19m DD not walking yet - should I worry?

[DrCosyTiger]

My DD will be 19m old next week and is still not walking. She crawls at lightning speed, climbs everything in sight and can weight bear if she feels like it (she occasionally stands up unassisted for a few seconds, although won't do it 'on demand' e.g. if I hold her up by her hands). But any sign whatsoever that she is about to walk? Nope, not a sausage. She was in a pavlik harness for DDH (hip development problem) between 3-6 months old, but the harness cured the problem, and having done a bit of searching on the internet, it seems that DDH is not a known cause of delayed walking.

I am trying not to get too stressed about this as she appears not to have any other developmental delays (speech/comprehension skills good, as are motor skills). But should I be? At what point do I get this checked out and if I did, what is likely to happen? Is there anyone out there whose toddler was as late at walking as this (without any obvious cause for it, such as identified special needs)? I am starting to get a bit concerned, especially now it seems I can't put her delays down to her earlier hip problem. And my back is killing me from all the carrying.

Help - any reassurance or advice would be very welcome.

Hey, try not to worry, her development sounds spot on, there will be loads of posters to reassure you re late walking. My brother was 22 months before he walked, but like your dd crawled at lightening pace. He was checked out I think by a physio but no physical problems so thy left him to it.

My HV told me that by 18 months if no walking, they like to get them checked out but 9 times out of 10 there's no probs and they just like crawling.

Have you rang your HV?

Hi as dd, can crawl,weight bear ect I wouldnt worry to much.

my ds didnt walk till around the same age.
x

I have a friends whose DD had DDH - she also walked late at around 19/20 months.

My DD walked at 20 months due to low muscle tone and hypermobility.

She sounds like she's doing great though and that she'll be on her feet very soon

Hi DrCosy!! Don't worry about the DDH, she's only just been checked, and her hips are fine. They are fixed.

My BIL walked at 18mo, MIL says he just preferred crawling.

DS has only just started walking at 18 months so I know how you feel about all the carrying as he is big. Ask for a physio referral to put your mind at rest but it sounds as though she is well on her way!

Dd was as late as this and we knew of no reason for it at the time. She was diagnosed 6 years later with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome.

hi
my 2yr old dd was also a late crawler.
we took her2gp@18months as still wasnt walking or pulling up&she referred us2physio
who diagnosed hypermobility
shes only started walking in lst4wks
sounds as though yr los doing ok as shes weight bearing&standing on own
if you're at all worried though see yr gp or hv

Hey, very similar in our house. Our DS is pushing 19 months and has only really walked unaided since the weekend. He too is a rapid crawler and I have to say that the walking happened more or less overnight. I wasn't so worried about a physical reason for him not walking, since he could achieve everything on his knees. Maybe if you have a niggle that something is not right then see the GP. Otherwise just wait it out and put up with the carrying around! I have arms like popeye and I feel for you.

Hi, my DD1 walked at 19 months. The gp was going to refer her at 18 months, but since she was cruising etc, she decided to give it a bit longer.

As far as I know, DD has no problems. But late walking runs in my family and in DP's.

Hi everyone, thank you so much for all the replies.

Charleyboo, I've not seen HV or GP about it yet as I'd assumed it was due to her DDH and they would just tell me to go away and be patient. But now I'm not so sure it has anything to do with the DDH so I'm just starting to wonder if anything else might be wrong.

Cory (and others) do you mind me asking whether you think earlier diagnosis would have made a difference to your DD? And is hypermobility easy to diagnose? If there is a chance DD has this and early treatment would make a difference I would of course get her checked out straight away. But if there's not much that can be done I don't want to put her through more tests and procedures unnecessarily as we spent so much time in hospital waiting/consulting rooms in the first few months of her life.

And Pinkjenny hi! [DrCosy waves] Yup here I am worrying again ...

My cousin's baby walked at 22 months, 2 weeks before baby no.2 arrived!

Yes, I do think it would have made a difference to dd, at least. She went through many years of unexplained pains and apart from damage probably done to her joints, the emotional toll was very heavy. If we had known, we would have asked for physio, we would not have pushed her to keep doing things that tired her out and we would have been a little more cautious about situations where she might fall.

For ds, it would probably have been reassuring to have been told in Reception that the reason he couldn't learn to write and use cutlery like the others was a disability rather than just "being dim".

well i can only spk on our experience but we took dd@18months as thats the cut off point in this area.
we just knew something wasnt right so it put our minds@rest when gp referred her
i also got alot of advice from the ppl on here&that was a great help
it does sometimes take a while to get the appointment for physio.in our case11wks which can be very frustrating!
our physios very good.shes following her all through up to school age&beyond if necessary&referred us to orthotics for special boots to help dd walk.they give her the stability she needs&shes doing extremely well with them!!:)
like you im a born worrier but if you think yr lo mite need the help then go to yr gp
all the best&let us know what happens:)x

our ds didn't walk until 19 months(he was our second born)

our dd in a pavlik harness for ddh (again like you i had niggles that something wasn't quite right-more than ddh and she was our pfb but i also have worked in nurseries for years so didn't feel i was over re acting)
anyway to cut a long story short- we got a referral to physio at 21 months(they phoned us with a cancellation with a days notice-they were hoping she would be a quick case of checking her over and telling us to come back in 6 months if she wasn't walking) but they realised that was not to be the scenario and eventually she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy

ps I have toyed long and hard as to whether to post but feel it would be unfair of me not too

sorry- but it may be just that your little one needs a little more time

but if you do ever want to chat i am here

ps dd attends a mainstream school academically able just the wobbly legs and arms that hold her back
will link you to a recent article in the local press if you want to see it but don't want to put on here to remain annoymous-thanks

Hi everyone, thanks again for responding. Chatee don't worry you did the right thing by replying. I knew this was a possibility, albeit an unlikely one, I've been googling . Great to hear your DD is doing well. And a link to a cutting would be fab. I'm a bit backward about how email thing works on mumsnet, is there some way we can exchange emails in private?

I think I will get DD checked over anyway. My reasons not to are sounding a bit rubbish even to me . Fingers crossed.

Get her checked, it will set your mind at rest. I made my DD an appointment, but luckily didn't have to go as she had got going by then!

She didn't walk (first steps) until 18 months, and was only really walking properly at 20 months. In our area the recommendation was 19 months for getting checked out.

By the way, if she can stand unaided that's a pretty good sign. That's how I knew second time round (DD is second child) that DD wasn't far off and then I started encouraging her to walk. My Dad had observed my older son who at 16 months wasn't walking but would stand still for ages. Apparentely it's a lot easier to walk than stand still!

Fingers crossed for you x