My daughter Marley is 11 months, and she has taken her first steps. She is now walking, enjoying her newfound skills and walking all over the house. I didn’t know when she would take her first steps because I know all babies are different, but they usually take their steps somewhere between 11 and 16 months. Watching her take her first steps was like nothing I had ever experienced or felt before I was one proud mom. I cried tears of joy and cheered her on giving her the biggest hugs and kisses. If you’re wondering when your little one will take their first steps I would say don’t worry to much and let it happen when it happens, but I do have a few tips to get your baby in the mood to walk.

Most babies start to pull themselves up on whatever is nearby, and they try standing independently over and over to start to learn their balance. Once they get a good sense of this, they usually use the couch, fence, bed or walls to lean on while they make their little selves to where they want to go. This is when you can start to try and encourage them to come to you or toys that they like. I noticed leaving her with no shoes or socks when indoors was more helpful for her to find her balance as well. You can purchase baby socks that have grips at the bottom to help so your little one wont slide or glide to much but for me the best thing was just to let her feet be free.

You may notice that they will start to crawl a lot faster once they get closer to walking or they will even half crawl, half walk. They will put one leg up higher than the other and jet across the floor. They may also stand up and fall a lot on their bottom to learn how to get their balance. My little one has curved feet which probably started inside the womb after being a little scrunched, but I was told its nothing to worry about because the more she walks it will start to correct itself. If you notice anything like that it won’t hurt to bring it up at the next doctors visit just to make sure all is okay. Try to pay attention to your child’s legs and feet as much as you can because some kids do have flat feet, bowed legs or pigeon-toed feet. Your child’s doctor will be able to determine if your baby has any of these and they now have so many different tactics to help get our babies walking and running perfectly.

A few things that can help encourage walking are getting your baby a toy that they can push like a walker they can stand up at. They will enjoy getting the wheels to move across the floor and feel proud of themselves when you cheer them on for pushing it. You can walk with your baby as well by standing behind them bent over and encouraging them to put one foot in front of the other around the room. Even though you are right there they will usually feel very inspired and start to think they are doing it themselves.

Try to limit the amount of time they are in their bouncers or standing activity centers and give them the freedom to explore. This will help them take more risks when exploring and help to not slow the process. Your biggest role in all of this is just going to be building your babies confidence and making sure they do not hurt themselves by making sure they have a nice landing when they start and stop. Keep it fun, do not try to force it just let it be enjoyable. You can even turn it into a game and sing and count how many seconds they stay standing up and then praise your baby for trying. Stand up your baby as much a you can when you are putting them down to show them its okay to not only crawl. Practicing over and over is going to get the best results.

Your baby is going to reach all their beautiful milestones at their own time. Try your hardest not to compare your baby too much to what other babies are doing. Your baby is unique and will have their own developmental story. All these milestones are making your baby become their own little person. If you have any concerns at all remember to bring it up to your doctor if not just enjoy this journey. Log these precious moments in a journal if you can, take a lot of pictures and videos and be present. With your encouragement and love your baby is going to do great.