Sit, Crawl, Walk... Now What?
Your child is walking! While giving time to celebrate this amazing and special milestone, you may also find yourself wondering “what’s next?”
Walking opens up a plethora of opportunities for continued development in all areas, particularly in communication and social emotional skills. Walking allows your child to move about their environment while upright, which allows them to see and interact with their play space in a whole new way. While moving about upright, your child can begin to indicate and request what they want, which helps facilitate early communication skills. When they can walk and carry something, like a favorite toy or snack, it encourages communication about interests, likes, and dislikes through gestures, sounds, and words. Being on their feet allows them to communicate more frequently with peers and parents, since they are closer to eye level. This also opens up opportunities for peer interaction through sharing and initiating play with other children. Independent movement to another peer to engage in play or try to say something enhances both motor and language development.
Walking also allows your child to follow through with simple directions, as you can ask them to go put something in the trash or grab a toy and bring it to you - which improves their social-emotional skills. As your child walks more and their balance continues to improve, their cognitive and problem solving skills are enhanced. This type of thinking is improved by independently exploring and engaging with their natural environments, which is a product of walking. Your child will eventually be able to navigate more obstacles and even figure out how to use their environment to get what they want (like moving a box over the couch to be able to climb up on it). Wow!
Before we talk about what comes after walking, let’s take a moment to reflect on the skills that come before walking. Walking has a few pre-requisites, and taking time to meet and master these early mobility skills will enhance not only walking capability, but also improve their development in other areas including social-emotional, communicative, and cognitive skills, as noted above.
Before a child can walk, they need to be able to:
Stand on their own in free space 20-30s
Get up into standing by pulling up to standing and/or standing up from the floor
Sit and get in/out of sitting on their own
Crawl (so that they can get to something to pull themselves up)
Visually scan their environment
Be motivated to walk
All of these milestones are important to achieve leading up to independent walking because these pre-requisite skills are where their balance, core strength, coordination, and sensory systems are developed towards that skill of walking. Sometimes it can be worth spending a little extra time working on these skills so that they can confidently transition into walking. We want to support the skill of walking without rushing baby into something they may not feel ready for yet.
Now, once your baby is walking, skills that may come next include:
Developing a more coordinated gait pattern (no more Frankenstein walking!)
Lifting a foot to kick a ball
Navigating around and on various obstacles
Walking up a small step (like a curb or doorway threshold) with a little help
Walking in more difficult places like grass, sand, ramps, or messy play rooms
Climbing stairs
Dancing
You can see that a lot of cognitive, sensory, and motor development is necessary for walking! Some babies fly through some of these skills, and some babies need a little extra support- both are okay! If you’re wondering how to do all of this, or if your child is stuck on a particular pre-requisite skill, know that you are not alone! This fall, we are offering a Mommy and Me play class for infants and toddlers 6-24 mos old that will be led by an expert pediatric physical therapist. This fun and supportive group will facilitate play to promote the next developmental skill for babies and toddlers, all in a small group setting to connect kiddos and mamas alike. Whether your little one is sitting up, pulling to stand, or already toddling, Mommy and Me offers a welcoming space for connection, growth, and hands-on learning through play. Check out our Mommy and Me and fall play groups here: Well Kids: Play Groups — All Together Wellness
If your baby needs a little extra support or is struggling to meet their motor milestones, we are here to help! Our team of experienced pediatric physical therapists will meet your baby where they’re at to help them achieve their best mobility as quickly as possible, so that your baby can get back to playing and growing! Not sure if your baby is on track? Check out our list below as a gentle guide to determine if it may be time for an expert assessment:
0-3 mos: moves their head to both sides, tolerates tummy time
3-4 mos: rolls belly to back
5-6 mos: rolls back to belly
6-8 months: sits alone
7-9 months: gets to and from sitting without help
7-10 months: crawling
P.S. we don’t recommend you skip this one even if the CDC says it’s okay. Read more about why here: Why We Are Not Skipping Crawling Here — All Together Wellness
10-11 months: pulling up to stand and cruising along furniture
At any age:
Prefers to use or solely uses one side of body to get to standing (ex: only uses their right leg or arm to pull up)
Has been stuck in cruising for more than 3 months and can’t let go for independent steps
Refuses to put weight through their feet
If your baby is having trouble reaching some of these skills, it may be time for an expert assessment. We will help you determine if your child has any tight or weak muscles or guide you on pursuing additional input from other medical providers when necessary.
We know that identifying and treating any concerns about development as soon as possible creates better and longer lasting outcomes for our children. This means that the best time to begin working on a concern, asymmetry, or delay is now! And we are here to make it easy for you. With our unique model, you can skip both the extra visit to the pediatrician and wait time for insurance approval, as we offer a direct access model of care so you can get the quality and quantity of treatment that your child needs without extra hassle. Whether your baby is learning to roll, sit, crawl, walk, or use their mobility device - we are here to assist and celebrate with you every step of the way. Ready to get started on the track to improving your child’s abilities? Reach out to our team to learn more!
