Guide to the Walking Stage: When Your Baby Takes Their First Steps
An article by Laura Mittet, Pediatric Physiotherapist

During your baby’s first year, they go through tremendous motor development – from lying on their back as a newborn to rolling, creeping, crawling, and now beginning to stand up.

When your baby stands for the first time, a whole new world opens up: the ability to see their surroundings at eye level, move between furniture, and eventually take their first independent steps.

In this article, we explore the walking stage – how it builds on the experiences from the crawling phase, and how you as a parent can support your baby through activities and play that strengthen both the motivation and the ability to stand up and walk.

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From Crawling to Standing - and Beyond

Once your baby has mastered crawling, curiosity and the desire to get higher become powerful driving forces. Crawling helps your baby develop coordination, body awareness, and strength – and soon, they’ll begin to pull themselves up.

At first, your baby may use furniture or a parent’s leg for support, come into a kneeling position, place one foot on the floor, and from there, push up to standing. When standing, your baby practices strength, balance, and body control – an important foundation for walking confidently and safely.

It’s important that your baby learns to stand up through their legs, as this builds the strength and stability needed in the hips, thighs, and ankles. If the baby pulls too much with the arms instead, the weight shifts to the upper body, making it harder to gain proper leg control.

From this new, upright position, your baby can now reach for things, pick up objects, and explore the world from a new perspective. Each time your baby stands up, sits down, or moves along furniture, they gradually build more strength and confidence.

The Path to the First Steps

Walking without support is one of the biggest milestones in your baby’s development – but the journey is long and filled with smaller steps along the way. First, your baby must learn to stand steadily, then to sit down and get up again repeatedly – strengthening the muscles around the hips, knees, and ankles.

Next comes sideways cruising, where your baby learns to shift weight onto one leg so the other can lift and take a step. This weight transfer and coordination are key foundations for walking forward independently.

During this stage, your baby continues to build on cross-body coordination, which was essential in the crawling phase. Now, the right and left legs must work rhythmically together – a skill that will later support walking, running, and climbing.

Your baby also develops spatial awareness and movement planning – balancing between furniture, judging distances, and finding new paths. Many babies continue to crawl or cruise along furniture for quite a while because it feels faster and safer – and that’s perfectly fine. The more time your baby has to strengthen these foundational skills, the more confident and stable they’ll be when they finally let go and walk on their own.

How You Can Support Your Baby’s Development

As a parent, there’s a lot you can do to support your baby during the walking stage – but the most important thing may be what you don’t do.

Avoid “walking training” your baby by holding their hands or pulling them forward. In those situations, you are the one maintaining balance, not your baby. This means your baby misses out on important practice in sensing their own body, finding balance, and gradually becoming confident on their own.

Instead, make sure your baby has plenty of floor time, a safe environment, and the opportunity to pull up, hold onto furniture, and slowly let go when ready. This way, your baby naturally develops strength, balance, and body control at their own pace.

Remember that developmental milestones like crawling and walking are guidelines, not deadlines. They offer insight into your baby’s progress but happen at different times for every child. The most important thing is that your baby continues to take small steps forward.

Provide security, give encouragement, and let your baby set the pace.

Play and Activities That Support the Walking Stage

Play is the best way to support your baby’s motor development. During the walking stage, there are many fun activities that strengthen muscles, balance, and the senses – while letting your baby experience the joy of movement.

Sensory Play

An important part of learning to walk is becoming aware of the legs and feet. You can support this by stimulating your baby’s sense of touch and body awareness:

  • Apply gentle pressure and soft strokes on the legs and feet – using your hands or small tools such as sponges, brushes, or massage balls.
  • Encourage barefoot play, so your baby can clearly feel the surface beneath and develop stability in the feet.
  • Use sensory boxes with rice, pasta, water beads, or sand to playfully train the sense of touch.
  • Include swinging, sliding, or rocking play, which stimulates the balance sense and gives your baby positive body experiences through movement.
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Standing Play

When your baby starts to pull up, toys at standing height – such as a toy cash register or stacking blocks on a coffee table – can motivate them to stand longer and play with their hands free.

You can also place small objects on the floor for your baby to pick up and carry. This movement up and down helps strengthen the entire body and improve control and balance.

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Walking Play

As your baby becomes more confident on their feet, you can gently add new challenges:

  • Vary the surface – let your baby walk on cushions, mattresses, grass, or sand to train balance, stability, and coordination.
  • Build a simple obstacle course using furniture, pillows, tunnels, or chairs to crawl, walk, climb, or step over. This develops strength, balance, and spatial understanding.
  • Introduce push toys like a walker, doll’s pram, or chair once your baby can walk independently. These help your baby play with speed and direction – and make it fun to transport toys or dolls around.
  • Play chase games or use a balloon to train the ability to speed up, slow down, and change direction. These activities strengthen balance and hand-eye coordination while making movement fun.

Continued Development

Once your baby has taken their first independent steps, a new phase full of possibilities begins. Now it’s about nurturing a love of movement, so your child continues to explore and develop both physically and motorically.

As your child grows, they will need more variation and challenge in their surroundings. You can practice balance by walking along a line on the floor, hopping, kicking a ball, or balancing on one leg.

Some children also benefit from joining an activity or play group, where they can gain new movement experiences and strengthen motor skills in a safe, social setting.

When your baby begins to walk, an entirely new world of movement opens up. Standing up and taking the first steps require strength, balance, coordination, and courage – all built on the foundations from earlier phases.

When your baby begins to walk, an entirely new world of movement opens up. Standing up and taking the first steps require strength, balance, coordination, and courage – all built on the foundations from earlier phases.

As a parent, you can support this stage by creating safe surroundings that give your baby the freedom to practice and grow in confidence. This helps your child become more independent, joyful in movement, and ready to explore the world on their own two feet.

Walk & Play

Laura Mittet | Motorikland

Laura Mittet (34) is a mother of three girls, pediatric physiotherapist, and holds a master’s degree in Educational Psychology. She has many years of experience with children – in public institutions, private practice, and child psychiatry.

In 2022, she became part of Rødovre Physiotherapy and Health Center and co-founded Motorikland – a universe for babies, children, pregnant women, and parents in the postpartum period. Here, physiotherapy, group courses, and workshops are offered with focus on movement, play, presence, and professional guidance.