Going to be an early walker?

[Thistledew]

Tell me your stories of precious walkers!

DD is just 9 weeks old and loves standing up. She will bear her own weight whenever she has a firm surface under her feet. Today I was sitting with her on the lawn and she balanced for several seconds without me supporting her with my hands but just leaning against me a little.

Is this an indication that she is likely to be an early walker?

I dunno but I'd encourage tummy time. It's been proven to be beneficial in a lot of ways. Early walking has literally no bearing on later physical abilities and can actually hinder it. My LO didn't walk confidently til 13MO but she is great physically now at 26MO. Very co-ordinated. Walks down steps without holding anything, whizzing about on a balance bike, jumping fir a few months, can catch a ball with ease. My niece on the other hand walked at 10MO and at age 9 is unbelievably clumsy and ditzy God love her and she's only just learned to ride a bike. What will be will be but there's no long term advantage to pushing would be my advice x

I'm not deliberately encouraging it or even taking it as an indicator of future athletic ability - but just wondering about the likelihood of her being an early walker. I'd heard stories of children who were walking at 6/7 months and always took them with a large pinch of salt but am now wondering if there is some truth to them!

She isn't hugely keen on tummy time but prefers it when she is resting against my legs or a cushion so that she can push herself up on her legs whilst resting some of her weight on her upper body and arms.

Son was walking with furniture at about 8 months but didn't go solo until just over a year. Daughter was throwing herself out over the bars of the cot at 6 months and walked on her own at 8 months. Both perfectly normal children with no special skills and now perfectly normal adults with no special skills. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I can't work out how, at 9 weeks, a baby would a firm surface under their feet in the first place. Surely the just have tummy time or are lying asleep on their backs. Can't roll or anything for sure?

Standing on my lap, standing on the change mat when I'm getting her dressed - obviously I'm supporting her weight, but it can be quite annoying sometimes when she holds herself rigid and I'm trying to get her to sit down! Or lying in bed with her on my chest/tummy, she will wriggle around until her feet are on the bed and she can straighten her legs.

She can roll onto her side but not all the way over.

It just sounds as if you're keen to get her walking is all and I'm just advising don't. There is no benefit. Yes there's people who's babys walk at 6/7MO but I'd wager they've just been constantly stood up before they should've been tbh. IMO this is the only way a baby has developed the muscle strength at this age. At 9 weeks sorry but surely the only way she's in any way getting herself into standing position is if you're 100% doing it for her. Babies aren't ready for it at this age and it's even bordering on dangerous. Just sit her up or give her tummy time. Read about it. It's crucial for their development. They honestly don't need to be encouraged to stand. They'll do it when they're ready on their own x

I'm not getting her to do anything she doesn't want to do. She loves being on her feet and has a big goofy smile on her face when she does. It's actually a good way to distract her if she is a bit grizzly and grumpy. I'm not claiming that she can fully stand under her own steam, but she will, if she is sat on someone's lap facing them, bring her legs under herself and push herself up whilst using the adults supporting hands for balance. Or if she is being bounced on someone's knee- for example doing 'The Grand Old Duke of York' and she is lifted off your lap, she will hold her legs rigid when she comes back down and will bear her own weight with just some help balancing for a few seconds.

I'm not even particularly keen on her walking early- just wondering what the chances are of this happening so that I can prepare for the possibility of having a very small baby cannoning around the house on two feet!

Some babies like to try and weight bear usually it's natural reflexes - some like to try and bounce or push with their feet. My son loved it from a young age. You're not "encouraging" anything bad and it doesn't necessarily mean she'll be an early walker.
I don't get some of the replies here. It is absolutely NOT dangerous, that's very outdated advice.

Our physio told us, that when we sit/stand our boy we will discourage him to try. He will be smiling instead of crying and being angry and straining to move upwards/forwards. It's not always good when the baby is happy smiley all the time.

They need to be uncomfortable on their tummy/back. How else will they get the hint of trying to change their position? My lo was the same, loved standing and from time to time I'd let him but he was not sat up until he could sit himself up (7mo).

The recommended way is tummy, then roll, then commando-slide on tummy, then hands up backwards crawl, then up on 4 swinging back and forth, then crawl on 4 forwards then sit up and so on.

The physio said it's safe for them to stand, when they lose the grip reflex in their feet (when their toes stop curling like the monkeys to try and grip things with their feet).

Sorry my daughter could do that from that age, could hold her head up from birth and was the first in our antenatal group to be able to sit when placed in that position. She didn't walk till she was 18 months old, we saw a physio. She bum shuffled rather than crawled and didn't even do that till 11 months old. She couldn't pull herself to a standing position till she was 16 months despite having the strength in her legs to stand when placed from being a small baby. She's 5 now and still slightly behind in gross motor skills (hopping, jumping onto a box etc). She was quick to talk, read and write though and is top of her class in these things and pretty good at maths too.

Might, might not. Helpful:

Dd1 loved weightbearing from quite a tiny age. Even at 4/5 months if you held out your fingers to her, she'd try to pull herself up to standing, and bounce when standing. I thought she wouldn't crawl. At 9 months she found crawling, and didn't try walking again until 14 months (whereupon she did it perfectly and walked everywhere from within a couple of days of taking a step)

Dd2 crawled at 5 months, walked at 8 months. This is a really bad idea. She had no common sense and was quite capable of climbing anything. She did a lot of tumbling down, but was always straight back up again. She still crawled if ill or tired, and occasionally for speed, especially if there was paper to eat.

Ds walked at 10 months, however as crawling was quicker and had the advantage you could have a car in each hand to push while you watched the wheels, he would choose to crawl most of the time. He could walk any distance if he wanted to, but chose not to most of the time. He was about 17 months before he chose to walk over crawling.

They're teens now and you couldn't tell which one walked first. Although ds does still like wheels, but prefers planes now.

I don't think there's many correlations tbh. My DS is the same age as my friend's DD, and friend's DD was sat bolt up right at 5 months, crawling at about 7 or 8 months, pulling to stand...whereas DS was 6 months to sit, 10-11 months to crawl...both walked within about a week or so of each other at 13 ish months, and now DS has massively overtaken friend's DD on the walking/gross motor front, as he's practically running and so steady on his feet whereas she prefers to hold hands. They are ALL different.

My older DS was late to do all of these things but he can now ride a two wheeled bike at 4!

By way of an update -

DD is nearly 7 months. Not walking yet but for the past week has been spending every single moment that she can on her feet. She pulls herself up to stand on your leg or on any furniture that she can shuffle close enough to grab. The cheeky little thing has also learned that if she 'offers' a toy to a passing adult, they will reach down to take it and she can pull herself up on their hand! She is still very wobbly but can balance holding onto something with just one hand.

It seems likely that she will skip crawling - she can get herself onto her hands and knees but isn't persisting with moving herself in that way as she is with standing and walking.

Ds could stand solidly at 6 months holding on with one hand, but he was 9 months before he started cruising (very steadily however, no falling over)! I had assumed he would skip crawling and be an early walker but he finally crawled at 10 months and at 12 months has recently started taking his first unaided steps (so pretty average)! It could go either way really, sometimes their development doesn't follow the normal rules!

I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it a lot of the time! My DS2 is exactly the same age as my friend's DD. The DD was sitting early, really solid by 5 months, crawling at 7 months, pulling to stand etc. My DS was much more "average", sitting at 6 months, crawling at 10 etc. But they both walked at the exact same time! About 13-14 months. And my DS got quicker and stronger much faster than my friend's DD.

Enjoy your baby it goes too fast!

How funny I replied basically an identical post back in June! Sorry OP I didn't realise this was an old thread.

@tempnamechange98765

I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to it a lot of the time! My DS2 is exactly the same age as my friend's DD. The DD was sitting early, really solid by 5 months, crawling at 7 months, pulling to stand etc. My DS was much more "average", sitting at 6 months, crawling at 10 etc. But they both walked at the exact same time! About 13-14 months. And my DS got quicker and stronger much faster than my friend's DD.

Enjoy your baby it goes too fast!

I thought that comment looked familiar!

DD seems to be obsessed with standing at the moment. It is a physical struggle to get her to sit at times. She is so strong in her hips that if you try and put her on her bottom she scrabbles with her legs until she gets her feet under her and then she refuses to bend. It's pretty tiring for me as she does need some support so I'm continually having to balance her to stop her falling over.

It also makes playtime quite boring as she can't play with any of her toys whilst standing up and hanging on to me. Yet if I get her sitting down she will just shuffle closer to me or to some furniture so that she can pull herself up.

We have a bench at one side of our kitchen table. I had her on my lap there whilst I was playing with her older brother- until she discovered that if she stands on the bench she can prop herself against the table and stand pretty securely. She stood for about half an hour! Of course I kept one hand on her so she couldn't fall but I wasn't supporting her in any way.

My DD loved bouncing on her legs from a few weeks old and was pulling herself upright at 7 months. I spent the the next six months hearing from everyone that she was on the verge of walking. She finally took the plunge at 13 months! That was a long six months. Seriously OP, it’s lovely that you’re obviously very proud and excited but babies will do things at their own pace and it doesn’t really mean anything in terms of overall development. My DD was also an early crawler, which was exciting for about 20 seconds, but was then a bloody nuisance because I couldn’t turn my back for a second. She’s now a delightful but perfectly average 2 year old.

Neither of mine particularly liked tummy time. Ds1 really hated it. He never crawled, started cruising at 10 mo and walked on his first birthday.
Ds2 crawled at 9 months then walked at 10 mo. He started by walking like a chimp - arms raised above his head for balance!

Ime the do what they do, whatever you encourage or dont encourage. If I had my time again I'd worry less about what they "should" have done.

Most babies do this, it's just part of their development and testing weight bearing. My son could pull himself up at 7 months, stand unaided at 8 and walked at 10. There isn't any correlation to what they do as babies, but at 9 weeks the only way she'd be getting into that position was being held x

DD is now 7 ½ months and this week has decided that she wants to get moving. She is managing some very wobbly but determined steps either holding our hands for balance or starting to push a trolley. She can stand pretty stable just holding onto her toy basket or the sofa. Every now and then she lets go and stands for a second or two completely unsupported.

Again - this doesn't mean she will walk early. She's not standing unaided, and it's pretty standard to walk holding parents hands at this age. Honestly it sounds like you're obsessing over it. Just let her go in her own time and enjoy her.

She is now standing unaided. Only for a few seconds at a time but with increasing confidence and regularity. She pulls herself up to stand using her toy basket and after fishing out a toy will stand properly upright without holding on to or balancing against the basket.

My back is also killing me today after I spent over an hour in total semi bent over and holding her hands as she walked around the house. She is stepping with real purpose.

I'm happy to be told that this is normal for most babies if it is the case. DS was a complete contrast. He crawled at 7 months and got so speedy at doing so that he couldn't see the point in trying to walk. He never liked to hold hands to walk apart from literally about 4 days when he was 14 months old when he went from crawling to literally running around on his own in under a week.

I was having a conversation about early walkers and this thread randomly popped into my head so just out of curiosity did your dd turn out to be an early walker @Thistledew?