When babies learn to walk: tips for support

Prepare for the first steps

After your baby has learned to sit, crawl and crawl, at around ten months of age it slowly but surely develops the urge to “go up”: It wants to stand up straight and move around on its two little legs. First, your baby will pull himself up and hold on to furniture and other objects. It is now experiencing great progress in its development and is becoming more secure on its feet every day. Soon your baby will become bolder and begin to let go of their supports until they can finally stand unaided. Then it won’t be long before the first tentative steps follow. First of all, it needs your hand or it can shimmy along the sofa, for example.

Finally walking alone

Most children can walk unaided by around 13 months. A bit shaky at first, of course. If that is not the case with your baby: Don’t worry, some babies just need a little longer. By the age of 18 months at the latest, healthy children have usually learned to walk on their own. However, if you find that your baby is otherwise clearly lagging behind in its development, you should consult the pediatrician.

This is how you can support your baby in learning to walk

Basically, your child doesn’t need you to learn to walk. Therefore, only help your child if it asks you to. Ambitious parents can cause physical harm to their child by training them to run too early. The use of so-called walking aids is also very controversial .

Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to indirectly support your baby in learning to walk:

• Bend your knees: While your baby is learning to stand, you can help him. To find out how it can land on the butt again. If they fail and cry, don’t just pick them up and then lay them down or sit them down. It is much better if you show your baby how to bend his knees and sit down without falling forward.
• Clear the way: In order for your child to have the best possible conditions to develop their walking skills, you should create space for them and get stumbling blocks such as cables and carpets out of the way. You should pad particularly dangerous corners and edges. So your little one can’t hit his head badly when he sits up.
• Motivation: Verbal support and motivation is also particularly important when learning to walk. Show your baby your appreciation for every progress and reassure him if something doesn’t work out. But don’t help him with every difficulty, because he should develop his new skills at his own pace. In this phase, children often do not want any help. They are very proud when they achieve something on their own. This strengthens their self-confidence. The best thing to do is to limit yourself to helping your child. Catch your child – similar to physical education – when it falls and protect it from bumping into itself.
• Barefoot: It is best if your child learns to walk barefoot. This gives it a feeling for the ground and the rolling of the foot. If it’s too cold, non-slip socks are a good choice. Your child should only wear shoes when they can walk and you want to go outside.

Your baby develops the urge to learn to walk all by itself. You don’t need to do much to do this. Enjoy this phase and look forward to a new and large piece of independence for your baby.