When babies usually hold their head up, roll, sit, crawl, stand and walk, with the normal age ranges from WHO and CDC.
Motor milestones come in a fairly predictable order: head control, rolling, sitting, crawling or scooting, pulling to stand, and walking. The ages vary a lot from one healthy baby to another, so it helps to know the full range and not just the average.
The WHO measured six milestones in about 800 healthy children in five countries. The normal windows it found are: sitting without support between 3.8 and 9.2 months, standing with help from 4.8 to 11.4 months, crawling on hands and knees from 5.2 to 13.5 months, walking with help from 5.9 to 13.7 months, standing alone from 6.9 to 16.9 months, and walking alone from 8.2 to 17.6 months.
By 2 months, most babies hold their head up when lying on their tummy. By 4 months they hold the head steady without support and push up onto their elbows during tummy time.
By 6 months, most babies roll from tummy to back, push up with straight arms and lean on their hands when sitting. By 9 months, most sit without support and can get into a sitting position on their own.
By 12 months, most babies pull up to stand and walk while holding on to furniture. By 15 months, most take a few steps on their own, and by 18 months most walk without holding on.
These “by” ages come from the CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. checklists, revised in 2022 so that each milestone is one that at least 75% of children reach by that age. Missing one is a reason to bring it up at the next checkup, not a diagnosis.
Crawling is optional. About 4 in 100 children in the WHO study never crawled on hands and knees and went straight to standing and walking. Scooting on the bottom or army-crawling count as moving too.
Babies born early usually reach milestones by their corrected age (age from birth minus the weeks they were born early), not their actual age. Ask your pediatrician which age to use.
Talk to your pediatrician early if your baby loses a skill they had, seems very stiff or very floppy, uses one side of the body much more than the other, or is well behind several milestones at once. Early help works best, and the CDC’s free Milestone Tracker app has checklists for each age.
Sources: WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study, “WHO Motor Development Study: windows of achievement for six gross motor development milestones” (Acta Paediatrica, 2006); CDC Learn the Signs. Act Early. (2022 milestones). This article is general information, not medical advice.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your pediatrician about your child's growth and development.
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