How Children Learn to Walk

The term gait is refers to the way people walk. Why is it so important for us to understand how people walk? If we want to be able to detect and diagnose irregular ways of walking, first we must know and understand what healthy walking is.

Observing children’s first steps is a great way of learning about how we walk. Although walking seems to be quite a simple and straightforward action, it actually involves many separate skills. When learning to walk, children learn to stand upright and to balance. To take their first step, children balance all their body weight on just one foot. Thanks to that, the second foot can be moved forward and then the body weight can be shifted onto it.

First steps often resemble waddling. That’s because kids’ legs are wide apart, with lower legs curved to the inside. This wide based gait and arms stretched out allow toddlers to maintain balance. Because small children are light and they don’t have fully developed arches, toddling is the simplest way for them to move about. Flat feet are typical for infants and children - the arches develop at about 2-3 years of age.

However, as children grow and their body weight increases, toddler gait evolves into a more advanced walking pattern. At about 15-18 months, children will start landing on their heels when putting their feet on the ground and then the front of the foot will follow – this allows for a smooth landing. To move the non-weight bearing weight forward, children will start with lifting their heels up first, and then they will raise their toes. Such a walking pattern allows children to move more quickly and more smoothly.

The next stage in children’s gait is running and change of direction, which can be observed after they turn two.
When kids reach school age, their steps become longer and less frequent. Children’s walking pattern starts to look like adult gait when they are about 8 years’ old.