Baby doesn’t hit the walking milestone overnight. In order to develop the necessary skills, babies need to progress through a series of other milestones before they can even think about taking their first steps. The road to walking begins very early on as you let baby practice tummy time, which helps strengthen and develop good head and neck control. Tummy time also sets baby up to learn how to roll over and then sit up by himself. From there, most babies start crawling, then pulling themselves up to standing, followed by cruising.
Cruising is baby’s way of testing the walking waters and is one of the biggest signs baby will walk soon. He’ll try a few tentative baby first steps while holding on to something for support-the couch, coffee table, pretty much whatever is in sight, so make sure any wobbly furniture is securely baby-proofed. Finally, baby will begin walking independently. It’s normal for baby to spend a few weeks mastering each new skill before moving on to the next one, but not every child follows this timeline or even the same progression.
Generally, once baby is cruising around with confidence, you’ll want to be on high alert, watching out for baby walking those first steps. Don’t forget that personality plays a role too, though. Even if baby has developed the skills to walk, it might take longer for her to get up the courage to actually do it. But if you have a bolder baby, she may start walking sooner than later.
Once baby’s first steps happen, it’s usually a matter of weeks, give or take, before she starts taking more confident, steady strides on her own. After that, running is, on average, just six short months away!
Soon after baby starts to walk more steadily, you can let her attempt to climb the stairs by holding onto the railing and your hand. Practice here is key. Most children are able to manage stairs on their own by the time they turn 2.