What do YOU mean when you say "walking?"

[MidwesternGal]

DH and I are in a disagreement.

DS has taken a few steps by himself. However, he is mostly being prompted to (ie, DH or I get him steady on his feet, then "lure" him forward a few steps). Most of the time, it's kind of a lurch, KWIM? Not really a walk. A few times, he'd go on his own, but only a couple steps. He still finger walks, cruises on furniture, uses his walker, and crawls to get around 99.9% of the time.

DH says he's "walking" and that if people ask, we should say "yes."

I say that when you say a child is "walking," it implies that if you put him/her down, they could toddle around the room w/o any help, prompting, and falling after several "laps," so to speak. I feel if people ask, we should say DS has "taken a few steps, but not walking YET."

What's your take? What do you consider "walking?"

[karlatta]

I consider "walking" to mean that the child is using walking as his primary means of transportation around a room. Before that it's "taking steps."

[PinkMartini]

I agree with you, walking to means he's stable enough to walk around without any help and doesn't rely on crawling anymore.

[miaclear]

In your case I would probably say "he's starting to walk" or "can take a few steps" If someone said their child could flat out walk I'd expect to see him flat out walk ;)

[emmjay]

DS just started what I would consider "real" walking. About 6 weeks ago he was doing what you described - lurching and going from DH to me. He gradually got better and better and could take more and more steps. Now he always starts to walk first when he wants to get somewhere, although he will crawl sometimes if he falls down. Granted, he totters around like he's drunk and he still falls down on occasion but for the most part he walks unassisted and without holding onto anything.

[Standrea]

The first time dd had really walked, dh and I both caught it. She was playing at her kitchen, and the dog was a few feet away from her laying on the floor. The dog sneezed, Abbie crawled to the dog. She then stood up, and walked about 15 steps over to me! That was the night of her first birthday. She's been walking since.

However, she had been taking a few steps here and there, and we would say that she has "Started taking steps, and is getting very close, but we aren't ready yet anyway". ;)

[jennylou]

DD took her first few steps the day that she turned 10 months. By the end of the week, she was walking. She was going about half and half between walking and crawling. I think if they do any sort of walking and it's often and regular, they're walking. :) Now, at nearly a year, she's super quick and it's definitely her primary means of movement.

[mkvh]

DD started taking a significant number of steps at 10.5 months. She didn't walk "full time" till she was a little over a week shy of 12 months; she even regressed and took no steps for days on end in the meantime. We didn't consider it walking until it was her primary means of movement.

[Chimichanga]

I considered that walking. But, I'd also tell people she can only take a few steps on her own before falling down.

It irked me a bit when MIL used to say "before long you'll be walking" when she was taking steps on her ow (and getting better every day). I can now see both sides of the coin. :)

[allyray231]

My ped told me if they take a few steps by themselves then they are walking

[twinnyme]

In your case I would probably say "he's starting to walk" or "can take a few steps" If someone said their child could flat out walk I'd expect to see him flat out walk ;)

This is what I think, too. I actually used to tell people (if asked, and just a couple of times) that it seemed like DD was "walking" 25% of the time, then 50% of the time, etc. It really seemed like that to me - that at first it was a few steps, then a lot of steps, then all of a sudden as though she was walking 100% of the time, as her primary mode of transportation.

[MidwesternGal]

Thanks everyone.

I kind of figured most people would agree with me.

Ahhh, how I love CC!

[Soulmate]

I would answer that DS is walking when he is walking full-time. When he was walking as described I'd say "he's taking his first steps" even when it gets more frequent. Just wait until DH sees what full-time walking is really all about and he'll see it your way.