Children's milestone moments often happen in a flash and many parents are left wishing they could could relive the experience again and again.

One of those first huge life achievements is when they take their first steps - which usually involves a lot of coaxing as parents try to encourage their little ones to walk into their waiting arms.

But two parents were left stunned when their son took it upon himself find his feet - and their wholesome reaction was caught on film by a camera in their home.

It shows the mum and dad sitting on the sofa as their son holds himself up against it, before he suddenly pushes away and takes five steps into the middle of the room as the parents frantically tap each other's legs in disbelief.

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The boy turns to look at his parents before plonking down on the rug, causing them to clap and cheer his spontaneous achievement.

The dad then helps his son back to his feet before the new skill and his parents' reaction are both repeated to prove it wasn't a fluke.

The wholesome moment was shared on TikTok by Ninjaman87 and quickly went viral, racking up more than 18 million views, as he captioned it: "So my son did a thing today!! Let's go!! Thank God for the living room camera."

One viewer comment to say: "I love how when babies start walking parents have to hide their initial excitement", with the dad replying: "For real cause I don't want him to stop ahahh."

A second said: "Love the dad's reaction... his face says it all", and a third wrote: "The father's reaction is everything."

Someone else commented: "That gave me the chill and it's not even my kid", and another joked: "Not even impressive I've done this for 22 years."