Hello!

I have a 7 month old who loves to walk (assisted) and stand. Nearly every time someone sees this (whether I know them or not) they advise me to be careful. Is it true?


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  • I doubt it, but I’m really not sure.


  • I wouldn’t use a walker as these cause muscles etc to develop at a pace that isn’t natural / healthy but standing with assistance should be fine but just don’t do ut for too long


  • I think they meant be careful in case he falls or hurt himself if he is jumping …


  • My kids were in a walker from approximately 5 months of age. I heard the same thing, my kids didn’t have bowed legs. My daughter was always pulling herself up on people to walk around. She walked at 10 months with no ill effects


  • My answer as mum of two sons, child caring and a nanna too. The baby is choosing what activity wants to do! fall or plop down and get up is strengthening legs and other parts too also dexterity it is true….big learning curve, next cupboard doors will need securing too,but make one with plastics in he/she can open and contents view, take out and ply with too. One of my son;s and grandson too, giving you healthy adult too view


  • Assisted walking can be dangerous. A child who cannot walk by themselves is unlikely to have the skills to identify and avoid dangers. They have access to objects higher up and can get to these objects faster, neither of which they will ready for. There’s also a real risk of tipping and injury. I think we all realise you can’t get to your child quickly enough to stop these things from happening.

    Perhaps a bit counter-intuitively, using a walker can also delay both motor and mental development – the child needs to find a natural path to walking.


  • It seems all little ones want to do what they see others doing. They want to get there the fastest way they know and that means with you helping. The important thing for your child’s development is crawling. This is when their body learns to move with opposing arms and legs, They need to practice and get skilled at this. You can help by lying on the floor so they crawl across to you. Get down and have fun with them. As their muscles strengthen they will start cruising – using the furniture to move around the room. If you look at your little ones feet you will see that they are still soft on top. They need lots of crawling practice for the foot muscles to change to support their own body weight. Have fun with crawling, up and down a pillow, in and out of boxes. Enjoy this beautiful stage. They will love some time in a jolly jumper or walking holding your hands but this will shorten as their crawling improves and they can get into everything and everywhere just from crawling.


  • No. When my daughter was still not walking on her own we always had her putting pressure on her feet either by assisted walking or bouncing. She is now nearly two and has straight normal legs. She was also an early walker so if anything it helped her not hindered her.


  • Can’t say really but my second had really strong legs (even from when she was in the womb). So she was keen to stand early and walked at 10mths and a day later she never crawled again! Her legs seem fine so far.


  • I didn’t think it does but I’m not a dr. But both my sons was standing at a young age oldest mr was walking from 10months old.just had bone density test and been told he has very strong bones for he’s age. If this helps.


  • It can definitely because children’s bones can be softer and their muscles haven’t fully feel oped. My niece loved bouncing and had terrible bow in her legs it has been corrected with a brace. Her tendons were all stretched and not holding her knees in the correct position.
    My son walked earlier at 9 months and he had a slight now but it corrected itself over time


  • They say its not good but i think within reason. If you were doing this with him for great extending periods of time then that wouldnt be great but I did it with all of my kids and none of them have had an issue at all. Just use common sense and i think all will be fine


  • I vaguely remember seeing a story once about people in possibly Africa who encourage this from a really young age. Their children are then walking themselves from a young age. It didn’t seem to trouble them.


  • I heard the same thing when my kids were babies, I never used to walk them around , they had a walker and a jolly jumper , none of the 4 have bowed legs


  • I think they all like to stand at this age. I don’t think it’s a problem so long as it’s only for short periods of time. Also spending time on the floor is really important for learning to roll and crawl so keep that in mind. There is plenty of time later for learning to walk but in the meantime a bit of weight baring is okay too.


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