To worry about my 11 month old’s development?

[Worrywart1983]

DS is a lockdown baby. We’ve been to no baby groups and all of my friends have toddlers or older kids.

He is settling into nursery this week and the difference between him and other babies is really freaking me out. Does he sound very behind?

• He babbles (baba etc and the occasional babadana etc) but thinks DH and I (and grandparents sometimes) are all called ‘da’. He says mamamama when upset
• He is a prolific roller and does a weird thing on one side where he lifts his bum up and drags himself forwards sometimes but no crawling
• He has a pincer grasp. Used to grab the spoon but has now stopped, I think because he can’t be arsed to feed himself if he thinks someone else will do it for him
• He can search for things if they’re hidden
• He definitely knows his name and ‘no’
• turns pages in books and throws a ball back to you
• Bears weight on legs but absolutely no interest in pulling to stand. Sits up like a trooper for ages and starting to try and sit himself up but not there yet

He’s very small and has always been very delicate. Maybe that’s something to do with it? The other babies were huge, had loads of teeth and were tottering about.

Don't worry OP. DD4 never crawled and was a shuffler. She didn't walk until 15 months and didn't utter a word until she was nearly 3. She's a surgeon now which just goes to show that you never know!

I think a lot of the 'milestone' guides you see online are wrong. They show too narrow a range.

Maybe slightly on the later side of average with gross motor skills but not outside the norm.

Gross motor is not an issue really. A bit of physio sometimes .
It s the bigger picture that counts
play
communication
Understanding skills etc

The childdevelopment books and sites will give you you normative age for milestones. Some babies be slightly faster, some slightly slower. If he's still showing no interest in pulling himself up into a standing position by the time he's about 14 months, then I would perhaps think about speaking to a doctor. I've had kids who didn't walk till 18 months. Both mine walked at 10 months, I walked at 9 apparently. All different.

The childdevelopment books and sites will give you you normative age for milestones. Some babies be slightly faster, some slightly slower. If he's still showing no interest in pulling himself up into a standing position by the time he's about 14 months, then I would perhaps think about speaking to a doctor. I've had kids who didn't walk till 18 months. Both mine walked at 10 months, I walked at 9 apparently. All different.

I have a year old boy and he sounds almost exactly the same. We had a progress report and he received 0 on gross motor skills, whereas no concerns in anything else and was perhaps above average.

He can bear weight, sit up and roll but seems to have no interest in crawling or walking, always wants to put his arms out to be held. We had a physio online appointment and she said he seems to have low tone, is very flexible and is perhaps a little fearful of hurting himself.

She suggested as much tummy time as possible and to position him in the crawling position as much as possible legs bent, belly off the ground and arms supporting his weight, and to kind of do it between your legs so you can sort of squeeze his legs in the crawling position so he cant wriggle out. He seems a bit more stable and confident, especially in reaching for toys and he also seems a bit more steady on his feet when standing up against a sofa.

It can be hard when u see younger children racing round and everyone asks if they are walking yet, but I'm sure your child will get there in the end...hopefully mine too😆

I have a year old boy and he sounds almost exactly the same. We had a progress report and he received 0 on gross motor skills, whereas no concerns in anything else and was perhaps above average.

He can bear weight, sit up and roll but seems to have no interest in crawling or walking, always wants to put his arms out to be held. We had a physio online appointment and she said he seems to have low tone, is very flexible and is perhaps a little fearful of hurting himself.

She suggested as much tummy time as possible and to position him in the crawling position as much as possible legs bent, belly off the ground and arms supporting his weight, and to kind of do it between your legs so you can sort of squeeze his legs in the crawling position so he cant wriggle out. He seems a bit more stable and confident, especially in reaching for toys and he also seems a bit more steady on his feet when standing up against a sofa.

It can be hard when u see younger children racing round and everyone asks if they are walking yet, but I'm sure your child will get there in the end...hopefully mine too😆

Sorry for double post

What age were the other babies in the room you were comparing him to? When I settled my 11 month old into nursery, it just so happened that the next youngest child there was 13/14 months, and most were 16 months. So of course they would be far more advanced than my baby.

All kids are different. My daughter was talking and walking early but didn't get her first tooth until she was one and has been small for her age until more recently. She eats nicely but only beige things (!). I wouldnt worry.

Timing of teeth has nothing to do with anything

Thanks very much everyone. @CheesyMother they were a mix. One is eight months old so considerably younger. He was commando crawling very well and starting to pull himself up. The others are ‘one’, the lady said. I wonder if they are actually 15 months or something when I assumed 12 months. Not sure whether to ask or not - I will sound like an overly anxious mother.

@LockdownScoffer ditto! Still struggling to track down my HV but I did the asq questionnaire online and DS was well and truly in the black for gross motor, just on the cusp of white for two of them and well into the white for the other two. I think he may be slightly overly flexible to be honest. His ankles are very bendy. I’ll ask the HV when I finally track her down.

He is further along than my 12.5 month old, he sounds fine to me.

He does sound like he would benefit from some physio support. Nothing major but he could do with an assessment.
When in the sitting position can he use both arms independently to play with toys. Can he also prop on one arm to reach forward to grab a toy with the other then move back to sitting.
He sounds like his tummy muscles are weak if he's wobbly when holding him in a standing position.
Try going through your gp for a referral if you can't get hold of a hv.

When they are all age 5 and running about the place it won't matter who started to walk a few months earlier than the others.

One of my children did have delayed gross motor skills and had some simple physio which really helped. He could not manage learning to ride a bike for years - I would see little 4 year olds flying around without peddles. We decided not to bother encouraging him to learn to cycle as he was getting frustrated with it. Then one day age 10 he gave it another try and learnt to ride his bike really quickly and loves it now.

Getting into the sitting position by themselves usually comes with crawling as they often learn to back themselves up into it from all fours. Sounds like he may be progressing towards crawling if he's trying to sit up? I wouldn't worry too much just yet.

You've just described my 8.5 month old. We have no signs of ever progressing from rolling!

Just remember that babies haven't read the books on development milestones. He sounds perfectly fine for his age.