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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
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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”