Was your child was a late walker?

[Myusername2015]

My 14 month old son has gross motor delays; he can roll and sit up but not yet crawl or weight bear. All other development on track. I asked the GP for a referral and yesterday saw the community Paediatrician who scared me senseless. She said he meets the criteria for muscular dystrophy (blood tests) next week and his head is too big which is worrying.
I know I just have to wait for the tests but if anyone had a baby that was just late walking and is ok i’d love to hear it.

Only one of my 5 dc were crawling or weight hearing aged 14 months and none of them were walking. My ds1 walked at 21 months, climbed snowden at 7 years old and Ben Nevis at 9. The paediatrician shouldn't have said about muscular dystrophy until after the blood results had come back. My ds2 is disabled (and was only just controlling his head at 14 months) and he was tested for a lot of scary conditions that he didn't have.

DD didn't walk til 18 months

Just preferred to shuffle

Do you have any reason to be concerned

Neither of mine walked til 18 months- both fine.

What is a community paediatrician?

My eldest was almost 17 months when she first walked.

A community paediatrician is usually a paediatrician who looks after children who have development delays, non medical problems, autism etc. Not sure why they are called community paediatricians though. 2 of my dc's had one but we always saw her at the hospital. Whereas the community midwife held clinics in 2 different Dr surgeries and also did home visits so the "community" part of her title made a bit more sense.

And story from reverse position .

My ds sat at 5 months and walked at 10.
He couldn't crawl properly until a year old.

He has mild CP.

Early gross motor skills are only an indication of possible difficulties.

Ds has been tested for MD, spinal atrophy and various other things.

It's scary but it's better to know what your dealing with than watch and wait and wonder at times.

DD was 11 months, DS1 was 16 months and DS2 was 18 months. DS2 has done Nijmegen which was, as he was in ATC, marching 25 Miles?/km? Per day for 4 days straight. He also, until he got a car, used to walk 45 mins (3 Miles) to work, a mile to school and a mile back every day. He had a floppy head for a long time, unlike his siblings, but he's absolutely fine now and just about to start a very prestigious 4-year apprenticeship.

At the time when the two boys weren't walking, I was concerned as all their peers seemed to be galloping everywhere, but with the benefit of hindsight I can see that every child develops at their own speed.

I send you my positive vibes, OP. I hope everything turns out to be fine for you and your DC.

Youngest was 18 months, but he was an accomplished bottom shuffler.

DS1 walked suddenly at 17 months
DD at 14 months
DS2 was nearly 2!

All autistic, none have MD.

My DS2 was 20 months before walking. Before that he would pull up on furniture (and sort of lean on it) but couldn't stand up without holding on, as soon as he took a few steps though the progression was so fast and about 2 days after first steps he was running around, standing up from sitting etc.

My DS1 walked at 12 months but the "first steps" stage lasted weeks and for a good couple of months he was still very wobbly walking.

I hope everything turns out okay.

DD walked around around 20 months. She’s fine. She now swims, dances and climbs around perfectly. Try not to worry op

Smallest was 2 weeks before her second birthday. She just got up one day and walked after refusing to even try.

She was a failure to thrive baby so lots of concerns from health professionals etc but actually she is really stubborn and won’t try anything until she knows she can do it.

My Ds1 never crawled and didn't walk until he was nearly 17 months. He was a bottom shuffler though.... but mostly just sat where he was and asked for things!!!. When he was ready, he just got up and walked- no cruising stage. His speech was much better developed.
He's now 16. 6 foot one, fit and healthy!

DS2 too wasn't quite as late- another bottom shuffler- walked at early15 months. Now aged 11- fit and strong, reasonably sporty!

DS never really crawled and didn't walk until he was 16 months. Speech was very well developed quite early.
Now 6' fit & healthy man currently on a hiking holiday.
Try not to worry

Mine sat late 9 months or so, crawled at 13 months and walked at 21 months, but has some gross motor skills development delays. He was steady on is feet from the off though.

18mts. She is now the fastest runner in her class.

Yep. Dd was 18 months on the dot.

She bum shuffled everywhere and was quite content to do it.

On the day she turned 18 months, she got up and walked across the room as if she had been doing it all her life

The health visitor was reccomending a paed at 16 months when it was clear she wasn't cruising. I refused the appoitment as I knew she would walk when she was ready

Thanks all; really reassuring to hear mines not the only one. In my friendship group he is so far behind all the other babies it does make you feel alone.
Almost wish I hadn’t asked for a referral now...gone from thinking he’s just a bit late to possibly having a life limiting disability. And google definitely isn’t your friend in this situation.

Bertrand a community paediatrician works with children who aren't in hospital, so in he 'community' even if you're seeing them as an outpatient.

My DD didn't crawl till a year, or walk till nearly 2. I took her to the GP at 18m (as nursery we're concerned), who said "she'll do it when she's ready, she has all the skills needed". And she did.

I think it's because she has a squint & is long-sighted, so her vision impacted her movement.

I know how you feel *mu^

I used to go to a toddler group and babies younger than mine were crawling and cruising and then walking before mine did.

I became paranoid but then relaxed as verbally she was ahead just not physically.

She got there in the end

DD1 walked at 22 months and is perfectly fine.

My DS took a few steps at 17 months but didn't walk 'properly' til 20 months
He's now 7 and absolutely fine

Try not to worry. The community paediatrician shouldn't have said that to you until it was confirmed.

I had a premature baby, the health visitor was similar - said he needed to be referred to physio/SALT/dietician etc etc urgently. We were already under each of these and were discharged at next appointment a few weeks later - the experts (rather than the generalists) felt there was nothing wrong.

He didn't walk until just after his 2nd birthday, speech still unclear at 3yo. But he's absolutely fine, just a bit delayed. And most delayed children catch up quickly.

DS was about 20 months. He didn't do much cruising or falling once he'd got started- he began to toddle about proficiently pretty quickly.

He was also late rolling, and crawling. Health visitor reassured me that he was fine. He was a big baby, large head and large broad shoulders which the HV felt required more in the way of muscle power to move about than more slight babies.