9 month old walking

Are Early Walking Babies the Future Geniuses?

How early can a baby start walking?

If an early walking baby is enough to keep you up at night, don't worry. It just means they're ready to move and explore the world around them.

Babies can take their first steps anywhere between 9–12 months old and are usually pretty skilled at it by the time they're 14–15 months. Every baby is different, though — remember that babies are very busy developing stronger muscles and coordination during their first year. Before a baby learns to walk, they have to learn to sit, roll over, crawl and finally stand on their own. In addition, proper nutrition and feeding all have a role to play when it comes to muscle development and coordination.

Here are the typical phases babies go through as they learn to walk:

By the time your baby is around 6 months, you can let them bounce up and down while balancing their feet on your thighs as you hold their hands. At this age baby usually sits well unsupported, transfers objects hand to hand (switches hand), rolls prone to supine.

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Around 9 months (or earlier if you have an early walking baby), they start to pull themselves up on furniture and attempt to stand. If you have a walking baby, they may try to cruise at this stage — that is, use a series of furniture pieces to support themselves while taking a step or two in between.

Toddler trucks and other push toys can help encourage your baby to practice their walking skills as they balance themselves on the toy's handle and push it along. Always make sure to have a soft, safe environment for baby to play in and practice maintaining their balance.

Breastfeeding and early walking babies

Scientists continue to study the relationship between breastfeeding and babies who develop strong motor skills early in life. One study, which took place in New York, attempted to study the relationship between breastfed babies and early walking.

The study found that babies who were fed solids in addition to breast milk at 4 months achieved both standing and walking 7 percent faster than infants who were exclusively breastfed. However, the findings from this study didn't remain significant when corrections and multiple studies were performed, so the link between breastfeeding and early walking babies remains unknown.

Babies walking too early

Early walking babies can be a sign of their growing personalities. It could mean that your child is overeager and potentially impulsive (although, what child isn't?). An earnestness to move on and explore the world around them isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's definitely a trait to watch out for as they grow.

At the very least, early walking is going to make for a very interesting time for you as they have a hard time sitting still and want to explore every nook and cranny of your house.

Some pediatricians believe babies who walk too early are predisposed to a medical condition called Blount's Disease, which can cause them to become bowlegged. This isn't necessarily true, however, as many other factors can contribute to bowleggedness, including family history. Other pediatricians disagree and call this theory a myth, believing that standing or walking early is of no harm to an infant.

The bottom line is, if they're pulling themselves up to stand and cruising among furniture at an early age, there isn't much you can do to stop them. All you can do is sit back, enjoy and keep them safe as they motor around your living room.

Is baby walking early a sign of intelligence?

Opinions differ on whether your baby walking early is an early indicator of intelligence. There has been a general perception that this is true, but it's not been proven by scientific studies.

Medical studies

The team of researchers that conducted the study published in Pediatrics magazine looked at 599 milestone reports of children born between 2008–2010. Their parents were responsible for recording when their kids reached four significant developmental milestones: sitting up without support, crawling, standing alone and walking without assistance.

The authors of the study ended up finding a link between the age at which the babies first stood on their own and their overall cognitive abilities at age 4.

For example, babies who first stood alone at 9 months had higher test scores at age 4 than those children who didn't stand alone until 11 months.

But just because one study finds a link doesn't mean it's true. The size of the study was small, and findings were a bit different for twins. More research is needed to determine whether or not hitting milestones early is an indicator of intelligence later in life.

Other medical studies have found no relationship between intelligence and a baby walking early.

The Swiss National Science Foundation performed a study in 2013 to try to find a relationship between early walking and intelligence, but they found no correlation between the two.

It's generally believed that the actual level of intelligence of a child is more closely related to genetics and environmental factors. This includes things like parenting styles, education, availability of learning tools and even nutrition.

So if your child is an early walker, does this mean they're a bona fide baby genius? No, not necessarily. But what it does mean is you can take pride in one of the biggest accomplishments of their lives and look forward to the many more achievements they'll make during their lifetime. It also makes for a great baby book entry.

When Do Babies Start Walking?

Some parents might feel like their baby started running around and climbing the furniture overnight. But most gross motor development has a wide range for what’s typical.

That means your baby could be walking by 9 months or still getting around in other ways at 14 months.

The general range for walking is between 12 and 18 months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In fact, the CDC notes that babies can often take a few independent steps around age 1 and are typically walking alone by 18 months.

Before walking, there’s usually crawling. And before full-on crawling, there’s scooting or creeping. Before that, there’s rolling and even just learning to push themselves up off the floor.

Every movement skill your baby develops is a step toward the day when they’ll get around on their own. In the meantime, they have a lot of abilities to master, from building core muscle strength to supporting their weight to controlling their limb movements.

Here are the movement milestones babies pass as they’re learning to walk.

At birth, your baby was unable to hold up their head or support their body in any way. But as they outgrow the newborn stage, they’ll start to support their body more.

According to experts, your baby will develop head control around 3 months and more control over their neck and trunk by 4 months, including the ability to push up when they’re lying on their stomach.

Pushing up is an important step toward developing the core and back strength they’ll eventually need to stand upright.

Expected age: 3 to 4 months

Your baby will probably roll first from front to back, and they’ll figure out rolling from back to front a few weeks or a month later. By 6 months, they’re usually able to roll easily in both directions.

They may discover this is a great way to get to that toy they can’t quite reach and start using rolling as a way to get mobile early.

Expected age: 3 to 6 months

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A stronger core means your baby will be able to sit on their own. Sometime between 6 and 9 months, they’ll start sitting upright without support.

This will likely be a process. They might first sit with some help, then sit unassisted, and then begin to move in and out of the sitting position easily without any adult assistance.

Expected age: 4 to 9 months

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Some babies opt to go mobile first, while others try to get upright before they start moving. Once they do, they may do some form of scooting or creeping. These terms describe different baby movements that come before crawling.

Your baby’s first movements across the floor might even be a bit awkward or strange. They could be anything from pushing with their feet to pulling their body around with their hands.

Expected age: 6 to 11 months

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Once your baby gets a taste of sitting upright, they may be eager to get on their feet. They’ll be able to pull themselves to stand between 8 and 11 months.

Expected age: 8 to 11 months

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Your baby may start crawling anywhere between 6 months to after their first birthday. True crawling on their hands and knees can get your baby mobile at a surprising speed, but there are a lot of other ways your baby might choose to get around.

Some babies never crawl. Instead, they go straight from rolling or creeping and scooting to walking.

Many babies, though, rely on the developmental skills that crawling provides, experts say. Crawling helps strengthen muscles, establishes body awareness, and teaches the left and right sides to work in coordination.

Expected age: 6 to 13 months

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Once your baby discovers they can walk while holding your hand, they may never let go of you. You (and every adult who comes near them) will probably get roped into their favorite activity.

Your baby will also leverage every piece of furniture into action by “cruising,” or walking while holding the furniture with their hands for support. So make sure all your furniture is stable and safe for baby to lean on while getting around because everything is fair game in their quest to navigate the room.

Expected age: 6 to 13 months

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As your baby moves closer to true walking, the window when they might begin a new skill gets wider. This is because some babies start practicing gross motor skills early, while others wait and move through them quickly to reach true mobility.

Balance is a key factor in standing solo, which your baby could be doing at only 6 months — but it’s also perfectly fine if they wait until after their first birthday.

Expected age: 6 to 14 months

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Your baby’s first steps could come as early as 8 months or as late as halfway through their second year of life. But you’ll have plenty of warning when it’s coming, because your baby will have been cruising and trying to balance for a while.

Don’t worry if your little one is more interested in sitting and playing than standing and walking. It’s not considered delayed for walking unless your baby waits to take those first steps alone until they’re getting closer to their second birthday.

Expected age: 8 to 18 months

Your baby has an innate drive to become mobile. So at every stage, sometimes the best thing you can do is just sit back and let them explore their abilities in their own time. But you can also encourage and motivate them to become more mobile at each stage.

Try placing a favorite toy just out of reach when they’re getting close to creeping, and they may work harder to move closer to it.

When your baby is cruising, call them to come to you when you’re sitting just out of reach, and they may let go of the furniture so they can take a step and grab your hand.

Make sure your baby’s space is safe for their increasing mobility. Babyproof your home by covering sharp corners, securing furniture, and moving breakables out of the way, so your baby can explore safely.

Here’s how to babyproof every room in your house.

Don’t stress if your baby doesn’t progress smoothly through the stages of mobility. Setbacks, like falls, are expected as your baby learns to walk. They may even take their first steps, then go back to crawling for a little while as they gain confidence for more steps.

First, don’t panic! Between 9 and 18 months is a wide range of when your baby might reach the walking milestone, and that means in most cases, you don’t need to be concerned about where your baby’s skills are right now.

Per the CDC, it’s a good idea to speak with your baby’s doctor if your baby isn’t walking by 18 months or hasn’t met some key walking-related milestones prior to that, like sitting unassisted by 9 months or standing unsupported by 12 months.

This ensures you’ll be intervening early in your baby’s development and nipping any potential concerns in the bud (although, we want to say again that your baby might just be a slow walker who needs a little more time!).

You should also speak with their doctor about possible further evaluation if your child:

develops a skill and then seems to lose it entirely
goes “backward” in their development
is getting slower or clumsier
is displaying lopsided movement, where they’re better at moving on one side than the other

Q:

Why is there such a wide window or age range for what’s considered “normal” for when baby will start to walk? How can parents tell if their baby is on schedule?

Anonymous

A:

The wide range of usual ages to begin walking has many factors, but it all boils down to the fact that every child does things at their own pace. Some babies focus more on fine motor and social skills before gross motor skills such as walking.

Being an “early” or “late” walker does not foretell anything about later abilities, as long as milestones are reached within the broad ranges of “normal.” Your baby’s development can be discussed at each well baby visit with your pediatrician, and you can find out how they are progressing.

Karen Gill, MD, FAAPAnswers represent the opinions of our medical experts. All content is strictly informational and should not be considered medical advice.

It’s common for babies to walk sometime between 9 and 18 months, but there are a lot of milestones that lead up to walking.

If your baby is moving on a slightly slower timeline overall, they might not walk by 18 months, either. It’s a good idea to mention it to your child’s pediatrician just in case, but try not to stress about your baby’s mobility unless you’re noticing other concerning problems or developmental delays.

When a child starts walking and how to help him

October 12, 2019 Likbez Tips

One and a half - it's not too late. Have patience.

When the child should go

Pediatricians agree on some points. The average child takes their first step at 12 months. The key word here is average. And your unique one has every right (approved by pediatricians and physiologists) to go to a different age.

The scope of the norm in this case varies very widely - from 8 months to one and a half years.

Many parents are proud that their children start walking earlier than most. It seems to them that this speaks of the development of the child. But this is just a far-fetched excuse to amuse their parental vanity.

The age at which the child will go is related to his development, physical or intellectual abilities in exactly the same way as the shape of the nose or the color of the hair. In plain text, no way. Someone is red, someone has gray eyes, and someone went on their own at 8 months.

However, there are still certain situations when a delay in starting to walk should alert.

When to start worrying

First, a healthy baby must somehow take the first independent step before 20 months. By this age, the children have grown strong enough that it was given to them without much effort. If the child refuses to walk or does it only with support, it is necessary to contact the pediatrician. You may need additional examinations from other specialized specialists - an orthopedist or a neuropathologist.

Secondly, the big picture is important. It's one thing if the child does not walk, but his motor functions are obviously developing: he confidently rolls over, sits down, reaches for toys, crawls, tries to rise against the wall of the crib or climb onto the sofa, jumps enthusiastically when you hold him by the hands. And it’s quite another if his physical activity seems insufficient to you. This is also a serious reason to additionally consult a doctor.

If none of these situations apply to you and your children, relax. The child will definitely start walking as soon as he is ready for it.

What determines when a child goes

By and large, this is a lottery. No pediatrician will undertake to predict the exact dates, even observing a specific baby from birth and knowing everything about the family history. However, there are some regularities that allow us to make assumptions.

Here are the main factors that can affect (but not necessarily) the age at which a child takes his first independent steps.

Genetics

If a father or mother started walking at an early age, children will probably inherit this feature. The reverse is also true. If, for example, a father preferred to crawl for up to a year and a half, his son may choose the same tactic.

Weight and body type

Plumper and heavier children find it harder to get on their feet and balance than their leaner and more muscular buddies.

Some personality traits

Getting to your feet and taking the first step without support is quite a risky undertaking. Some children act on the principle of "head into the pool": they simply remove their hands from the wall or sofa and step into the unknown. Of course, they fall, sometimes it hurts, but they try again. Perhaps this propensity for risky behavior is a part of their character that will stay with them forever.

Other infants, on the other hand, behave in a more measured way - they walk only when they are sure that they can cope with this task. Caution and the ability to calculate their own strengths can also be innate features of their personality.

Duration of pregnancy

Children who were born prematurely, as a rule, begin to walk a little later than their peers.

How to help your child take the first step and begin to walk confidently

It is impossible to force children to go to a certain date. Walking, for all its seeming simplicity, is a very complex and energy-intensive process: what does it take to maintain balance on one leg at the moment when the other takes a step. The body of the child must mature for this stage. But you can help. True, you will have to start long before the first step.

What to do at 2 months

Around this age, babies first try to roll over. Encourage this movement. Lay out your child more often in a soft, safe space filled with bright toys - so that you want to look at them and, possibly, get them.

Encourage children to spend more time on their stomachs. Trying to raise your head and look at the world around you strengthens the muscles of your back and neck, which play an important role in maintaining balance while walking.

What to do at 4-6 months

The period when the child learns to sit up and possibly crawl. Provide a place to explore the world: let the children spend more time not in a crib or playpen, but on the floor - spread out some blankets and lay out toys. Trying to reach objects is a great workout for small muscles.

What to do at 6-8 months

The child is already sitting confidently, or even crawling. Give him tasks for dynamics: for example, roll a bright ball on the floor so that you want to catch it. Such a ball hunt trains the vestibular apparatus and coordination.

Another exercise that has the same purpose is as follows: bring the child up with their back to you and gently rock them.

What to do around 8 months old

As babies become stronger and more curious, they tend to break away from their usual gender. For example, get a toy lurking on the couch. Or try to climb on mom (dad), holding on to trousers or a bathrobe with your hands.

Encourage these movements. Put your favorite bear cubs out in a conspicuous place. Or, when the child is sitting, invitingly stretch your hands towards him from the height of your own height, without bending down, to encourage him to reach out to you.

If you see that the child is ready to get up, help him to do it. And then show how to bend your knees to get back on the safe floor.

During this period, it would be good to buy a stationary game center, which you can play with just getting up. This encourages children to spend more time standing up.

What to do at 9-10 months

Teach your child to stand without support. At least a couple of seconds. To do this, at a time when he is holding on to something, offer to take his favorite or new toy. This will force him to take his hands off the support.

A slightly more advanced exercise: help the child stand up and then give a plastic stick as a support. Carefully move the object - the baby will start to follow him. A stroller can also play the role of a wand: put it next to it during a walk, let it grab the frame and slowly move forward.

Heavy stable toys on wheels (toy lawn mowers, carts) will also be a good simulator: by pushing them in front of them, children learn to do step by step.

What to do at 10 months and older

At this age, many children can already walk. But often they are afraid of a large open space around. Make sure that the child has the opportunity to move “along the wall” - that is, in a maximum of a step or two, move from one support to another. This will create a sense of security.

An ordinary gymnastics hoop can be used to get children to go out into the open. Throw it on the child, giving him the opportunity to lean on his hands, and lead the hoop to the center of the room. The kid will follow the support.

But the experts advise to refuse popular walkers.

Firstly, these items reduce the desire of the child to learn to walk: really, why, because he already knows how to move in space in this convenient contraption? Secondly, walkers are simply unsafe. Thanks to them, children in a matter of seconds can be where they should not be. For example, in front of the stairs leading down or at the table, on the edge of which there is a cup of hot coffee. Adults simply do not have time to keep track of this.

When you realize that your child is already trying to walk, be sure to get on all fours and look around from the height of his eyes. Sharp corners, sockets, edges of tablecloths that you want to grab and drag down, an iron on an ironing board, and the like - all these dangers must be neutralized.

At what age does a child learn to walk

Reviewer Kovtun Tatiana Anatolievna

36927 views

September 15, 2021

The clatter of little feet running around the house is probably the best sound for moms and dads. Do you know when you took your first steps? Ask your parents - an excellent argument will appear in disputes with friends or a soulmate: “but I started walking before you!”

You'd be surprised how different we are. After all, someone firmly stood on his own two as early as eight months, and someone relaxed to the victorious, and then how he gave a tear at a year and a half.

While you are waiting for your little one's big steps, let's look at the main questions of this topic: what time do babies start walking, how to prepare them, and how to consolidate skills.

When will we finally go?

Nobody knows the exact answer to this question. The age range that pediatricians call is from 8 to 14 months, everything is very individual. It is absolutely impossible to predict this event, so do not worry if the process is delayed - the baby will go when he is ready for it. At the same time, of course, you need regular monitoring by your pediatrician, who will closely monitor the physical and motor development of the baby.

How does the baby prepare for the first steps and can he be helped?

The psychomotor development of the baby begins from birth. At first, the child's movements are disordered and chaotic. Gradually, the motor sphere is being improved.

By 3 months, the baby holds his head well. By 4-5 months - learns to turn from back to stomach and vice versa.

By 6 months, the baby begins to sit, at this moment the muscles are actively strengthened, which will help him keep his balance in space. You can help the child in his "training" - smoothly roll his favorite ball from side to side so that he reaches for it. This exercise trains the vestibular apparatus and improves coordination.

At 6-8 months, the child begins to crawl, more muscles of the arms and legs are connected to the muscles of the back and neck. Play with the baby: let him crawl across the room to you, where you will be waiting for him with a toy, and then praise him for his efforts.

After some time, periodic standing on legs with the help of a support is added to crawling - this usually happens at the age of 8-9 months. You can pull the baby by the handles so that he understands that there is a reverse process to when he sits down.

When these stages are behind you, at about 10 months old, help your baby stay on his feet. Let the baby grab the stroller on a walk or at home and slowly roll it in front of him. Of course, with your support.

Should I buy a walker?

The decision to buy a walker should be made by you or by consulting with the pediatrician who is watching your baby. Now many doctors recommend abandoning them altogether - there is a risk that the baby will not want to learn to walk on his own and this will delay the onset of his first steps. But despite this, walkers have their advantages. All the pros and cons we have collected in this article.

How should I react when my baby falls?

In the process of learning, the baby will often fall, stumble - this is completely normal. It is only necessary to ensure the safety of the baby, so that there are no dangerous objects in his environment, about which he can be seriously injured. Therefore, it is necessary to react to falls calmly and gently say to the child: “Did you fall? Come on get up. Dust your hands like this." If the baby is thinking of whining, then just quickly distract him with another topic: “Where did our yellow giraffe hide? Let's find him and drive a car?

When the baby begins to walk, then do not hold it constantly. The baby must learn to rise on his own, hold on to the support, flop on the ass, and rise again. Just be there and be ready to insure him.

When should I buy shoes?

As soon as the baby began to get up and take his first steps, go to the children's shoe department for his first shoes. Of course, you can buy a pair in advance, but then you run the risk of not guessing with the size: what if the baby decides to go earlier and then these red sandals will still be too big for him.

And comfortable shoes will make the baby more confident in the development of a new territory and will not provoke unnecessary whims.

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