The key has always been maintaining balance. Throughout this year, your baby has learned to coordinate his muscles from the top down. First came control over his neck and head, then his shoulders and upper torso. After that, he began to use his arms and his hands with ever-increasing dexterity. Then came the hips, thighs, and knees, and suddenly your baby was crawling. By now, your baby has control over nearly every muscle in his body. All he needs to do is practice keeping everything in sync so that he can maintain balance. Not only can your 9- or 10-month-old baby now sit for quite some time without toppling over, he can use only one hand to support himself, so he can use the other to pick up toys (or other objects) and play with them. Of course, your baby is not content to just sit around anymore. During the next three to six months, your baby will make developmental leaps and bounds. (Actual leaps and bounds come later in the second year.) Your child will probably achieve the following milestones very soon:
Pulling himself up to a standing position (9 to 12 months) Cruising along the edges of furniture (9 to 13 months) Standing on his own with no support (9 to 14 months) Walking (10 to 15 months).
Again, please keep in mind that all the ages included here represent average ranges. Your baby will progress at his own individual pace. His development may fall at the beginning or end of the range, or even outside the range, without cause for concern on your part. Just because he pulls up at seven months and walks at nine months doesn’t mean he’s from the planet Krypton, and just because he still hasn’t done any of these by his first birthday doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
title: “Baby S First Steps” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-25” author: “Bobby Delong”
Contrary to appearances, however, your toddler is not trying to give you a hard time or drive you crazy. (That won’t come for another dozen years or so.) She simply needs you to be settled in one place before she feels secure enough to venture off on her own. A toddler is like a homing pigeon—and you’re the rooftop that serves as home base. With you securely in place, your toddler will wander away from you and then come back. Even if her back is turned, she knows where you are and how to get back to you. (Actually, if you move, even to a place where your child can still see you, it will throw her off. She may freeze in place and break into tears.) When you want to go, however, that’s when your toddler will suddenly decide to stop walking. She’ll raise her arms up toward you and plead with you, “Carry me!” Your child is not being “lazy” or “unwilling” to cooperate. She simply cannot keep up with you when you are walking-a fact that makes her feel extremely insecure. Your toddler fears separation from you—losing you—more than anything else in the world. She needs to stay close to you, but she can’t do it by walking next to you or by following you. That’s why your toddler stops dead in her tracks and wants you to carry her whenever you take her hand and try to walk. She can’t manage any other way—and won’t for another two years. Don’t bother wasting energy by getting angry at your child for “not cooperating.” Just remember to bring a stroller with you long after your baby has started walking.
