late walker

[Malsmum]

Can someone give me some comfort please, DH is anxious and it's making me anxious!

DS2 will be 18 months old in a couple of weeks and is not walking. He can cruise and walk with a walker albeit a bit stiff legged - that's when he can be bothered.

His nursery arranged for the inclusion teacher to come in assess him, and she is advising (apparently, have only had a brief chat with nursery and not with the inclusion lady as yet) that he be referred for further assessment.

I was pretty relaxed about it (well as relaxed as any mum is when their little one isn't meeting milestones!), but DH is now convinced that DS2 has all sorts of development problems and is really stressing, and passing that on to me.

DD2 says a few words, is able to follow some instructions (I say 'able', as he may chose to ignore them), and is generally pretty good at communicating what he wants. IMO he just is not too fussed about walking. 18 months isn't drastically late is it? Our HV has been keeping an eye on things and is in fact due to see him pretty soon - her view has been that he is developing in his own time and is improving (he was late crawling), and that if he was getting there there may well be no need for a referral.

Help!!!!

[snuffyp]

My dd was 16 months before she started trying to walk i just think she was lazy more than anything!heehee

[Olihan]

My friend's Dd was 20mo before she started to walk. Before then she just wasn't interested.

There are only 3 days between her Dd and my ds2, who walked at 11mo but now they are 2.1 you would have absolutely NO idea who walked first.

I think the fact that he can cruise, etc is a good sign, because it shows he can weight bear so I would (for once!) listen to your HV and not worry just yet.

[jeanjeannie]

My DD1 was 20 mnths - just got up and walked, laughing her head off as she did so! She was a late crawler and late to bear weight. She's also late at talking but now at 2.3yrs is slowly catching up. Had us in a flap for a while but we did seek HV, physio advice just in case all wasn't well and both said she was just stubborn. How right they were

[Joe1977]

My eldest son sat on his bum until he was 22months old and then he decided that it was time for him to walk. He never rolled over or crawled prior to walking. He's now 3yrs 4months and his walking is fine, although as a result of his late walking he's been a bit late doing things like dressing himself and toilet training. Try not to worry, easier said than done I know!

[littlefrog]

Don't worry!
My DS walked at close to 19 months, having completely refused to do ANY weight bearing till 15-16months (can't remember exactly when). We were referred to paeds for that at a bit less than a year, and they said don't worry, but if he's still doing no weight bearing at 18m, then come back. Your DS is, so it sounds like all is probably fine.
My feeling from my own experience was that there are some children who just walk late; however, the later it gets, the higher the proportion of non-walkers who don't walk for a 'reason' (does that make sense?).
DS (22m) is now toddling around all over the place, much less coordinated and slower than his friends, but talks way better than them: takes all sorts...

[Malsmum]

Thank you everyone, am feeling much better!

[steviesgirl]

Don't worry. My dd was 21 months before she walked. Never properly crawled till she was 18 months. What a relief when it finally came!

At the end of the day, they will walk when THEY are ready and there is nothing too much we can really do to speed up the process. One GP said if they aren't walking by 3, that's when they get really concerned.