Encouraging independent walking

[MrFlibblesEyes]

Anybody got any ideas how to build courage for independent walking? Ds is 12 months and has been confidently cruising for a couple of months now. His balance is great and he is at the stage now where he isn't really supporting himself with the furniture, more using it for reassurance. He will walk one handed and occasionally let go for a second or two. He doesn't seem to want to make the leap to independent walking however. If you lead him about a metre away from the sofa he will let go and walk back pretty steadily so he's perfectly capable of doing it, just never does it voluntarily! He will choose crawling over walking, even if he's just crossing a gap slightly bigger than his arm span- he will get down and up again even though walking would be quicker and easier! Any ideas on how to get his confidence up as he is quite a cautious boy in general. He was a later crawler (10 months) but when he started he did it confidently immediately, no slipping over or working out how to do it slowly, he just up and went. I'm thinking it might be the same with walking, he just wants to know he can do it before he tries? I know that he will do it when he's ready but I was hoping for tips to help him along as it seems the only thing holding him back is his confidence ?

12 months old with walking is still young. My 2 sons, one never crawled but walked at 11 months, my second son crawled, loved his walker and didn’t walk until 16 months old. To you have any push along toys, we had a dog with handles, which helped.

He's only a year old! You need to let him develop naturally at his own pace. There is no rush and he's doing just fine.

He’ll do it when he’s ready and as pp said, 12 months is on the young side to be walking. My daughter started crawling and cruising confidently at 9 months but didn’t walk until she was 14 months. We had push along things for her, which she liked, but she only walked when she was ready.

Now she’s 16 months and really steady on her feet. It’s strange to think of her crawling now, even though she was in that stage for what seemed like ages at the time. They all get there in the end, but I do remember being desperate for her to walk!

@Mindymomo yes he has a push along wooden walker that he can push along like a pro. He can stop, reverse, do it one handed! Just doesn't let go.

@Aquamarine1029 I know this! I don't mean to make it come across like I'm worried about his development or trying to force him to walk when he's not capable. It's just that he can do it- I've seen him do it and was hoping that people might know some confidence building ideas as obviously it will open more doors for him in terms of activities and things we can do together- especially outside with the weather getting worse if he's not crawling on a wet dirty floor!

I'm in an identical position.

DD is 14 months. Started crawling at 6/7 months, but didn't really get the hang of it (i.e. going forward... ) until 8/9 months. However, she was confidently pulling up and cruising at around 8 months. Her cousin was an early walker, so we really thought she'd be early too. She's super steady on her feet, loves her walker and her push car, and will happily walk around holding onto my finger with just one hand. But other than the occasional couple of tentative solo steps, she won't let go, and similarly prefers to crawl to get anywhere she needs to go.

Tbh, I don't think there's anything we can do to encourage them. DD gets plenty of praise when she's taken solo steps. We also try to encourage her to walk between DH and I (bribery may or may not be involved). She's got her walker to practice with, and we regularly take her to the park where she can see other children running around to see if she gets the idea. I don't think there's much else I can do.

It's hard when it seems that every other baby we've met recently have been walking at 9 months. But then the other metric I have to gauge DD by is our NCT group who range from 12-13.5 months. And not one of them are walking yet either. It will happen one day. And then we'll wish they'd waited a little longer instead!

@Dyra seems like we are in the same boat. We do things like getting him to walk between us too with plenty of praise. It's funny because when he's done it he looks really smug and gives himself a little round of applause yet it doesn't seem to work as an incentive to do it by himself! It's more difficult to encourage than things like rolling or crawling because it's not like you can put something out of reach that they're determined to get! He's already got a perfectly speedy efficient way of getting around with the crawling and cruising so why does he need to walk? I guess we can just try to keep making it fun and hope they want to practise. He has recently learnt to point and practises that constantly so maybe his focus is just elsewhere right now 😂

This isn't something you can (or should) push. He's still very young and as PPs have said, will get there when he's ready to.

Again, it's not something I'm trying to force, nor am I in any way disappointed in his development. I realise he will get there in his own time- I was just looking for fun ways to help him gain the confidence in the abilities he already has shown that he has. Just incase there was anything I'd not though of to try as I want him to enjoy it and not make it a chore or turn walking into something he dislikes. Maybe the confidence will just come over time!

They just do it when they want to. Mine cruised for over 6 months and then one day just got up, walked by herself and that was it. I think something has to click for them to go by themselves, it's not a skill we can praise into them.

@Disappointedkoala I think you're right, something just has to click. I just watched a video I have of him and he lets go of my hand, walks 16 steps (with a little pause in the middle where he considers getting down and then changes his mind) before gently holding the sofa at the end! I think he just needs to realise he can do it 😁. He's currently standing next to my upright hoover pressing the buttons of the top and half the time his only contact with it is one fingertip so he is effectively just standing there. Thanks for all your responses, he is definitely progressing - just at his own pace. I'm sure he will surprise me soon.

Can he turn when he's walking? And can he stand himself up in the middle of the floor with nothing to help him pull up? My daughter was similar, early cruiser, progressed to cruising around one-handed (at speed!) and walking between people/furniture, but still crawling as her primary mode of getting places. Then in the space of about a week, she learnt to turn, learnt to stand up without pulling up, and abandoned crawling except for things like stairs. I agree with everyone else about he'll do it in his own time and he's still young, but those might be skills he's still working on.

The somewhat cautious nature has definite advantages as well. I very much appreciated my daughter's decision to learn to run on the grass rather than the pavement. The knees of her trousers and leggings did as well.

My LB was exactly the same! Later crawler, quick cruiser from standing and then a few months of cruising and balancing. I swear he was perfecting it. He’s now 15 months and walking like he’s been doing it forever! He’s even going backwards and bending down to pick toys up/balancing.

The only tips I have are:

1. Don’t worry - first and foremost. He will do it when he’s ready.

1. Lots of praise / hugs

I’m no expert but I think it’s a confidence thing. The fact you want to encourage him is great and he will do it!

My DD was the same. She even went through a sold phase of taking about 7-10 steps but always towards a sofa or one of us. Never independently. This went on for a few months. My husband and I did sit on the floor, facing each other but about 2 metres apart and would try and encourage her to walk to and fro between us. It was fun the first few times but the novelty soon wore off and had very little long lasting effect. When she was 15 months, we were at the airport and she suddenly decided that day she was going to walk and not look back! Totally random, but something about the airport made her want to go for it.

So yes there are fun things you can do to seemingly encourage him, however I agree with the majority in that he will get there in his own time.