If your baby is attempting their first steps, hand them two limes — it might get them walking.
“There is a huge age range for when babies take their first steps, because first steps are not the same as walking,” Olivia Reyes, a developmental physical therapist in Texas, tells TODAY.com.
Reyes stitched a TikTok video featuring an 11-month-old boy named Mateo taking his first steps, while holding a lime in each hand.
“This lime trick works and has really nothing to do with the limes and more so, everything to do with his ability to stand,” Reyes said in her video. “In order to walk, we have to be able to stand by ourselves, independently like he is doing here, for at least 10 seconds.”
Reyes explained that limes gave Mateo “counter balance” and helped him “stay focused.”
Wendy Ochoa, whose son Mateo is now 4 years old, tells TODAY.com that after her video, Mateo began walking short distances — with the occasional stumble — before he mastered walking.
When do babies learn to walk?
Babies generally start taking steps around 1 years old, although every baby is different, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that by 18 months, babies should be able to walk unassisted.
According to Reyes, standing and small steps are precursors to walking.
Reyes tells TODAY.com that babies who cruise along while holding furniture are working toward independent walking. Holding limes, or two other objects similar in size and weight in each hand, says Reyes, can give babies the stability, security and confidence to mobilize.
“Walking is all about babies feeling confident,” explains Reyes. “It’s why I like standing exercises, because standing is the first time babies balance their entire body weight in a vertical position — before then, they crawl and roll … horizontally, which distributes their weight over the body.”
Parents shouldn’t worry if babies drop to the floor or prefer crawling not long after taking their first steps, says Reyes, adding, “That’s a developmentally appropriate stage.”
What is the litmus test for walking?
“Once walking becomes a baby’s primary mode of mobility — and they can do so effectively and independently,” says Reyes, “that’s when we say they ‘walk.’ It’s a metric of time.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
