On the Move
The next big milestone for your baby, and a major life change for you, is the crawl. It's followed by one of the biggest milestones, walking. While a rolling baby can travel only a few yards at a time, a crawling baby can go just about anywhere — and doesn't like to be stopped.
Crawling Along
This is the time to start serious childproofing. Start out by getting down on your hands and knees and crawling around the room, thinking about what might hurt your baby. You'll see electrical outlets, tangles of cords, sharp corners of tables, the door to the broiler, knickknacks on the bookshelf, and oven cleaner under the sink. You may see upholstery nails sticking out of the underside of a chair, or tacks coming loose from under a couch.
Your baby may scoot about in a sitting position, creep or “commando crawl” (move around on her stomach, using her hands, elbows, knees, and feet for propulsion, looking like a soldier scurrying under barbed wire), or “elephant walk” (move around on all fours, but support herself on her feet instead of her knees). Not all babies do an official hand-and-knee crawl, and the fear that a failure to crawl means reading difficulties later on has been put to rest.
Your baby may skip the crawling stage altogether and focus on learning to walk upright. In fact, this is becoming more common, with an increasing number of babies going directly from sitting to walking because they spend so little time on their stomachs. There seems to be no medical consequence to this change.
If you want to encourage your baby to crawl, put her in soft, long pants to make crawling comfortable (she'll just get tangled in dresses or loose, long pants) and give her a beach ball or wheeled toy that easily rolls out of reach.
Upstanding Citizen
Once your baby starts pulling herself upright, she'll be pulling up on every object in sight, even at night. Sometimes even babies who are great sleepers have a spate of interrupted nights when, barely half-awake, they pull up in their cribs and discover they don't know how to get down. This is the time to lower the crib mattress down to the lowest rung in the crib frame so that your baby doesn't tumble out when she stands up and bends over the railing.
Once your baby starts pulling up, begin teaching her how to bend her knees and sit down again. Standing supported, a skill your baby will probably demonstrate between the ages of seven to thirteen months, takes the development of the muscles around her joints, general muscle strength in her legs and arms, some coordination, and a sense of balance.
To help your baby in her standing attempts, keep her barefoot as much as possible: she'll be more confident about standing if she can feel the floor. Forget about shoes. Your baby doesn't need them to support her feet, and they get in the way rather than help when she's starting to stand and walk. If it's cold, put her in well-fitting socks with non-skid bottoms. Thick carpeting may give her trouble (even though it reassures you about falls), so let her practice on wood or linoleum floors. Make sure she has plenty of solid, safe objects to pull up on. (You might temporarily replace your glass-topped coffee table with an ottoman) Play games with her — start with her on her back, hold her hands, and slowly pull her to a stand.
Don't put your baby in a walker. It won't make her learn to walk faster, and some studies show that it may delay independent walking. Walkers, even newer models, pose a significant safety hazard, especially around steps. In fact, The AAP recommended that the U.S. government ban wheeled walkers. Instead, consider a stationary activity center. These devices resemble traditional walkers, but their lack of wheels makes them much safer. You want one that has a solid frame, no accessible sharp edges or sharp hardware underneath or on top, and comfortable, soft fabric edging on the sides and legs of the seat cushions. Take your baby to the store to “test drive” different models.
Walk This Way
After standing comes walking, and this usually occurs at eight to sixteen months. Heavy babies may fall to the late end of that spectrum, while adventurous babies may walk on the early side. The level of parental protectiveness plays a role, so try to rein in your fears. Early walkers may fall more often than their later-walking peers, but are unlikely to get seriously injured.
What if my baby's walking funny?
The duck-walk (legs spread wide apart and toes turned out like a duck) helps a shaky walker keep his balance. Most babies are naturally pigeon-toed, and some have shins or thighs that just tilt a bit. Other babies seem to always walk on their tiptoes. Have your pediatrician check her for tight muscles if you have a tip-toeing baby, but the odds are it's simply a matter of her personal style.
To encourage your baby to walk, simply move just out of reach, hold out your arms, and call her toward you. Some babies learn to walk by wheeling push-toys around. If you think all your baby needs is a little confidence, hand her a toy when she is standing. She may think that she is holding on to something supportive and take a step.
