5 Tips to Encourage Your Baby’s First Steps

Watching our little one take their first steps is a milestone that brings so much joy and excitement. It marks the beginning of a new chapter in their development, growth, and interaction with the world.

While every child reaches this milestone at their own pace, there are several ways you can encourage and support your baby’s journey toward walking!

In this post, I’m sharing 5 practical tips to encourage your baby’s first steps, so you can feel confident supporting their development right at home.

Tip #1: Encourage Standing Play

Before babies walk, they typically play while sitting or crawling. But to get walking, they need to build a ton of strength—especially in the lower body.

Once your baby is confidently crawling and pulling to stand, it’s a great time to encourage more upright play. One of my favorite ways to do this is placing toys at eye level on a vertical surface like a window or door.

Try these Squigz suction toys. They're perfect for keeping your baby engaged while building strength in a supported standing position!

You can also elevate some of their favorite floor toys to a higher surface. When babies start pulling up, they often still default to sitting to play. Simply moving their toys up can help shift that pattern and encourage standing play.

Check out visuals here for standing play.

Tip #2: Offer Support and Stability

In the early walking stages, your baby will need a little help with balance and coordination.

Holding your baby’s hands or offering a stable push toy can give them the support they need to feel confident in those first steps.

See my favorite push toy for early walkers. These are great once your baby is crawling and pulling to stand.

But remember, push toys build confidence, not balance. To help your baby learn to balance, you’ll also want to try hand-holding while walking.

🖐 I recommend holding your baby's hands from behind as this helps prevent leaning and gives them more room to step forward.

Here's an example of how I told my baby's hands while practicing early walking.

Another fun tip: Have your baby hold one end of a toy while you hold the other. This adds space between you while still offering support.

Try this easy-to-grip toy to practice walking supportively and safely!

As your baby grows stronger, slowly reduce your support to encourage more independence. Switch sides often to help build equal strength and coordination.

Tip #3: Barefoot is Best

There are so many cute baby shoes out there, but when it comes to early walking, barefoot is best.

Being barefoot helps your baby develop toe, foot, and ankle strength, all essential for confident first steps.

✅ Make sure your baby is barefoot and in non-footed pajamas while practicing walking at home.

🏠 Start them off on hard, level surfaces like wood floors or a play mat.

Once your baby starts walking confidently and you’re heading outside or out in the community, you’ll want supportive, flexible shoes.

Check out my top shoe picks for new walkers.

Tip #4: Encourage Cruising & Free Standing

Cruising is when babies walk sideways along furniture or other surfaces, and it’s an awesome pre-walking milestone.

To encourage cruising, place small toys along the furniture so your baby has motivation to move. You can also gently guide their arms and legs if they’re still learning the motion.

🧠 Pro tip: Start with cruising between two surfaces of different heights. Moving from high to low is easier and builds confidence.

Free standing is another important piece. I loved challenging my baby’s balance by letting him stand in the middle of the room, supporting him at the hips or shoulders at first—then letting go!

Another trick? Have your baby stand at a surface, then entice them to reach up for a toy. This helps shift them from supported to independent standing.

Try this favorite toy to encourage upward reaching and balance.

First comes standing… then come steps! 😍

Tip #5: Celebrate Every Success 🎉

Our babies are SO smart. Every little milestone, no matter how small, is worth celebrating.

✔️ When your baby pulls to stand... celebrate!
✔️ When they free-stand for 3 seconds... celebrate!
✔️ When they fall, get up, and try again... celebrate!
✔️ And of course, when they take their first step... celebrate like crazy!

You are doing an amazing job, and your baby is so lucky to have a parent like you who’s paying attention, encouraging, and showing up every day.