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If your baby is cautious by nature, you can plan on it taking her a little longer to take her first steps compared to babies who have more of the “go with the flow” personality.  It’s important to understand that even though your baby may appear to be physically ready to walk, she may not be emotionally ready.  At this point, she’s legitimately scared to let go of support to try to walk, and we respect that and respond accordingly.

Patience is the key in these situations.  Parents know that their babies are ready, but the babies don’t know that…and parents CAN NOT make their babies understand that.  DO NOT force the matter.  Our job, as parents, is to help gradually build our babies’ confidence.  Parents need to take “baby steps” towards helping their babies feel confident enough to try to walk.

Here are a couple of strategies that work well helping cautious babies take their first steps:

1. The Environmental Components to when babies take their first steps is key with cautious babies. We need to allow them to try when THEY are ready, and setting up the furniture around the home so that they are positioned 2-3 feet apart is a great starting point.  This way, the babies can release their hands from support when THEY are ready and not by an adult pulling support away.  Their destination is close and may seem close enough to try to walk towards it.  I frequently tell parents of cautious babies “You may turn around one day and all of a sudden, she’s walking”.  Nine times out of 10, the parents tell me one day “You were right!  All of a sudden she started walking!”.
2. Distraction: This works with some babies much better than others.  If babies are distracted by a VERY motivating toy/person, they may forget about their fear of taking steps for a split second and take a few steps towards the motivating object/person.  HINT:  Whatever is used as a motivator must be positioned no lower than the babies’ chest level.  Anything lower will result in the babies lowering themselves down to the floor.  Again,  this works with some babies, but other babies are just too hard to trick.  For the babies where distraction does not work, the strategic set-up of the household furniture discussed above should eventually do the trick.
3. Some cautious babies feel more comfortable trying to walk if they’re holding something in one hand.  Make sure whatever your baby is holding is an appropriate size and is safe in case she loses her balance (ie. a soft toy).

Again, parents of cautious babies need to be very patient when waiting for their babies’ first steps.  Remember that we are asking the babies to do something that is scary for them, and it even takes adults a long time before we feel comfortable attempting something that is scary to us.

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