Cruising to walking

[dobbyssoc]

DS is 11 1/2 months and has been cruising since 9 months. However whenever we encourage him to stand holding our hands or walk holding our hands he refuses to do it he just brings his legs up! I don't know if it's because he thinks we will pick him up but it's constant! Any tips to help?

I'd not bother holding his hands and arms up. We never did with ours - saw too many parents and GPs breaking their backs! They'll walk when they want to walk. 11/12mo is still WELL within "normal" range.

None of them crawl to school, I wouldn't worry about it. DS started cruising at 9 months but only started walking at 15 months (he picked it very quickly when he eventually did). Some are just faster than others. You can encourage them to play with a walker toy or take a step towards you.

I'd agree with others, dont hold his hand so much. One day he'll just get up and walk across the room for something. A favourite book or toy. My lo did it for a cuddle in the kitchen. It was adorable!

Just leave him be. He'll get it. I think there is actually some evidence that 'finger walking' (getting them to walk holding on to you) discourages independent walking. But anyway, mostly you just leave him to it.

Both of mine were cruising from 8/9 months. They didn't walk until 15 months and 17 months, respectively. The one who walked at 17 months was crawling from 5.5 months! It can be a long time still and that's fine. There is no developmental advantage to early walking (and actually the opposite, there are a lot of developmental benefits to extending crawling and cruising - because they get to explore the world differently that way and it has advantages for neural development.)