My 14 month old isn’t walking or talking and has some other red flags. When do I worry?

[Babypinksandblues]

I have a beautiful 14 month old boy. He is healthy, very active (crawls, bounce, climbs, loves Lego). He is smiley, giggly, ticklish, smart and focused, loves music. BUT he doesn’t speak much (no mama) and is refusing to walk although he does crawl high speed. He doesn’t always respond to his name much usually because he is very busy with whatever it is he’s doing.he does otherwise.
He also doesn’t point or clap much (although as I am now teaching him and he seems to like it and be getting there)
We are currently living in Switzerland where he attended crèche / nursery in French so I’m wondering whether the multiple languages are delaying his speech? my dr (not a paediatrician) and the lady who runs the crèche keep reassuring me that babies develop as different ages and he is lovely.
But then today the crèche assistant agreed with me about points of difference I made and said in her believe it would be good to get him to the paediatrician to check his ears and for any other autism / developmental issues. He’s only 14 months and I don’t have any family or close friends around to help me sense check this and my partner isn’t being very supportive in any way..
I’m looking for reassurance more than anything as he is still so little and my mum keeps trying to convince me is is a happy smiley focused baby who likes what he likes and will
Be ready when he’s ready.thank you in advance if you had similar concerns that turned out well or just for general comfort and advice. Thank you xxx

14 months is a baby!

Stop worrying!

Please don't worry. My son didn't walk until 16 months as he was a super-fast crawler. Some children are slower to speak as well. I think think dual languages is definitely a factor. Just keep encouraging him and he'll get there 😁

I’m not an expert but on wouldn’t worry too much at 14 months. Ds didn’t walk until almost 16 months (he is now plus his sport at county level so it didn’t effect him)

I’d definitely get him checked out if you are worried though

What? He is 14 months
Not 24

Lots of babies aren't walking at 14 months.

And most of them aren't speaking, particularly those learning two languages.

Don't worry.

Mine is the same age and isn't walking or talking I'm not concerned at all

Your little boy sounds lovely.

Fwiw and from memory walking is not a concern until at least 18 months. My most physically able child didn't walk until 19 months. My least physically able child walked at 9 months.

I thought bilingual children are renowned for talking later? TBO I can't remember ages for talking though!

Forget about it until he is two. You’ll probably find he has hit them all at that point anyway.
It doesn’t help him to pay a lot of attention to milestones, it just diminishes your joy.

He is healthy, very active (crawls, bounce, climbs, loves Lego). He is smiley, giggly, ticklish, smart and focused, loves music

None of that is problematic

All sounds completely normal. Mine both said first words around 13 months but didn’t walk til 15 and 17 months. My one who walked at 17 months was crawling at 5.5 months so literally crawled a whole year before walking. All very normal. Dh as a baby didn’t walk or talk til 2-2.5 and he was fine and caught up quickly and is very bright.

Bilingual children don’t talk later, but they learn the same number of words as monolingual children. So if a child is supposed to have 10 words, you should only expect 5 in each language for the bilingual child.

Mines the same age and cruises on the furniture but won’t stand on his own. He makes weird babbling sounds but nothing specific, but he can brush hair. He quite likes brushing dd2’s hair - is this a skill!?

I wouldn’t be worried. In the uk they say leave it until 18 months before going to a paediatrician about walking

One of mine didn’t walk until nearly 18 months. I worried myself sick .. it felt like everyone else’s baby was walking. Now 13 years old and no issues. In fact, discovered since that crawling is super important in developing both sides of the brain!

Neither of mine crawled until 11 months or walked before 16 months.

If he's hearing several languages he might be a bit slower at putting them in the right place and speaking but that's ok and just part of him learning.

Really don't worry. He's fine.

My baby didn't speak until 15 months. That was totally normal and he even spoke before quite w lot of his NCT cohort.

I don't think these are red flags. Enjoy your lovely boy!

Neither of my kids walked until 16mo although I e crawled from 6mo - she was able to get where she wanted though so didn't bother with the walking nonsense. She talked early but the other didn't bother talking until nearly 2. 8 years later he never shuts up! Being bilingual does slow speech initially but leads to loads of advantages later.

They do all develop at different rates but if you feel there's something different about yours, you're probably not wrong. It may not be significant but worth exploring.

Bilingual children don’t talk later, but they learn the same number of words as monolingual children. So if a child is supposed to have 10 words, you should only expect 5 in each language for the bilingual child

This. Bilingual children may appear “delayed” but in reality they are acquiring exactly the same amount of language, just half in each.

Not walking at 14m is entirely normal too.

Mine are older so things change but ds walked at about 15/16months and chattered about 12 months - not sure he was understandable at that age though - more furious at his older sister...

Dd didn't walk till she was 22 months old - just after paeds decided to show an interest, she didn't talk till she was 2yrs+ part of that was being the only child at home and in a baby room at nursery.

So I don't think 14 months - particularly for a first child in family unit - is any point to worry. Likely to be less socialised currently because of covid too so even more reason not to worry

I do wish people would stop suggesting autism in an under 2. Its very difficult to see in a baby and rarely diagnosed so young without very specific markers including autistic parents. And it just causes so much worry.

DD is bilingual. She didn't walk until 15 months and didn't really start talking until 2. She is now 4. Fluent in 2 languages and is incredibly good at football, climbs trees for Britain and is reading, writing and doing simple sums. Oh and she never shuts up. Not even in her sleep.

As long as a child is walking by 18m there is no cause for concern. So don't worry yet.

If you are concerned about communication, bear in mind he's being exposed to multiple languages. Check his hearing and engage him as much as you can.

I don't think you need to worry. One of my kids didn't walk till 23 months and had delayed speech. She has global delay and autism but is a happy child, just has some challenges. Yours is only a baby though. If you have concerns speak to your health visitor, but try to relax. Milestones are a guide only and all kids are different.

18 and 19 months to walk here, and neither spoke until 2. Both in teens now and absolutely thriving, especially academically.

I remember being worried as they were so late in everything. It was hard as their peers seemed to be doing so much more. Funny as now they both seem really grown up and mature for their ages.

If you are concerned though then then there is nothing wrong at all in getting him checked out x

He's a baby! My 2nd never said mama - he had about 6 words until he hit 2 and started to talk on sentences 🤔🤷‍♀️

Everyone said not to worry until he was 2, and they where right! At 14monrhs yours is a literal baby

It's not even particularly late to nor be walking

Also, in terms of speaking, sometimes I watch videos of mine at 18 months and recognise that they were saying words, but at the time I didn’t recognise them as words as the sounds were so far off. Somehow in retrospect and knowing them now I realise they were saying much more much earlier than I thought.

It’s natural to worry and I feel for you

My little girl didn’t learn to crawl until 11 months which felt late and I worried myself sick. She mastered that and was a speedy crawler for 6 months and is just now walking independently at 17 months. Again, I worried about this taking so long! But the truth is, there is nothing wrong with those timelines just like their isn’t anything wrong with your little ones

Give him some more time before seeking any professional opinions as he still has plenty of time to reach those milestones. Just keep doing what you are doing by encouraging him, teaching him and being patient with him. Every baby is different and will learn in their own time. I’ve learnt that first hand 💗