If I’ve learned anything from being parent these last few years it’s this; you never know when your child is going to achieve a major developmental milestone! Noah’s been working hard lately trying to learn to walk on his own. He’s been able to take a few steps on his own for a while now, and he recently learned to stand up on his own, but today, at 22 months old…out of the blue…did something ah-mah-zing….!
Today Noah became an official walker!
Our little walker!
Yelp, that’s right. Noah is a full fledged walker! I brought him to a local library story time this morning and were plying in the room after everyone left when he decided to stand up on his own and take a step, then another one, and another one, and another one….and you get the point. I couldn’t believe it! Once he figured out what he was doing, he wouldn’t stop.
Although it won’t always be awesome to have to chase down a toddler, it was certainly awesome today!
We have a runner!
One of the questions people often ask is “When do children with Down syndrome walk on their own?” According to the major milestone guidelines children with Down syndrome learn to walk without support 3 steps or more between the ages of 16 and 42 months with the average being 24 months.
I know as a parent it’s easy to get caught up on these milestone guidelines, but I want to encourage you to try hard not to. 16-42 months is a wide range, and your child will grow, develop and hit their milestones on their time, now yours. (Our what some text book says.)
If you find yourself becoming consumed with these milestone charts, and feel discouraged because your child isn’t hitting their milestones as soon as some other child, let me give you two pieces of advise:
I find that practicing these two things helps me focus on Noah and how God is working in his life, rather than how God is working in everyone else’s life.
As President Theodore Roosevelt once said;
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Don’t let someone else’s child (or what your child can’t do) rob you of the overwhelming joy that your child brings. Parenting is way to awesome for that!
I think he likes this walking thing. 🙂
We’ve written a lot on our site about Noah learning to walk. For those of you interested in helping your child learn to walk on their own I’ve listed out some of our more popular posts on this topic below. I hope you find them helpful.
We’re so proud of our little boy, and my heart is full after seeing him become an official walker! Our son has worked very hard to get to this point, that’s for sure! As a parent there are no words for how your heart feels when you see our child accomplish a major milestone that they have worked so hard to achieve!
Ahhhh….Isn’t it great to be a parent!?
Has your child started walking on their own yet? If so what age was your child when they started walking? Leave a comment and let us know.
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I remember worrying about when my son Bentley would start walking an I felt like it would be forever an got discouraged a lot just the fact i compared him to my best friends son we had our baby's just 2 weeks apart, I knew my son would be a little behind but stopped hanging out with my best friend cause I'd cry seeing how much he was behind but I knew when he was ready it would happen an just after his 2nd birthday he took off now I feel like it happened so fast he's 3 now an running! I couldn't be more proud of him just waiting for him to start talking away an I know before I know it he will be!
One thing that was tricky when Halley was little was how she would learn a new skill and something she already new would be slightly forgotten for awhile. Sometimes she would revert to signing instead of talking because she was too busy learning to walk.
When Halley hit the milestone of walking (which her doctor said she roils never do) I knew then that she would do so much more in her life, it just may take longer to get there. Still today, at age 19, Halley learns new things that I couldn't have imagined when she was a baby.
As a friend of mine always says about Autism that her 2 children have, "Take THAT Down syndrome!"
My daughter was heading to her 3rd birthday. She had been happy crawling and walking around furniture, but we spent a lot of time living with her older cousins and she suddenly decided she wanted to be up with them. I saw her do it.. she just stood up, and hasnt looked back.. she turns 16 in a few days.
My son Drew has downs syndrome and autism and took his first steps age 26 months. It was the best feeling ever.
Gabriele is now 21 months old, but he does not walk yet. He was also born with clubfeet. He works very hard and now he trying to pull himself up. It is a joy to watch him and a lesson for us for being more determined in our lives.
We are so happy for Noah !
(Daniela - Rome, Italy)
My daughter, Cali, who is 21 months has been walking at least 10 steps or more for about a month and a half.. She is amazing and I am proud of her everyday.. She has been cruising for awhile and crawling since 15 months bit this walking thing she thinks is pretty cool.. It has always been her own ambition to do things but when she does them the look in her eyes at her own pride is just amazing.. Congrats to Noah, you sweet little boy!
Great job Noah!
My daughter is 26 months, she pull herself to stand and go. Yesterday she really amazed me how she came downstairs and stand walk to family room.
Congratulations Noah!
My son Grant is now 40 months, and is not yet walking. The aching backs of my wife and I can testify loudly to that fact! He is standing up rather easily now, and he'll walk while holding onto furniture, someone's hands, or a push toy, so we figure the big day is close. We suspect it is more about confidence at this point.
My son has Down syndrome an autism and did not walk umtil he was five. he was pulling up to a stand right before he turned 2 but a therapist let him fall and he broke his leg so he did not walk until he was 5. It was a glorious daywe were in the food court at the mall. The food court with his favorite place to be and he got up and started to walk and he walked around and around the food court. We called him one way Alex because you couldn't turn him around to walk the other way. That was day I was so happy and proud of him.
Hi Everyone, Im Jaine, I just wanted to say all Children are Beautiful.
I Have Though And Im Going To Confess I Absolutely Adore Down Syndrome Children.
Love Me xoxoxo ♥ ♥