Social dynamics of supported walking in 11-month-old infants

Before infants walk independently, they move upright with support by holding caregivers’ hands, pushing a wheeled walker, and “cruising” along walls or furniture. To what extent do caregivers and infants engage in these activities and do these experiences with supported walking relate to independent walking status? To address these questions, we assessed supported walking in 50 11-month-olds and their mothers in the context of everyday routines. For each bout of supported walking, coders scored the type of support, frequency of supported bouts, and the number of steps infants took per bout. Mothers tracked onset ages for independent walking prospectively, and researchers verified infants’ walking skill using a standardized task. Infants who produced more child-controlled supported walking achieved independent walking earlier than infants who produced less child-controlled supported walking. But, supported walking experience did not predict proficiency of independent walking, suggesting that the two types of locomotion are distinct. These data highlight the role of experience of locomotor behaviors and indicate that not all experience is equally effective.