How you can help your baby learn to stand with support, cruise and start to walk
Learning to stand and walk takes many, many hours of practice
It takes babies with typical development about 7-8 months to learn to stand, starting with standing support around the chest at 5-6 months, followed by lots and lots of time spent learning how to pull up to stand holding onto furniture, then stepping sideways still holding on and finally letting go and standing independently.
I like to view development as a journey over a series of stepping stones that lead to the the major milestones of learning to stand. Each stepping stone represents a new level of skill with greater strength, coordination and balance. For typically babies this is achieved by many, many hours of practice. Babies with developmental delay need to put in at least the same amount of practice. And they also usually need some help learning each new skill.
How babies learn to stand and walk
How babies learn to stand and walk and why some babies need help
Tight hip muscles may be the reason your baby is late learning to walk
Why some babies are late learning to walk
Exercises and activities
There are many ways that parents, grandparents and carers can provide their baby with opportunities during the day to practice standing with support, cruising, letting go to stand and take their first steps.
It is useful to set aside some dedicated time for practice, but it is also important to create many opportunities for your baby stand, cruise and walk during everyday activities.
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Before you start |
Getting your infant to take weight on the legs using block support
Standing up from sitting on a step
How to use boxes or foam blocks to create a safe space for your infant to practice standing and learn how to coordinate her legs, arms and trunk to balance and take small steps to reach toys.
Standing with support and learning to balance
Infants with developmental delay and joint hypermobility (low muscle tone) may need some extra help to strengthen their leg muscles and improve balance and coordination to get them ready for standing with support and cruising.
Walking sideways and cruising.
Once infants feel confident standing with support at a table, sofa or bed they start to step sideways holding onto whatever support they can find. .
Walking pushing a step or chair
How to train your toddler to fall well
When toddlers first learn to stand on their own and walk without support, they also do a lot of falling. Mostly they do not hurt themselves because they will usually bend their knees and reach forwards with the hands to break their fall.
However, some new walkers will topple over and bang their heads.
