Cruising is when a baby walks sideways while holding onto furniture or other sturdy surfaces for support. It’s one of the last major milestones before independent walking, and most babies start doing it around 9 to 10 months old. If your baby has recently started pulling up on the couch and shuffling along it, that’s cruising.
When Cruising Typically Starts
Babies follow a fairly predictable sequence: crawling first, then cruising, then walking. On average, crawling begins around 8 months, cruising around 9.3 months, and independent walking around 12 months. But there’s wide variation in all of these. Some babies cruise as early as 7 or 8 months, while others don’t start until closer to their first birthday.
Before a baby can cruise, they need to be able to pull themselves up to a standing position. The CDC lists both “pulls up to stand” and “walks, holding on to furniture” as milestones to look for by age 1. Cruising requires enough leg and core strength to bear full body weight, plus the balance and coordination to shift weight from one foot to the other while gripping a surface.
What Cruising Looks Like
A cruising baby stands upright, holds onto something stable (a couch, coffee table, or low shelf), and steps sideways. Early on, the movements are slow and cautious. Your baby might take one or two steps, then plop down. Over days and weeks, the steps get faster and more confident. You’ll notice your baby starting to let go with one hand, reaching for toys while standing, or transferring between two pieces of furniture with a small gap between them.
Cruising is different from walking because the baby always maintains contact with a support surface. Their body stays oriented sideways rather than facing forward, and they rely heavily on their arms for stability. It’s essentially practice for the balance, weight-shifting, and leg coordination that walking demands.
How Long Until Walking
The gap between cruising and independent walking averages about 2.75 months, but it ranges dramatically. Some babies walk within a week of their first cruise. Others spend nearly 9 months cruising before letting go. A research study tracking this transition found the range spanned from just under 1 week to almost 9 months, so there’s no single “normal” timeline.
During this period, you’ll likely see your baby progress through a series of small advances: cruising faster, standing without holding on for a few seconds, taking a step or two between furniture pieces, and eventually walking while holding your hands. These intermediate steps are all signs that independent walking is getting closer.
How to Encourage Cruising
The best thing you can do is set up your space so cruising feels safe and rewarding. Place sturdy furniture at your baby’s height in a loose path so they have something to hold onto as they move around a room. A couch, ottoman, or low bookshelf all work well. Make sure nothing will tip if your baby leans on it, and keep the surrounding area padded with soft surfaces in case of falls.
You can motivate your baby to cruise by placing a favorite toy just out of reach along the furniture line. Sitting at one end of the couch and calling to them gives them a reason to move toward you. The CDC also suggests letting your baby push lightweight objects like empty boxes or small chairs across the floor, which builds the same leg strength and balance cruising requires. Push toys designed for this purpose work too.
One thing to skip: baby walkers (the seated kind on wheels). The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend against them. They don’t help babies learn to walk and can actually delay motor development because they let babies move without developing the balance and muscle coordination they need.
Barefoot Is Better for Cruising
Your baby’s feet do important work during cruising. The soles of their feet send sensory information to the brain about the surface beneath them, helping with balance, coordination, and spatial awareness. Shoes block that feedback. Research shows that barefoot babies tend to look up and ahead while moving, while babies in shoes look down more and are more likely to fall.
Stiff or narrow shoes can also interfere with natural foot development. A baby’s foot bones are still soft and forming, so the foot can conform to a restrictive shoe rather than developing its natural shape. Bare toes spread naturally for better grip and balance.
When you do need shoes (outdoors, rough surfaces), look for ones with a flexible front that lets toes spread, strong support at the heel, and a flat sole that sits level with the ground. Avoid high-tops, which restrict ankle movement your baby needs for balance. For indoor cruising, barefoot or non-slip socks are ideal.
Signs of a Possible Delay
There’s a wide range of normal for motor milestones, and being a few weeks “late” on cruising or walking is rarely a concern. The average age for pulling to stand is 9 months and for walking independently is 12 months, but plenty of healthy babies hit these milestones later.
What matters more than timing is the overall pattern. A few things are worth bringing up with your pediatrician: if your baby loses skills they previously had (for example, they were pulling up and then stopped), if one side of their body moves very differently from the other, if they seem unusually stiff or unusually floppy, or if they consistently stand on their toes rather than flat-footed. Persistent toe-walking, feet that roll inward, or knees that knock together during standing can also signal that a physical therapy evaluation would be helpful.
If your baby isn’t pulling to stand or showing any interest in upright movement by 12 months, that’s a reasonable time to ask your pediatrician about a developmental screening. Early identification of motor delays gives you access to interventions that work best when started young.