Cherry, the mother of an 11-month-old girl, Elizabeth, is in the clinic for her daughter’s immunizations. She expresses concern to the nurse that Elizabeth cannot yet walk. The nurse correctly replies that, according to the Denver Developmental Screen, the median age for walking is:
A. 12 months.
B. 15 months.
C. 10 months.
D. 14 months.
Correct Answer: A. 12 months.
By 12 months, 50 percent of children can walk well. Every baby reaches the walking milestone at a different time. However, the baby will likely take his first steps between 9 and 15 months. She’ll lurch along like Frankenstein as she gets used to her land legs—a wide stance and outstretched arms are characteristics of all new walkers.
Option B: In order to stand, the baby has to contract a lot of muscles. But to walk, she eventually needs to relax her hips and knees a bit. Once they get going, the next challenge is figuring out how to stop.
Option C: Bigger babies often walk later because they need more strength to get upright than a smaller baby does. A baby with an older sibling may be motivated to walk earlier because he wants to keep up, and imitate what the big kid is doing.
Option D: Others don’t want to start walking until they are sure they can do so fairly well. These children may turn out to be more cautious and contemplative. Each step has more force than an adult’s because newbies don’t bend their knees or use a heel-toe motion, both of which absorb some of the impact. They haven’t figured out how to break their forward momentum by stopping with one foot and bringing the trailing foot to meet it.