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.

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."

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