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?

She will be 9 months next week and isn't quite there but has nearly cracked it. She started crawling a few weeks ago and isn't enthused with it. She just crawls to the nearest bit of furniture and then cruises around on two feet. She walks quite well with just one hand held, and can carry things in the other hand at the same time. She can stand without support for 20 seconds or so, but not indefinitely.

It's clear her preference is still for walking and standing but the balance and coordination isn't quite there. She is tall, so a high centre of gravity isn't making it easy for her.

As this thread keeps popping up I'm sorry but I am going to reitterate again that early walking doesn't necessarily mean a child will have particularly good physical skills and that tummy time is really important. Such a massive thread about quite obviously pushing a baby into walking is IMHO ridiculous and not helpful for their overall development. Just enjoy your babies please, give them space to move and let them walk when they have somewhere to go. They won't have to declare on their CV what age they used their legs

Glad she's crawling now. My son's physio said that's important. She actually said it's important to discourage early walking and to try to encourage tummy time instead. I know some babies really hate tummy time and end up up bum shuffling and early walking though. My friend's daughter was a really early walker but unfortunately at 19 months still isn't walking brilliantly and is actually now behind others her age and needs to see a physio. By contrast, my son didn't walk til he was 16 months (saw physio for his gross motor skills) but now at 2 is way ahead of his peers' physical capabilities. Early walking isn't necessarily a good thing. She might be fine though.

@Jannt86

As this thread keeps popping up I'm sorry but I am going to reitterate again that early walking doesn't necessarily mean a child will have particularly good physical skills and that tummy time is really important. Such a massive thread about quite obviously pushing a baby into walking is IMHO ridiculous and not helpful for their overall development. Just enjoy your babies please, give them space to move and let them walk when they have somewhere to go. They won't have to declare on their CV what age they used their legs

Your hyperbole is unpleasant. I'm not, and at no point have I pushed my DD into walking. I was curious to hear other people's thoughts because unlike my DS she always liked to be on her feet. That is clearly still the case and she is quite determined to get herself walking. You would only have to see her pulling herself to stand on her toy basket that I've sat her next to and then yelling at me at the top of her lungs with her little hand outstretched until I take it and she can lead me off to wherever she wants to go, to see that her intention to be walking is all of her own making.

@surreygirl1987

Glad she's crawling now. My son's physio said that's important. She actually said it's important to discourage early walking and to try to encourage tummy time instead. I know some babies really hate tummy time and end up up bum shuffling and early walking though. My friend's daughter was a really early walker but unfortunately at 19 months still isn't walking brilliantly and is actually now behind others her age and needs to see a physio. By contrast, my son didn't walk til he was 16 months (saw physio for his gross motor skills) but now at 2 is way ahead of his peers' physical capabilities. Early walking isn't necessarily a good thing. She might be fine though.

I'm glad she hasn't skipped crawling altogether. I suspect she wasn't keen on being on her tummy as she has alway suffers from reflux.

It is quite funny though to see her crawl as she literally only does so under quite voluble protest- she yells and grumbles as she is doing it and is only happy and smiley again once she is back on two feet. So unlike DS who as soon as he was crawling was off on his own at a million miles an hour and didn't see the point in trying to walk.

You might think I'm being unpleasant. I am simply trying to point out that encouraging walking goes against every bit of guidance. Your baby might have liked being stood. My 2YO would like to eat nothing but chocolate. It doesn't mean as her parent I allow that. She may have favoured.being on her legs but you've been going om about this since she was practically a newborn so there's clearly an element of you encouraging it. That's your choice but I would hate all parents to read this and feel pressure to get their kids walking and standing. Mine crawled from 8MO and crawled and cruised until taking first steps at bang on 12MO and had minimal encouragement to srand or walk but plenty of chance to pull up and move and climb etc. She's excellent physically. Could get herself up and down a flight of stairs without even holding on from 16MO. Now at 33MO is fairly close to riding a pedal bike without stabilisers. Can do some basic gymnastics like forward rolls etc and is very coordinated. If you just give them space to move and try not to intervene too much then most will learn physical skills naturally. I'm sorry if I seem like I'm being unkind but this thread is being seen by loads of new mums. They need to know the alternative ways of encouraging physical activity

@Jannt86 those are fair points but could probably be phrased a little note tactfully. I think the OP has probably realised by now that early walking is generally not a thing to celebrate - and certainly the many messages on this thread show that. I think the point has been made.

Fair enough but it really hasn't been made coz everyone's still going on about whether this baby is walking yet and getting a complex about her before she's even 9 months old! Why can't everyone just leave her be??

@Jannt86 - are you really saying that I should have discouraged her from standing and walking? Not allowed her to stand on my lap etc when she was 9 weeks or so? Refused to hold her standing on the floor when she fussed and wriggled to get off my lap but then was happy once she was standing? Leave her sitting on the floor crying when holding her hands so she can walk instantly brings back the smiles?

I understand your concerns about encouraging early walking, but it sits better with me as a parent to follow her lead and let her enjoy literally finding her feet, rather than discourage her from something that she wants to do.

I'm not meaning to have a go, just interested in other parenting styles. I'm of the lazy sort and provided it's not actively harmful will go with the course of less resistance in most circumstances!

@Thistledew to be honest, yes ... Sort of... @Jannt86 does makes some valid points. We don't all choose to take the path of least resistance - if I did my son would be glued to the TV eating mint matchmakers all day (discovered them at Christmas and is obsessed!). Eg even though my son was desperate to sit up (sounds similar to your daughter's desire to stand) I wouldn't prop him up or put him in a bumbo as I knew that it might have short term gains but not be the best thing for him in the long term. I made him do plenty of tummy time instead, despite the fact that he really didn't like it at first! That said, it's your child and your decision, and you certainly don't deserve to be patronised with rude or unkind messages! It is difficult to know what to do for the best, and we all just want our kids to be happy!

I'm a lot more laid back than I'm probably coming across too but I guess I'm just skeptical that a baby at only 9 weeks old could only be made happy by standing her up. The only way I can perceive that she even learned to do this was if you were doing it for her and you may disagree but the instinct I'm getting from this thread is that it's actually you that's desperate to get her walking and I can't understand why. I'm not saying you're harming her or not a good parent for one second I just don't understand why it's become such a big deal when early walking is sometimes cute but not shown to be at all beneficial. Just enjoy her. I know babies who've walked really early. I know some that took til nearer 18MO. Honestly you can't tell the difference within a few months the same as early/late talkers. One thing I wish I'd been told when mine was a similar age and I keep having to remind myself now even (mine is 2.5 now) is to just enjoy them. It's what they need most and it's what you need most x

My first born was ridiculously strong and I was convinced he would be an early walker. He wasn’t fully walking until a week before his first birthday. I think that’s average for walking .

He’s currently a strong 22 month old who can easily hang off the monkey bars, ride his balance bike and is learning to skateboard .

I have to say I agree, you seem absolutely obsessed with the idea of her walking early.
At 9 weeks she did not want to be standing - you were standing her. At 9 weeks she had no idea what was happening and was playing around with weight bearing. It's very clear you have encouraged her to be standing from your posts, and I too don't understand why. There will be no relation to how well she manages beyond walking. The constant updates with her being almost there, with the greatest of respect, she isn't is she? As you have been saying this since 6 months. 3 months later and she's not walking. She's clearly a switched on little one and she will walk when she wants and is ready. Other than being able to tell everyone she walked early, you will gain nothing by her walking next week, opposed to when she turns one.

One final update, if anyone is still interested:

DD began taking a few unassisted steps at 10 months and one week- just launching between bits of furniture that she was cruising around.

By the time she turned 11 months she was properly walking unassisted - able to stop, turn, change direction etc.

She is about to turn 1 and very occasionally crawls a bit if she takes a tumble on uneven ground outside but otherwise is on her feet.

So in response to my original question, the answer in her case is that she started walking on the early-ish side but not precociously so.

I know some commentators on this thread are convinced I have been pushing her into walking early but I can promise this is not the case. It has all been her doing.