The parachute reactions in normal and late walkers.

To study the relationship of the parachute responses to the age of independent walking, three groups of infants were prospectively examined: a normal sitting, normal walking group; a late sitting, normal walking group; and a late sitting, late walking group. All other spheres of the neurodevelopmental examination were normal. It was found that when the parachute responses appeared by age 10 months in the late sitting infants, most of them would achieve independent walking by 15 months. A delay in the parachute reaction in these infants predicted a delay in walking.