Carrie Bickmore’s 18-month-old takes her first steps: “I was starting to worry but all in good time”

In the first two years of your child’s life you as a parent will witness so many milestones. From rolling over to crawling and from walking to talking.

As a parent you will undoubtedly remember the age your child ticked off each milestone but before they do it is likely that you’ve researched the “right age” your child should reach these stage and most likely compared them to when your friend’s child or a cousin or sibling walked or talked for the first time.

Mum-of-three and co-host of The Project Carrie Bickmore recently shared the news that her 18-month-old daughter, Adelaide had taken her first steps. But she admits she was beginning to “worry” about her being a late walker.

“And she’s up,” Carrie, 39 captioned an adorable video of Adelaide taking her first wobbly steps.

“After walking once when I was at work 5 weeks ago she didn’t do it again…I was starting to worry….but all in good time…at 18 months she is finally on her way….they really do all walk to the beat of their own drum don’t they! (I may or may not have teared up 😢)”

It’s true, babies develop skills differently. It’s completely normal and usually nothing to worry about. Some little ones may bottom-shuffle and walk late, others crawl and then walk, and some skip crawling all together and are up on their feet and off and away.

Carrie’s post was flooded with comments from followers sharing their stories of when their kids took their first steps.

“My first born walked at 9.5minths and second waited until 18 months also. I was amazed at how different siblings could be!” wrote one.

“Both mine (now 15yo and 10yo) didn’t walk till they were 18 and almost 19mths. I was never in any hurry, I had plenty of time before I really had to run after them,” shared another mum.

And proving that a late walker doesn’t affect their future development skills, one mum wrote: “My daughter didn’t walk until she was 17 months old, she did everything a bit later than her speedy older brother. Then she grew up and became an amazing sports star, who would’ve thunk it 💕”

When to be concerned

According to Raising Children, every child develops differently, and there’s a big range of ‘normal’ in children’s development.

As a general guide if your concerned about about a development delay and if you notice that, over seveal months your child isn’t developing motor, social or language skills at the same rate as other children the same age, talk to your doctor, health nurse or paediatrician.

It is also believed that the speed at which a baby learns to move is often inherited from her parents. If you or your partner walked late, then there’s a chance your baby will be the same.