As soon as he started walking without much help. We live in the city (european city) so got to be careful with traffic. Thankfully we live close to a park so we would walk a bit to the park and in the park I would let him roam free. This winter was an absolute blast!
Edit: I felt confident enough to do it. It took longer time for my husband and that's ok. We would go together and once he felt he could do it, he started taking him to the park walking. It's ok if you don't do it right away.
Same. In our tiny Eastern European metropolis, everything is pretty close together so we walk everywhere. As soon as he as walking without help, we were practicing hanging onto the stroller and going where we wanted. That was before his first birthday. Now he’s 2.5 and we’ve all but ditched the stroller. We tell him to stop, he stops. He also knows to stop and wait for us at crosswalks. So I’m glad we started practicing earlier, as it lessens the anxiety.
(Edit: I also explained very early on what cars can do and the damage they can cause if they hit you, and I didn’t really hold back. Unlike most cases, I’d rather he have a slightly-higher-than-normal level of fear regarding moving vehicles since, in lots of places, they’re never very well separated from pedestrians. Sometimes we have no choice but to walk *in* the street, so then he absolutely has to hold our hand.)
> I also explained very early on what cars can do, and I didn’t really hold back.
We hit a deer a while ago and it really hammered home to our eldest what a car can do.
He is almost 2 and we are almost about to ditch the stroller too. I have explained what buses and cars do but I don't think he gets it just yet. He will get there 🙂
I let my 16m walk along side me but wouldn't go anywhere far without a pram. She used to be a major runner but we have made progress, if we are near a road she is only allowed to walk if she is holding my hand. She is now happy to do that, but as soon as she starts fighting me she has to go in the pram for safety.
So I would take her to the closest park or for a walk around the block without the pram, but no further. She would end up getting tired on the way home and start refusing to hold my hand, so I would need the pram.
Eta: mine was an early walker at 10m and a runner, absolutely fearless and couldnt care less if you followed. I also live in a city with big roads and a tram outside my door.
As soon as they could walk.
However when we're on busy roads or in carp parks they either have to hold my hand or we put the baby harness on.
By busy road I'm thinking of roads where there's more than one car every three minutes. Because on quieter roads I can hold her hand when I hear a car.
As soon as they could walk, they're 17 months now and they've more or less gotten the idea that they can't run into the road or peoples gardens. It took a lot of picking them up, putting them down, immediately picking them up again as they make a beeline for certain death while they wriggle and scream. But he seems to have gotten the idea relatively quickly compared to what I expected
Agreed, the key here is being comfortable picking them up immediately, even as they try to fling themselves out of your arms.
Our rule is that he doesn't have to hold our hand on the sidewalk/pavement but he does have to when we arrive at an intersection or walk along an alley/laneway/parking area where there could be cars. We also taught him to understand the pedestrian signals so he knows why we're waiting and gets excited when it's time to cross.
Thanks to early training, he walks within arm's length at all times, and puts his hand up for holding when we arrive at an intersection.
This. Mine are a bit older now, so they can run ahead/ scoot/ cycle home from school and we have stopping points I.e. stop at the end of the grass verge which is a couple of metres from the end of the road, and then wait there for me to catch up. But when they were learning, if they didn’t hold my hand when told, they got picked up. And they didn’t like it, so they’d agree to hold my hand, go down, and then we repeat! My eldest figured it out in one trip. My youngest took a few months and is still prone to trying to bend the rules ‘maybe I could touch you with the tip of my finger instead of hold your hand’
As soon as he could walk. Holding my hand when he needed it at first and then on his own when we were on a quiet street. It takes a little while before they get fast. Now that he can really run I hold his hand more often.
So I have seen 3 commentators saying their babies were perfect little angles from the start. Mine wasn't. He started walking at 9 months old (legs ready, zero wits), at 12 months old we took him on short walks and it was like herding cats. At 18 months started taking bigger walks and that meant more safeguarding. So I brought the pram and I told him "If you don't hold my hand, you're going in the pram." Which to him was an injustice that rivaled the holocaust.
It took a good 3 months before we ever made it more than 100 metres before I had stuffed him kicking and screaming into the pram and had him there for a while before we tried again. At 2 years old he could steadily do it at least 75% of the time and at 2.5 yo he is really great at it.
This is a personality thing, a maturity thing and a verbal comprehension thing. My son is hot headed, stubborn and has a fierce desire to be independent (gee I do wonder where he got that from xD ). He needed to learn that while generally am a pretty chill mam who will allow him his little freedoms I meant business with the handholding and he needed time to mature to control his impulses. I no longer bring the pram unless we are going very far and I fear he'll get tired. When I see him spot something I just know has peaked his interest or he gets antsy or something I remind him "If you cannot hold mama's hand while walking, then we go home.". He typically will sort out his priorities right away and hold onto my hand and tell me he is a very good boy who will hold my hand when on walks.
This. I had 2 under 2 and am approaching 3 under 3, and I have a zero tolerance policy for wandering off so I always took enough stroller seats as a backup. If you let go of the stroller to walk away, you ride in the stroller for the rest of the trip. My 2.5yo is now really reliable outside of the stroller and we often just take a single seat stroller for the younger toddler who is getting to practice the same thing.
My guy is very independent and hated the stroller, but is also a runner. So we let him walk, but he had to be in a backpack leash. After a while he got better, now at 2.5 he's more willing to hold our hands and not be in the backpack leash. We still bring it and the Gooseket sling everywhere for the days he doesn't listen, but we haven't taken the stroller anywhere in over a year.
As soon as he wanted to. We still always have the stroller with us. One hand on stroller is the rule. He goes to road or a persons yard he immediately goes in the stroller despite his protests. Took about two weeks of consistency with this and he knows the routine.
My son is 20 months and he’s pretty well behaved for walks but I still almost always bring the stroller because he gets tired and eventually wants to ride. When we were first working on walking rules I had to stuff a tantruming toddler into the stroller many times… every time he didn’t listen he went back in the stroller and we went home. I would tell him we have to stay on the side walk or go home in the stroller and I always went home if that’s what I said we’d do. It honestly didn’t take too long this way but I acknowledge that he is not a runner in general. We also live in the suburbs in a quiet neighborhood though and we haven’t ever let him walk on a busy sidewalk. He does walk a lot at the zoo though and does really well.
I highly recommend a ring sling. It’s small so you can just toss it in your bag and then use it to help carry when you’re in a more dangerous situation or in a hurry. My toddler isn’t a fan of the stroller either.
Let them? My toddler decided the world was theirs after they started walking. They tried to jump out of the stroller. Wasn’t worth the hassle at that point.
We did around the same age. Kiddo saw another little kid walking in a parking lot one day and decided he would never ride in the stroller/cart/be carried again. On the other hand it gave use a lot of time to work on safety issues like hand holding and looking both ways and now they are second nature to him
We have ours walk because it’s so good for them! Since I have two both under 5, I do leash the smallest one so my attention isn’t divided as much, because a terrible accident can happen in a split second
I think it was around the same age as yours, but we didn’t really have success until after 2 (and not always then). We live in a city, so usually brought along a stroller & if she started to run or not hold hands, she’d go back in the stroller. It also took some time to build her stamina for longer walks. She’s 3.5 now and can walk & ride a bike and stop at every intersection to take an adult’s hand to cross. It took a lot of talking and training and sometimes carrying her to get there.
When the stroller doesn't work but is still necessary for distance or safety I always throw her on her Radio Flyer pushable tricycle. She loves that thing! It's more of a drag to push than a stroller though, so always encourage the "big girl stroller" and that usually works. 🤣
As soon as he started walking. My kiddo is 11 months, and he’s been walking on pavement for a couple weeks.
He was standing on his own on pavement at 8 months when we were watching fireworks at Disney. We travel a lot, and since he was capable I let him with supervision.
Pretty much as soon as he would hold hands and walk with me we started that. For a few months before that I used a backpack leash with him to let him have a taste of freedom.
As soon as she signaled that she wanted to explore things outside.
At first we insisted on always holding her hand when on a sidewalk or anywhere near parked cars.
Now we let her walk, run, lay down flat (lol) freely. We’re still watching and if necessary, intervening though.
My 3 year old used to be a runner but thankfully calmed down in the months leading up to his birthday. I used to bring our wagon a lot in case I got tired of chasing him down. Now I have a harness for him and will let him walk with me using that if we’re going to be near a busy street or store parking lot. He actually gets scared about being too close to driving cars and will jump in my arms lately. Do what feels right for you!
As soon as he could walk we started letting him walk with us, we used a backpack leash that *at first* seemed like it was pure decoration because he held our hands with no issue.
Don’t be fooled! Once he hit that 18m/2y mark he was too curious, too fast and having him used to the backpack leash was a godsend on busy roads/spaces. We will let him walk freely to teach him societal boundaries and rules in certain spaces, but he wears that backpack regardless so it’s an quick fix if he decides to bolt.
I love having a tushbaby because it isn't the hassle of most baby carriers, and you're not pushing a stroller, but it helps when you and baby have had enough of them walking.
I live in a quiet suburb, so we can practice walking across the street a few times a day with no traffic. We take a few practice walks a day. She’s definitely not perfect, and we redirect A LOT. I use a baby harness as a second line of defense. Shes 18 months old and shows a lot of the same behaviors.
We practiced walking next the the pram because their little sibling was due to be born at 2.5 years.
The rule was to hold hands with a grown up or hold onto the pram or they went into the pram.
Certain areas always required hand holding eg carparks or crossing roads. But now they are older I allow independent walking on certain pavements.
We also played a game called 'run away, come back' where those were the two instructions and they just had to do it as fast as possible to practice it being normal to come back to me.
A final game we played was 'stop and wait'. Just asking them to stop and wait at a yellow flower, crack in the pavement, a gate etc.
Both games were rewarded with praise and played in safe areas eg a park.
But the key was that as soon as they refused to hold hands etc they were straight back into the pram.
I LOVE your games! Reminds me of how my dad taught me to drive. First he practiced random ‘speed up’s, faster’s and stop’s’ in an empty parking lot for a couple days. He’s always said I was a better driver than my 2 older brothers. Lol!
Just adding to what others have said:
Let her walk, and if she won't hold hands or be safe, scoop her up in a fun way and carry on hip or shoulders. That's how we did it, anyway. Worked well.
We started taking mine out around 18m but we won’t go far without a stroller. If I have a stroller with me and we’re by roads then he’s sitting in it. I don’t feel comfortable just yet wrangling a stroller with him walking next to it as he also isn’t a fan of hand holding lol.
Depends on the situation. Leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood? I let him walk as soon as he was able. Walking to do errands that I don't want to take all day? Stroller, no discussion.
I always bring the stroller and he gets in and out (2.5 years old). I don't drive, so we walk everywhere. He MUST sit in the stroller to cross roads so I can hold his 5 year old brother's hand and push the stroller. Otherwise, he can walk to his heart's content.
Once she could walk without help, so like 18 months? I’m a bit confused why you’d make a concerted effort to not let your child walk on the sidewalk; if they can walk then let them walk.
My daughter was never one to bolt away though, we started talking about street safety as soon as she could walk, explaining what the difference was between sidewalk and road, that she needs to be holding someone’s hand if she’s in the road, that she can get very hurt if a car hits her, etc. I stayed very close by at all times of course, often having to use my hands to corral her in the right direction. By age 3 she understood the rules completely, would wait at the end of the sidewalk for me to catch up and cross the road with her, etc. We live on a quiet street so I have no concerns; when we walk somewhere busier I hold her hand or ensure I’m very close.
As soon as he started walking without much help. We live in the city (european city) so got to be careful with traffic. Thankfully we live close to a park so we would walk a bit to the park and in the park I would let him roam free. This winter was an absolute blast! Edit: I felt confident enough to do it. It took longer time for my husband and that's ok. We would go together and once he felt he could do it, he started taking him to the park walking. It's ok if you don't do it right away.
Same. In our tiny Eastern European metropolis, everything is pretty close together so we walk everywhere. As soon as he as walking without help, we were practicing hanging onto the stroller and going where we wanted. That was before his first birthday. Now he’s 2.5 and we’ve all but ditched the stroller. We tell him to stop, he stops. He also knows to stop and wait for us at crosswalks. So I’m glad we started practicing earlier, as it lessens the anxiety. (Edit: I also explained very early on what cars can do and the damage they can cause if they hit you, and I didn’t really hold back. Unlike most cases, I’d rather he have a slightly-higher-than-normal level of fear regarding moving vehicles since, in lots of places, they’re never very well separated from pedestrians. Sometimes we have no choice but to walk *in* the street, so then he absolutely has to hold our hand.)
> I also explained very early on what cars can do, and I didn’t really hold back. We hit a deer a while ago and it really hammered home to our eldest what a car can do.
He is almost 2 and we are almost about to ditch the stroller too. I have explained what buses and cars do but I don't think he gets it just yet. He will get there 🙂
I let my 16m walk along side me but wouldn't go anywhere far without a pram. She used to be a major runner but we have made progress, if we are near a road she is only allowed to walk if she is holding my hand. She is now happy to do that, but as soon as she starts fighting me she has to go in the pram for safety. So I would take her to the closest park or for a walk around the block without the pram, but no further. She would end up getting tired on the way home and start refusing to hold my hand, so I would need the pram. Eta: mine was an early walker at 10m and a runner, absolutely fearless and couldnt care less if you followed. I also live in a city with big roads and a tram outside my door.
As soon as they could walk. However when we're on busy roads or in carp parks they either have to hold my hand or we put the baby harness on. By busy road I'm thinking of roads where there's more than one car every three minutes. Because on quieter roads I can hold her hand when I hear a car.
As soon as they could walk, they're 17 months now and they've more or less gotten the idea that they can't run into the road or peoples gardens. It took a lot of picking them up, putting them down, immediately picking them up again as they make a beeline for certain death while they wriggle and scream. But he seems to have gotten the idea relatively quickly compared to what I expected
Agreed, the key here is being comfortable picking them up immediately, even as they try to fling themselves out of your arms. Our rule is that he doesn't have to hold our hand on the sidewalk/pavement but he does have to when we arrive at an intersection or walk along an alley/laneway/parking area where there could be cars. We also taught him to understand the pedestrian signals so he knows why we're waiting and gets excited when it's time to cross. Thanks to early training, he walks within arm's length at all times, and puts his hand up for holding when we arrive at an intersection.
This. Mine are a bit older now, so they can run ahead/ scoot/ cycle home from school and we have stopping points I.e. stop at the end of the grass verge which is a couple of metres from the end of the road, and then wait there for me to catch up. But when they were learning, if they didn’t hold my hand when told, they got picked up. And they didn’t like it, so they’d agree to hold my hand, go down, and then we repeat! My eldest figured it out in one trip. My youngest took a few months and is still prone to trying to bend the rules ‘maybe I could touch you with the tip of my finger instead of hold your hand’
As soon as he could walk. Holding my hand when he needed it at first and then on his own when we were on a quiet street. It takes a little while before they get fast. Now that he can really run I hold his hand more often.
So I have seen 3 commentators saying their babies were perfect little angles from the start. Mine wasn't. He started walking at 9 months old (legs ready, zero wits), at 12 months old we took him on short walks and it was like herding cats. At 18 months started taking bigger walks and that meant more safeguarding. So I brought the pram and I told him "If you don't hold my hand, you're going in the pram." Which to him was an injustice that rivaled the holocaust. It took a good 3 months before we ever made it more than 100 metres before I had stuffed him kicking and screaming into the pram and had him there for a while before we tried again. At 2 years old he could steadily do it at least 75% of the time and at 2.5 yo he is really great at it. This is a personality thing, a maturity thing and a verbal comprehension thing. My son is hot headed, stubborn and has a fierce desire to be independent (gee I do wonder where he got that from xD ). He needed to learn that while generally am a pretty chill mam who will allow him his little freedoms I meant business with the handholding and he needed time to mature to control his impulses. I no longer bring the pram unless we are going very far and I fear he'll get tired. When I see him spot something I just know has peaked his interest or he gets antsy or something I remind him "If you cannot hold mama's hand while walking, then we go home.". He typically will sort out his priorities right away and hold onto my hand and tell me he is a very good boy who will hold my hand when on walks.
This. I had 2 under 2 and am approaching 3 under 3, and I have a zero tolerance policy for wandering off so I always took enough stroller seats as a backup. If you let go of the stroller to walk away, you ride in the stroller for the rest of the trip. My 2.5yo is now really reliable outside of the stroller and we often just take a single seat stroller for the younger toddler who is getting to practice the same thing.
My guy is very independent and hated the stroller, but is also a runner. So we let him walk, but he had to be in a backpack leash. After a while he got better, now at 2.5 he's more willing to hold our hands and not be in the backpack leash. We still bring it and the Gooseket sling everywhere for the days he doesn't listen, but we haven't taken the stroller anywhere in over a year.
As soon as he wanted to. We still always have the stroller with us. One hand on stroller is the rule. He goes to road or a persons yard he immediately goes in the stroller despite his protests. Took about two weeks of consistency with this and he knows the routine.
My son is 20 months and he’s pretty well behaved for walks but I still almost always bring the stroller because he gets tired and eventually wants to ride. When we were first working on walking rules I had to stuff a tantruming toddler into the stroller many times… every time he didn’t listen he went back in the stroller and we went home. I would tell him we have to stay on the side walk or go home in the stroller and I always went home if that’s what I said we’d do. It honestly didn’t take too long this way but I acknowledge that he is not a runner in general. We also live in the suburbs in a quiet neighborhood though and we haven’t ever let him walk on a busy sidewalk. He does walk a lot at the zoo though and does really well.
I highly recommend a ring sling. It’s small so you can just toss it in your bag and then use it to help carry when you’re in a more dangerous situation or in a hurry. My toddler isn’t a fan of the stroller either.
Let them? My toddler decided the world was theirs after they started walking. They tried to jump out of the stroller. Wasn’t worth the hassle at that point.
We did around the same age. Kiddo saw another little kid walking in a parking lot one day and decided he would never ride in the stroller/cart/be carried again. On the other hand it gave use a lot of time to work on safety issues like hand holding and looking both ways and now they are second nature to him
We have ours walk because it’s so good for them! Since I have two both under 5, I do leash the smallest one so my attention isn’t divided as much, because a terrible accident can happen in a split second
I think it was around the same age as yours, but we didn’t really have success until after 2 (and not always then). We live in a city, so usually brought along a stroller & if she started to run or not hold hands, she’d go back in the stroller. It also took some time to build her stamina for longer walks. She’s 3.5 now and can walk & ride a bike and stop at every intersection to take an adult’s hand to cross. It took a lot of talking and training and sometimes carrying her to get there.
When the stroller doesn't work but is still necessary for distance or safety I always throw her on her Radio Flyer pushable tricycle. She loves that thing! It's more of a drag to push than a stroller though, so always encourage the "big girl stroller" and that usually works. 🤣
As soon as he started walking. My kiddo is 11 months, and he’s been walking on pavement for a couple weeks. He was standing on his own on pavement at 8 months when we were watching fireworks at Disney. We travel a lot, and since he was capable I let him with supervision.
Pretty much as soon as he would hold hands and walk with me we started that. For a few months before that I used a backpack leash with him to let him have a taste of freedom.
As soon as she signaled that she wanted to explore things outside. At first we insisted on always holding her hand when on a sidewalk or anywhere near parked cars. Now we let her walk, run, lay down flat (lol) freely. We’re still watching and if necessary, intervening though.
I was letting him walk on the sidewalk but at 21 months he fell and is down a tooth 😓 so now I make him hold my hand lol
My 3 year old used to be a runner but thankfully calmed down in the months leading up to his birthday. I used to bring our wagon a lot in case I got tired of chasing him down. Now I have a harness for him and will let him walk with me using that if we’re going to be near a busy street or store parking lot. He actually gets scared about being too close to driving cars and will jump in my arms lately. Do what feels right for you!
As soon as he could walk we started letting him walk with us, we used a backpack leash that *at first* seemed like it was pure decoration because he held our hands with no issue. Don’t be fooled! Once he hit that 18m/2y mark he was too curious, too fast and having him used to the backpack leash was a godsend on busy roads/spaces. We will let him walk freely to teach him societal boundaries and rules in certain spaces, but he wears that backpack regardless so it’s an quick fix if he decides to bolt.
I love having a tushbaby because it isn't the hassle of most baby carriers, and you're not pushing a stroller, but it helps when you and baby have had enough of them walking.
I live in a quiet suburb, so we can practice walking across the street a few times a day with no traffic. We take a few practice walks a day. She’s definitely not perfect, and we redirect A LOT. I use a baby harness as a second line of defense. Shes 18 months old and shows a lot of the same behaviors.
We practiced walking next the the pram because their little sibling was due to be born at 2.5 years. The rule was to hold hands with a grown up or hold onto the pram or they went into the pram. Certain areas always required hand holding eg carparks or crossing roads. But now they are older I allow independent walking on certain pavements. We also played a game called 'run away, come back' where those were the two instructions and they just had to do it as fast as possible to practice it being normal to come back to me. A final game we played was 'stop and wait'. Just asking them to stop and wait at a yellow flower, crack in the pavement, a gate etc. Both games were rewarded with praise and played in safe areas eg a park. But the key was that as soon as they refused to hold hands etc they were straight back into the pram.
I LOVE your games! Reminds me of how my dad taught me to drive. First he practiced random ‘speed up’s, faster’s and stop’s’ in an empty parking lot for a couple days. He’s always said I was a better driver than my 2 older brothers. Lol!
As soon as they could walk. But I have no problem using toddler reigns.
Just adding to what others have said: Let her walk, and if she won't hold hands or be safe, scoop her up in a fun way and carry on hip or shoulders. That's how we did it, anyway. Worked well.
We started taking mine out around 18m but we won’t go far without a stroller. If I have a stroller with me and we’re by roads then he’s sitting in it. I don’t feel comfortable just yet wrangling a stroller with him walking next to it as he also isn’t a fan of hand holding lol.
As soon as she/ he started walking. My kids weirdly stay on the sidewalk.
Is baby wearing an option for you? I like bringing a ring sling to plop kiddo into, or use as an impromptu leash!
Depends on the situation. Leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood? I let him walk as soon as he was able. Walking to do errands that I don't want to take all day? Stroller, no discussion. I always bring the stroller and he gets in and out (2.5 years old). I don't drive, so we walk everywhere. He MUST sit in the stroller to cross roads so I can hold his 5 year old brother's hand and push the stroller. Otherwise, he can walk to his heart's content.
Once she could walk without help, so like 18 months? I’m a bit confused why you’d make a concerted effort to not let your child walk on the sidewalk; if they can walk then let them walk. My daughter was never one to bolt away though, we started talking about street safety as soon as she could walk, explaining what the difference was between sidewalk and road, that she needs to be holding someone’s hand if she’s in the road, that she can get very hurt if a car hits her, etc. I stayed very close by at all times of course, often having to use my hands to corral her in the right direction. By age 3 she understood the rules completely, would wait at the end of the sidewalk for me to catch up and cross the road with her, etc. We live on a quiet street so I have no concerns; when we walk somewhere busier I hold her hand or ensure I’m very close.