One of the most thrilling moments in a parent’s life is watching their baby take their first steps, it’s a real cause for celebration! Learning to walk is a major milestone for babies, the happy result of long months of slow and steady progression as they go through the stages of learning how to make their tiny bodies sit, roll, crawl, stand up with support, and eventually learn to bear their own weight and move forward on their own.
While it is important that young walkers spend a lot of time doing it barefoot to properly develop their foot muscles, there are times when wearing shoes becomes a necessity. Very young walkers almost have to learn to walk all over again when they wear their first shoes, but there is a great intermediate step between no shoes and shoe clad in the form of 1st walker shoes by Sole Sox that feature a lightweight, flexible rubber sole that facilitates walking because it almost feels like they are barefoot!
When your little one is ready to begin their next big adventure and learn to walk, here are some of the milestones on their way to taking those first solo steps!
- Pulling themselves up to a standing position with the aid of a stable object.
- Looking around and turning their body from a standing position while supported by one hand holding onto an object (or parent!) to keep themselves steady.
- Standing up all on their own, independently with their hands free.
- Walking along while holding on to furniture with ever increasing speed and confidence.
- Walking while supported by an adult holding two hands.
- Walking while supported by a walking aid like a push-along toy.
- Walking while using just one hand for support.
- Taking those wonderful first few steps!
- Walking around on even ground, followed by the uneven ground of the outdoors.
It’s important to understand that every baby is different and their progress can vary, with some taking longer to get through a certain step while other might skip a step altogether! In most cases once your baby has developed the core strength needed to sit up and move themselves around by crawling, the next stage is usually to start pulling up to stand, and so on. As a parent you can provide lots of encouragement and a little help, but baby is going to have to go at their own pace, and experiment with standing before they can begin the long walk into their future!
