Early or late walking may provide clues to your child's personality.
Many parents wonder if early walking means there's a sports scholarship in their child's future. Whether your child is an early or late walker says less about his future athleticism and more about whether he's a risk taker or a wait-and-see type. "Some kids have an 'I can do anything!' mentality and want to get up and get going as soon as they discover it's an option," says Laura Jana, MD, author of Heading Home with Your Newborn. "They don't worry about falls." Others don't want to start walking until they are sure they can do so fairly well. These children may turn out to be more cautious and contemplative.

Walking can also be influenced by...
Size: Bigger babies often walk later because they need more strength to get upright than a smaller baby does.
Recurrent Ear Infections: "If a child is 16 months or older and isn't walking, we ask about illnesses. An ear infection can throw off baby's balance and delay walking," Jensen says.
Birth Order: A baby with an older sib may be motivated to walk earlier because he wants to keep up -- and imitate what the big kid is doing.

Don't freak if she prefers crawling.
 It's not uncommon for babies to alternate between crawling and walking. If your baby sees something across the room that requires her immediate attention, she may get down on all fours. It's like she's thinking, I have to get there stat. Walking is going to take way too long.

Stopping is hard.
Once they get going, the next challenge is figuring out how to stop. "We say beginning walkers 'fall' into their steps," says Jensen. Each step has more force than an adult's because newbies don't bend their knees or use a heel-toe motion, both of which absorb some of the impact. They haven't figured out how to break their forward momentum by stopping with one foot and bringing the trailing foot to meet it. Their way of stopping? Falling. "Usually it goes step, step, fall," Jensen says.

Barefoot is best.
Babies learn to walk more easily if they don't wear shoes, because bare feet allow direct contact with the floor. When you go on outings, of course, baby needs some shoes. Look for a pair with flexible soles -- you should be able to fold the shoe in half. Once she's walking outside, get a pair with skids.

Walking changes everything!
"Getting around on his own allows your child to interact and explore the world in a whole new way," Dr. Jana says. "It opens all sorts of new possibilities." She adds that having a mobile, walking child really changes everything for parents, too, in terms of keeping kids safe and entertained. "The adjustment to having a toddler is a new milestone of parenthood!"

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