When’s that baby gonna’ walk?!
Well, my baby girl is now 13 months old. She cruises around the furniture without a second thought. She pushes chairs around the dining room making “vroom” sounds like a little boy. She has even stood up for several seconds 0n a couple of occasions before she realized she wasn’t holding anything. But she will not walk. I really think she can, she just won’t.
It doesn’t help that I have several friends and acquaintances with babies who walked unusually early. For example, little Jesse was walking by himself at about 9 months. Big Connor was jogging across the room at 10 months. That’s about the same age that Kaylee was walking, and now, at just about 13 1/2 months, Kaylee dances. It’s so cute to see her up on her toes, twirling. And then I look over and see my precious daughter–so cute–just sitting there enjoying the show. When’s that girl going to get up and walk?!
If you read my post a couple months ago about wishing for teeth, then maybe you know I’m a little hyper about these things. I’m not worried that she won’t ever walk–I know she will. I know perfectly well that walking early or late has no more to do with intelligence than how early she had hair. And I’m not exactly comparing my daughter to the early walkers, because I know that those kids are unusual. I just want to see her take those wobbly little steps with a big, gorgeous (and toothy!) grin. I guess I’m ready for her to be a toddler.
My son was a couple weeks shy of his first birthday when he stepped out. And the whole family was there to see it, because it was Thanksgiving. I’m a little worried about my daughter’s big debut, because she and I are flying out of state in a few weeks for my niece’s high school graduation. What if she takes her first steps while we are away from Daddy? He’ll never forgive us…
The expert consensus seems to be that most babies take their first steps between 9-12 months, and they walk well just a couple months after that. Of course, they are all careful to say that many perfectly healthy kids don’t walk until they are 16 or 17 months old. That will drive me crazy if it’s true for her. A good friend of mine assured me that her twins didn’t walk until they were 16 months old. But they’re twins. I can easily write off that exception in development. I’ve also heard that the later babies walk, the more coordinated they are in the long run. I thought that sounded like a Old wives tale. Since I can’t find a confirmation for it, I’ll assume it’s not true.
However, Dr. Sears suggests that more easy-going babies walk later because they are more content with the way things are. My little girl is a very content baby, so maybe I should just hunker down and maybe even put the camera away for a couple months…
When did your baby walk? And have you ever heard that late walkers are more coordinated?
Read More
brit says...
She’ll do it when she’s ready. My son walked at 14 months and the daycare baby is 15 months and right on the brink of walking, she’ll take a step then plop down. I’ve heard the average is actually just over a year to 13 months. I bet she’ll be running around a couple of days after taking her first steps, whenever she decides to do it
Secret Mommy says...
Oh, we have another thing in common! My son, who just turned 12 months last week, only started walking a couple weeks ago, which was “late” by our friends and acquaintances standards, too. Little Liam was walking at 9 months, Drew at 10 1/2 and Gui at 11. It didn’t help at ALL that my mother in law told my husband that he walked at 8 months (I think this is an exaggeration) and so my husband kept wondering “what was wrong” with our son. Henry finally took steps a week or so ago, but is still very tentative about unassisted walking. (Loves cruising, though…) He has also been a very content baby, so I like that theory!
Good luck to you both!
Secret Mommys last blog post..Dancing With the Stars
Melissa H says...
My daughter walked at 9 1/2 months… and I will be the first to say that from that point forward I was running. Some days I wish she were a late walker. My cousin’s son didn’t walk until he was nearly 18 months. Nothing wrong with him… he just wasn’t ready. He is four now and runs with the rest of the pack so I wouldn’t worry. Take it as it comes and enjoy what your child has to offer to you. In a couple of months your feet are going to ache from chasing her and you will wonder why the heck you wanted her to walk so badly.