Walking or not walking rather

mariantheb

Hi! My son is 13 months old and not yet walking independently of his walker. He cruises on furniture and loves his walker, but bends his knees and goes to the floor when I take his hands to walk. I was just curious if any November 2011 babies are walking and for the older LOs, when did they start? Any tips on encouraging walking?

On a side note, t&p to the families of Sandy Hook elementary. I am holding LO a bit tighter the past few days. 

mom2bemk

Even though walking is a huge milestone, its normal for babies not to walk by their first birthday. Its easier said than done, but try not to rush it DD is literally all over the place and I have to make sure all the doors and baby gates are up if I want a minute to sit down. 

 Anyway, do you have a coffee table or ottoman? If you give very short and concrete distances, your son might be more willing to venture from one object to the other i.e. couch to ottoman. The best thing for me was just watching her build the courage to take those steps, so I really took a backseat in her learning to walk. It took about a month for her to start walking across the room.

StefiMarie

My son was in the same boat, then one day at about 14.5 months, he just started walking all the time!  I think he knew that crawling was fast and reliable and saw no reason to walk until it just "clicked" one day! 

kcisthebombdotcom

The "average" range for walking is 10-15 months. At 13 months you don't need to encourage walking. LO will likely learn the skills on his own. If he's cruising/walking with a walker he's fine and just not ready to do it independently yet. Don't rush it.

Netty_3

Same boat here.  Although the other night he did take a few steps between DH and I ...he has a tendency to lean forward though and sort of dive towards us after a little while. I'm getting hopeful now that he seems to be trying to stand up without holding onto something.  They may jsut notbe big risk takers...although him trying to stand up on his rocking chair like a circus performer might suggest otherwise.

AmandaP678

Don;t worry way too soon to worry, average is 9 months - 18 months.

My 17 month is still not walking and my first was 16 months. 

MouseInLux

I don't remember exactly when DD started but I think it was around 14 months or so. I have a friend who's LO is 18 months and still not walking independently.