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Baby's First Steps

Your developing child

Baby's First Steps

Q-tip

Your child still needs plenty of time to practice his moves. Let him crawl around to his heart's content in safe rooms; don't constantly transfer him from high chair to walker to stroller to crib. Put him on the floor for most of the day. Encourage him to wander and explore and then to stop and examine whatever he finds (though make sure beforehand that anything he's likely to find will be safe). Try not to discourage him; give him room to roam and babyproof thoroughly enough so that you won't constantly be saying, "No!"

Your baby will probably figure out how to work himself all the way around from lying on his stomach to sitting up during the ninth, tenth, or eleventh month. Yet even if he can't get there himself, if you sit him up, he should probably be able to sustain a sitting position for some time by the tenth month.

The key has always been maintaining balance. Throughout this year, your baby has learned to coordinate his muscles from the top down. First came control over his neck and head, then his shoulders and upper torso. After that, he began to use his arms and his hands with ever-increasing dexterity. Then came the hips, thighs, and knees, and suddenly your baby was crawling. By now, your baby has control over nearly every muscle in his body. All he needs to do is practice keeping everything in sync so that he can maintain balance.

Not only can your 9- or 10-month-old baby now sit for quite some time without toppling over, he can use only one hand to support himself, so he can use the other to pick up toys (or other objects) and play with them.

Of course, your baby is not content to just sit around anymore. During the next three to six months, your baby will make developmental leaps and bounds. (Actual leaps and bounds come later in the second year.) Your child will probably achieve the following milestones very soon:

Baby Doctor

If you're worried that your child may be developmentally delayed, consult your pediatrician. The doctor will probably reassure you that your child is perfectly normal, but it doesn't hurt to ask. After all, this reassurance may be just what you need to hear.

Baby Doctor

Don't worry if your child appears to be bowlegged when she first stands. Nearly all babies are. Even when she stands with her feet together, her knees probably won't touch. Rest assured that this is perfectly normal. Your child will probably remain bowlegged for at least another year.

• Pulling himself up to a standing position (9 to 12 months)
• Cruising along the edges of furniture (9 to 13 months)
• Standing on his own with no support (9 to 14 months)
• Walking (10 to 15 months).

Again, please keep in mind that all the ages included here represent average ranges. Your baby will progress at his own individual pace. His development may fall at the beginning or end of the range, or even outside the range, without cause for concern on your part. Just because he pulls up at seven months and walks at nine months doesn't mean he's from the planet Krypton, and just because he still hasn't done any of these by his first birthday doesn't mean anything is wrong.

Standing baby

What Goes Up...

Q-tip

Give your baby an incentive to stand if you think she's almost ready. Place a favorite toy on the seat of a tall chair, the third shelf of a bookcase, or some other perch high enough out of reach that in order to get it, she'll have to stand up. (Make sure you haven't put it so high that she won't be able to reach it even if she does stand.) Then encourage her to get the toy. If she does stand, shower her with applause and affection. Don't let this game go on too long, however. If she starts to get frustrated because she can't yet stand and doesn't even know how to begin, quickly and cheerfully intervene and get the toy for her.

By around 10 months, your baby will probably be able to use her legs to support her own weight. She'll still need you or something else to help her maintain her balance, however. She will plant her feet and straighten her legs, for example, if you hold her hands or help her wrap them about a table leg. But if you let go, or if she lets go, she'll plop down onto the floor.

Around 10 or 11 months, your baby will be delighted to discover that she can pull herself up to a standing position whether you help her or not. (Remember, some babies do this months earlier and some months later.) By holding onto the vertical bars of her crib, the leg of a chair or table, or your pants or legs, she can gradually pull herself up by putting one hand above the other and then successively moving the lower hand to a higher position. In less than half a minute, she'll be on her feet. As long as she holds that support tightly, she will be able to stand and maintain her balance for quite a while.

When your baby pulls herself up on her feet for the first time, she will no doubt be excited and very pleased with herself. She'll proudly look around as if she were Sir Edmund Hillary standing at the top of Mount Everest. A whole new world of expansive vistas has opened up before her.

Unfortunately, after surveying the territory for a minute or so, your baby will suddenly realize that she's stuck! She doesn't yet know how to walk. She hasn't figured out how to move her hands and feet to inch along the edge of a piece of furniture. She can't even remain standing unless she continues to hold on to something, and she may need both hands to do it, so she can't play with anything either.

To make things worse, your baby doesn't even know how to sit down yet. Your baby can't and won't move anywhere until her legs give way, she falls, or she gets you to help her. Obviously, of these three alternatives, your baby would prefer the last. So once she figures out that she's stuck, she'll probably start to cry.

From standing to sitting

...Must Come Down

Q-tip

When you "rescue" your child from a standing position, don't just scoop her up. Show her a better way: sitting down. Gently bend your baby's knees and lower her bottom as far as it can go without having her let go yet. Then gently pry her clinging fingers from her support, take her hands in yours, and lower her until her bottom hits the floor.

After building her confidence with this approach, try letting her drop down on her bottom. Take her hands in yours, but if her bottom stays close to the ground, let her go. Just make sure your baby lands safely. Be ready to catch her if she starts to topple over to one side or the other with the impact.

Babyproofing

As soon as your baby starts to practice pulling herself to a standing position, secure all the furniture she might use as supports. Because lightweight furniture will probably not bear your child's weight as she tries to pull herself up, she may end up on her back on the floor with the piece of furniture on top of her. Though your baby probably won't get seriously hurt this way, she could become scared or discouraged.

When your baby stands there crying, you will of course go over, rescue your darling by gently sitting her down, and praise her for her courage and skill. Yet almost immediately, she'll pop up onto her feet again, repeating her new trick. This time, it won't take nearly as long for her to figure out that she's stuck again. She'll cry out again, and you'll help her sit down again. But as soon as her bottom hits the floor, she may do it all over again. Now it's become a game for her-and hopefully for you, too.

Whether or not you help your baby discover how to sit, she will quickly learn how to do it on her own. Probably within a week or two of first standing, your baby will lower herself as far as she can go and then bravely drop the last few inches. It won't take more than one drop for your baby to figure out that she won't get hurt (as long as she lands on her well-padded bottom). She may even start to have as much fun dropping down with a thump on the floor as she did pulling herself up in the first place.

Until your baby learns how to fall safely, you may tire of the pulling up, getting stuck, and calling for help game long before your child will. After helping her sit back down half a dozen times, you may be ready for something new. If your baby seems obsessed with the game, try to distract her. Move her away from whatever she's using as a support and sit her down with one of her favorite toys-or try giving her a new toy that she's never played with before.

If your baby immediately leaves the toy and crawls back to her standing spot to pull herself back up, you'll have to indulge her or resort to more drastic measures. Try taking her completely out of the house, maybe for a walk in her stroller or a ride in the car. By the time you get back, your baby may have forgotten her new trick-but not for long.

When your baby first learns to stand (or cruise or walk), it will be nerve-racking for you. You'll see dangers long before your child does. (When you do, remove them or steer your baby away from them.) You'll see she's about to fall, but know you can't get across the room in time to catch her. (Don't worry--as long as you've removed sharp--cornered furniture. Your baby doesn't have very far to fall.)

Although your baby's first weeks of standing, cruising, and walking will be hard on your nerves, don't react by banishing her to a playpen. With practice, she'll get better at maintaining balance and avoiding dangerous falls. But she won't get any practice at all while cooped up in the prison of a playpen. (A playpen with mesh sides may not even allow her to pull herself up.)

Cruising baby

Cruise Control

About a month after your baby first pulls himself up to a standing position, he will start cruising. (No, that doesn't mean he will start frequenting bars and looking for dates.) Your baby will start by pulling himself up to standing using a couch, chair, or low table for support. Then, using sideways shuffling steps, he'll slowly, carefully move along the edge of that piece of furniture. Without letting go, your baby will slide both hands in the direction he wants to go. Then he'll move his lead leg over without lifting it off the ground. Finally, he'll catch up with the trail leg, sliding it over next to the lead leg.

If your little cruiser finds a piece of furniture that he can move without pulling it down on top of himself, a kitchen or dining room chair, for example, he may even fashion his own makeshift walker. By pushing the chair in front of him as he totters along, he can now walk all the way across a room.

Q-tip

You can encourage your baby to cruise from one support to another by moving furniture closer together in rooms where your baby plays. If you put enough low, solid pieces of furniture next to one another, your cruiser can move all the way around the room while remaining on his feet!

Within a few weeks of first cruising, your baby will lift his trail leg instead of sliding it. Though this may seem like a small thing, it represents an enormous developmental leap: At least for a moment, your baby has supported himself on just one foot-a feat he must master before he can walk.

After a month or so of cruising, your baby will probably need only one hand for support. This new skill will free him to move from one piece of furniture to the next-if it's close enough for him to reach. Tentatively, your baby will let go of his support with one hand and reach out for another piece of furniture to support him.

Releasing one hand from his support will not only give your baby greater freedom of movement, it will also give him the freedom to play while cruising. He can reach out, pick up a toy, bring it to his mouth, or even throw it from his new lofty height. When he becomes especially absorbed in play, your baby may even let go of his support with both hands. Without even realizing it, your baby may be standing and maintaining his balance on his own!

Sshhhh! Don't scream or shout. You'll surely startle your baby into falling. Just watch and admire with pride. After a few seconds, he'll drop down and (hopefully) land on his bottom. Sadly, your baby won't be able to repeat this trick on demand. But now that he's done it, you'll know that your baby is almost ready to start taking his first wobbly steps.

Step by Step

Q-tip

Whether your baby is a cruiser or an early walker, she doesn't yet have any use for shoes when she's inside. In fact, shoes can be detrimental to your child's development. Your baby needs to be able to feel the shift of weight on her feet in order to maintain her balance, and shoes make this more difficult. In addition, walking in bare feet will help strengthen your baby's ankles and build her arches. If it's too cold for bare feet in your home, try slipper socks with skid-proof soles instead of regular socks (which can be too slippery) or shoes. For safety, your baby will need shoes outside. But even then, choose shoes that are flexible rather than stiff. Again, skid-proof soles will help.

Once you've seen your baby stand on her own, even by accident, it's tempting to try to push her to walk, too. You may sit in the middle of the room calling to your baby to come to you. Meanwhile, your baby stands holding on to the sofa, wondering what the heck you're talking about.

Although it isn't easy, try to be patient. Encourage your baby, but don't push. Let your baby develop at her own pace. If your baby fails to do something that you're trying to get her to do before she's ready, she will see your disappointment and that will be a blow to her self-esteem. But if she does something (like walking) successfully according to her own timetable, her confidence in herself will skyrocket.

If she's like most babies, your child won't take her first steps until the months after her first birthday. But even if your baby isn't walking until about 18 months, there's probably no cause for concern. Though you should consult your pediatrician if your baby isn't walking by 18 months, your baby is probably just fine. She's just not in any hurry to walk.

Help! I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

Inevitably, standing, cruising, and, of course, walking all mean one thing: falling. Your baby will almost definitely suffer more bumps, bruises, and even cuts over the next three months than he has during the previous nine. As your baby's mobility increases, babyproofing again becomes very important. Do everything you can to ensure that when he falls, he falls safely.

Supervision at all times becomes even more important once your baby is on his feet. Gently steer him away from dangers. But at the same time, don't constantly hover over your child trying to prevent all accidents. (Thorough babyproofing will make hovering unnecessary.) Try to avoid sending the message that the world, and even your home, is unsafe or threatening.

Try not to overreact when your baby falls. If you cry out and rush over to him, you'll spook your child, who will probably cry as much or more in response to your alarmed reaction as from the fall itself. Unless you know your child is really hurt, try to shrug it off with a "Whoops! You're okay, try again." If you can train yourself to take it in stride, your child is much less likely to become shy of falling.