The emotional first steps, the journey to growing up

A baby’s progress in its first year is extraordinary! Little by little, your baby discovers the world around them, the world where they will live with you. Their first solids, their first words, games… they are discovering their world and want to explore it on their own! It is through curiosity that they first stand on their own two feet, on average between 9 and 12 months, but remember that’s just an average. Your baby is unique and is evolving at exactly the right rate: their own.

What is walking? It is the result of gradual, constant development: your baby, through a healthy, balanced diet, after breastfeeding for at least 6 months, is developing muscles, discovering their body, and then improving their coordination before, finally, finding their balance on their own two feet¹. Perhaps your baby crawled before they stood up? Or perhaps they shuffled around? Every child is different, yours has simply found the way that is best for them.

The first real steps are very emotional for a parent. Your little baby is now almost a toddler, they are standing up, getting around holding onto things, then they move on and put one foot in front of the other, with you holding their hands.

Did you know that your hands should not be higher than their shoulders when you help them to walk? Any higher and you’ll be pulling them and that doesn’t help anyone!

One day, this little baby, who is and always will be yours, takes their first steps on their own. You can be very proud of them... and of yourself! Your baby is having a go because they are ready, because they are confident enough to walk like an older child. You have given them this confidence with your love and how you have taken care of them since they were born. Now, new adventures are in store for them and you!

¹ _{La marche, un apprentissage qui commence dès la naissance, by Dr Langue, mpedia, June 2020,}

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