then they begin to pull themselves up and stand. Earlier on, usually around 5 months of age, as a baby's legs get stronger, he can bounce himself up and down by balancing his feet on an adult's legs. It takes several months more, though, before a baby's legs have grown strong enough to support his weight as he stands. Parents can help a baby along with activities that keep him from spending a lot of time sitting down. Encourage your child to pull himself up on his legs at every opportunity. By the time a baby is 8 or 9 months old, most babies can pull themselves up and walk around the room by holding onto sturdy furniture. But before he can walk alone, he must learn how to stoop, squat and sit after standing. However, some babies are not quite sure at first how to get back down after pulling themselves up to a standing position.
After That First Step
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Parents should not get concerned if a baby goes back to crawling again for a couple of weeks after taking those first steps. Keep in mind that there is a tremendous amount of development going on inside your child's brain as she learns her new mobility skills. Her confidence will build as she becomes steadier on her feet. Within 6 weeks of taking those first steps, most babies learn to balance themselves and even bend at the knee. By the time she is 15 or 16 months old, a baby can usually toddle around with push-and-pull toys. Climbing stairs may begin to catch her interest as well. Most children have become pretty good at walking by the time they are 18 months old. At 2 years of age, a child's coordination has improved to the point where she can run, jump and climb. Three year olds are usually able to balance on one foot and walk up stairs by putting only one foot on each step and alternating feet.
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Baby Walkers
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The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises parents not to use baby walkers. While in recent years the Consumer Product Safety Commission has worked with manufacturers to design wheeled baby walkers with safety features, the AAP continues to be concerned about injuries that children sustain in walkers even when they are being supervised by an adult. The types of injuries children suffer while in baby walkers include burns, poisonings and injuries from falling down stairs.
Although many parents believe the use of a baby walker helps their baby to walk by himself sooner, baby walkers may actually delay a child's development. The time spent in a walker can prevent a child from learning to sit, roll over and stand up alone. Also, because a baby's hips and knees are in a bent position when sitting in a walker, this encourages a child to walk on his toes instead of learning a normal heel-to-toe walking pattern.
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