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Home › Articles › Guiding Baby's Development › On My Own Two Feet

On My Own Two Feet

The Ups and Downs of Pulling Up

By Jacqueline Bodnar

Pages:  1  2  3  

While every child develops at his or her own pace, it's fairly common for all babies to follow a somewhat predictable path of muscular development and coordination. This development is especially evident when it comes to the walking process. A child who spends most of his or her waking hours crawling or scooting across the floor is only a short few months away from walking – albeit somewhat clumsily – from one object to another.

The turning point in this timeline comes with the important skill of "pulling up." Without the ability to pull oneself up from the floor, even the most intelligent baby won't be able to master the skill of walking – their leg muscles simply won't receive the needed stress that comes with standing in a vertical position for extended amounts of time.

When They're Ready
It's important for parents to keep in mind that pulling up is an inherent skill for the majority of babies. Similar to crawling, it's a developmental milestone that naturally happens when a baby's body is ready.

"These are normal developmental stages that infants go through," says Dr. J. Mark Beard, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Washington. "Some kids go from scooting to crawling to standing and then walking. Some kids skip a step or two – skipping scooting and going directly to crawling is common."

According to most experts, pulling up usually happens between 8 and 10 months of age. Although this age range is a good general guideline, parents shouldn't worry if their baby is a few months late in pulling up – more than a couple of months, however, and parents may want to contact their pediatrician.

Keeping It Safe
"Lauren started pulling up when she was around 8 months old," says Allison Duff, a mother from South Daytona, Fla. "The first safety precaution we had to take was lowering her crib because that is the first place she pulled up, and we were afraid she would propel herself out of her crib. Then, we had installed child safety gates in the living room and removed anything that would topple over if she tried to pull up on."


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