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29th May 2017

WATCH: Baby starts walking minutes after it’s born, becomes internet sensation

A walking internet wonder

Darragh Berry

A walking (internet) wonder.

They say you need to learn to walk before you run, but we don’t think there are any rules about walking before you learn to crawl. This newborn is a few steps ahead of other infants his age.

In a video that is breaking the internet, a newborn baby, who is being held by a doctor, starts walking within minutes of being born.

Details of where the video was shot or who the infant is are not yet known. The video was uploaded on Facebook on 25 May and within four days it has chalked up whopping 73 million views on the page and nearly 1.7 million shares.

The walking motion that the baby makes in the video is actually a reflex that newborns have. The walking or stepping reflex is present at birth, though infants this young cannot support their own weight.

When the soles of their feet touch a flat surface they will attempt to walk by placing one foot in front of the other. This reflex disappears at six weeks due to an increased ratio of leg weight to strength. It reappears as a voluntary behaviour around eight months to one year old.

So, this little newborn isn’t really walking and won’t be remembered for that, but they will be remembered for becoming an internet sensation at the tender age of ten minutes old.

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