Previous Page  6-7 / 28 Next Page
Information
Show Menu
Previous Page 6-7 / 28 Next Page
Page Background

W

hen your child reaches the milestone

of walking it is a very happy moment in

their development and quite an achievement!

However, a child is not a smaller version

of an adult as the morphology (shape) and

structure of their bones and soft tissues need

time to develop and grow. You may have the

expectation that your child will walk like

an adult after a few months, however it

takes years and lots of practice for a mature

walking pattern to develop in a child.

The main factors essential for children when

learning to walk and achieve a ‘typical’ gait

pattern are co-ordination, an ability to learn,

and a ‘normal’ neurological and

musculoskeletal system.

The components of typical gait in young

children will vary and are very different to

that of an adult.

However, the majority of changes which

include musculoskeletal growth, neurological

development and most minor and gross motor

skills are achieved by the age of seven in most

children, when there are no underlying factors

that may impair the development of

efficient gait.

“When your child reaches

the milestone of walking it is

a very happy moment in

their development”

PRE WALKING:

The following is a summary of ‘typical’ gait

development to the onset of independent

walking. Typically, the milestones prior

to walking occur in stages and include:

• Learning to sit up unassisted (6-8 months)

• Crawling on hands and knees (9-11 months)

• Bottom shuffling (11-12 months)

• Furniture walking (11-13 months)

• Independent walking (12-14 months)

(Staheli and Song, 2012: Johnson et

al, 2014)

EARLY DEVELOPMENT

07

Each child is an individual, so some

children may not go through all of these

stages nor in this order. However, they

are important milestones for building

strong muscles, bones and co-ordination

in preparation for the onset of walking.

Typically, children start independently

walking between 12-14 months (Staheli

and Song, 2012).

“It takes years and lots of

practice for a mature walking

pattern to develop in a child”