Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Sit-to-stand-and-walk from 120% Knee Height: A Novel Approach to Assess Dynamic Postural Control Independent of Lead-limb
Published on: August 30, 2016
Age for onset of walking and prewalking strategies
Gunfrid V Størvold1, K Aarethun, Grete H Bratberg
1Department of Child Habilitation Centre, Levanger Hospital, Nord-Trøndelag Health Trust, Levanger, Norway. Gunfrid.Storvold@hnt.no
Insights
Norwegian children typically start walking independently around 13 months. Crawling on hands and knees is linked to an earlier onset of walking compared to other prewalking strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric motor development
- Infant locomotion research
Background:
- Age for onset of independent walking (AOW) is a key indicator of early motor development.
- There is significant variability in reported AOW, and the role of prewalking strategies is unclear.
- Clinical observations in Norway suggest children walk later than AIMS standards.
Purpose of the Study:
- Determine the distribution of AOW in Norwegian children.
- Identify prewalking locomotor strategies (PLS) used by infants.
- Examine if crawling on hands and knees influences AOW.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study utilizing parental self-reports.
- Data collected from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (n=47,515) and regional data (n=636).
Main Results:
- The median AOW for Norwegian children is 13 months; 25% walk by 12 months, 75% by 14 months.
- Mean AOW (≥5 independent steps) is 13.1 months.
- Crawling on hands and knees (84.5% of infants) was associated with walking 0.9 months earlier than bottom shufflers (7.1%).
Conclusions:
- Norwegian children's AOW is later than AIMS standards suggest.
- Crawling on hands and knees is a significant predictor of earlier independent walking.
Background:
Age for onset of independent walking (AOW) is frequently used as an indicator of the progress of motor development in early life. Yet there is considerable uncertainty in the research literature about the age we should expect children to walk independently, and also whether prewalking strategies are of importance for this milestone. In clinical practice we commonly experience that children start walking at later ages than the standards presented in the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), the most frequently used standardized instrument of gross motor development in Norway.
Aims:
To investigate the normal distribution of AOW among Norwegian children, which prewalking locomotor strategies (PLS) children used before AOW, and if children who crawled on hands and knees started to walk earlier than children with other strategies.
Design And Methods:
This cross-sectional study was based on parental self reports from two data sources, i.e. the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa, n = 47,515), and project specific regionally collected data (n = 636).
Results:
Half of the Norwegian children had started to walk at 13 months (median). Twenty-five percent walked at 12 months and 75% of the children walked at 14 months. Mean AOW, claiming at least 5 independent steps, was 13.1 (1.91)months. Children who used crawling on hands and knees (84.5%) as PLS started to walk unaided 0.9 months earlier (95% CI = 0.32-1.49, p < 0.05) than bottom shufflers (7.1%).
Conclusion:
Norwegian children start to walk considerably later than standards reported in AIMS. Crawling on hands and knees is associated with an earlier onset of walking.
Related Concept Videos
01:14Piaget's Stage 1 of Cognitive Development
Exploration...
01:22Language Development
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...
01:29Decreased Body Temperature
01:21The Nativist Approach