When Do Babies Start Walking?

During the first year of life, your baby gradually develops muscles and coordination. Below you will read about when the child begins to walk and how it happens.

First Weeks Movements

In the first weeks of life, the baby is trying to push off a hard surface, as if stepping on it when you hold it by the armpits in a vertical position. It is now just a reflex (its legs are not strong enough to hold it in a standing position), it will happen in about two months.

Baby at 5 Months

By about the age of five months, the baby will try to push off with its feet, as if bouncing up if you hold it by the armpits on your lap. This bouncing will be the baby’s favorite pastime in the next two months, while the leg muscles continue developing as the baby learns the art of rolling over, sitting up and crawling.

8 Months: Trying to Get up

Starting at around eight months of age, your baby will probably be trying to get up, holding on to the furniture. If you place it next to the couch, the baby will struggle to cling to it. Having mastered this skill in the next few weeks, your baby will wander all over the apartment, holding onto the furniture. Perhaps at some point it will stop and will be able to stand for a while without support. After that, it is likely to be able to walk (with your assistance) and will try to take the toys off the floor from a standing position.

9-10th Month: Learning to Sit Down

At the age of nine or ten months, your baby will learn to bend its knees and sit down from a standing position (which is much more difficult than you think!).

11 Months: Standing

By 11 months, your baby may learn how to stand, bend and squat. It will even be able to walk, hand in hand with you, though it will hardly try to walk independently for at least a period of several weeks. Most children first step on their toes, with their feet turned outwards.

13 Months: Most Babies Start Walking

By 13 months, three out of four babies can already walk without assistance, but not too confidently. If your baby is still travelling around the apartment, holding onto furniture, do not worry – it just needs a little more time, and soon it will walk independently. Some children begin to walk at about the age of 16 or 17 months, and sometimes even later.

14 Months and up Development

Having made their first steps on the road to independence, babies begin to practice other more subtle skills:

• At 14 months, your baby should be able to stand without assistance, perhaps even bend and straighten. Maybe, it will even try to learn how to walk backwards.
• By 15 months, babies are usually confident enough to walk, and thus can push or pull a toy.
• Approximately at 16 months, the baby becomes interested in walking up and down the stairs, but it is unlikely to do it independently for a few more months.
• Most of 18-month-old babies already walk in an excellent way. Many of them climb up the ladder quite briskly (although for several more months they will not be able to go down the stairs without assistance), and are ready to climb the furniture in the house. Your baby may be trying to kick a ball (though often without much success), and it may like to dance to the music.
• By 25 or 26 months, the steps of your baby will have become more confident, and it may be able to learn adult gait and standing on its heels or toes. At this age, it is better at jumping.
• By the third birthday, your child will be familiar with the most basic movements. Standing, walking, running and jumping can now be performed easily, although some actions, such as standing on tiptoes or standing on one leg, will still require much concentration and effort.