Worried baby isn’t walking

[babywprries]

Ds is 14 months (just) and seems nowhere near walking. He can stand but usually holding something, though he can stand alone and has done a few times. He will scale round the playpen and climb at soft play etc but has zero interest in walking at all. Should I be concerned? It says online the average is 12 months, does this mean he’s not going to be very bright? Or any other things? First time mum with not much partner support, worrying a lot.

20 months for mine, wasn't moving at 1, never crawled, bottom shuffled at about 15 months, pulled up about 17 months.

Now 15 - tall , higher centre of gravity!

It's far too early to worry.

My two didn't walk till 16 months.
My DD is 6 now & very bright. She can talk for Scotland.
My DS is 18 months and he was a knee walker 😂 but now he runs up and down and can jump with 2 feet off the floor and can kick a ball and has an amazing throw 😂

16 months here. DS was a talker rather than a walker!

@PastelHouses yes agreed 100%, I should have clarified

My DD didn’t walk till 18 months, she scooted around on her knees from about 14 months. She is on target to get 3 A levels at A* grade. Walking is no indication of your child’s future intelligence, they just do it when they’re ready.

Yes this! I read too that the average baby walks by 12m but my 3 started walking between 14m-16m and most of the other babies we knew were about the same age. There was the odd one who walked before 12m and a few who were later.

I don’t know where they get that 12m average from, that’s an early walker from my experience.

Unless you are actively neglecting your child, developmental milestones will happen. They’re biologically programmed. Neither a walker or practising walking will help much.

Space and time to explore his environment will pretty much do it.

Probably works out as an average given that some children will be walking much earlier than that. At least one of my nephews was walking at 9.5 months. (Not recommended 9 month olds have no sense at all 😂)

My very active, super early crawler and cruiser, didn't walk independently until 16 months. There are a few reasons why but when he did he just walked, he didn't have that couple of months of baby wobble that usually happens

Perfectly normal.

My DD1 walked at 14 months, DD2 at 23 months and DD3 at 21 months. All are perfectly normal and bright young adults in their twenties now

DD1 and DD3 are very academic. DD1 got a first from a Russel Group uni and DD3 is currently in her final year at Cambridge, and on course for a first too. DD2 is perfectly bright enough but just not in an academic way.

I wouldn't worry at all at 14 months. He is well within the bounds of normality and will walk when he is ready. My two very late walkers (DD2 and DD3) could both stand indefinitely before they actually walked. Both were bum shufflers from around 8 or 9 months so I guess their hands were free more and they had less incentive.

Every child learns at their own pace. He is being active so that's good. Iv heard babies who learn to walk early don't learn to talk til much later and vice versa. As long as he is happy and confident in his space that is all that matters, wlhe will walk in his own time xx

Same and all fine.

My DD didn't start walking properly until 15 months, she knee walked instead and I knew she could do it but she just wouldn't, I think it was a confidence thing

From what you've said it sounds normal to me

I know people say 12 months but I know lots of children that were later than that

Watch the Baby Race episode of Bluey. It will happen soon enough!

12 months isn't the average for walking, it's early. Babies usually start walking somewhere between 12-17 months. 14 months is not even halfway through that, so don't worry! :)

As long as your baby is mobile (can crawl, bum shuffle, roll with intent or cruise) he's exactly where he should be in development! :)

And whether they hit physical milestones early or late (and it's not considered late until 18 months) has no bearing on their intelligence, don't worry.

My son was 18 months, he now plays football at 7 and is so active so it hasn’t stopped him! Can’t keep him in the house now lol

he was advanced with his talking and we could have conversations and I was told at the time that that’s what some of them focus more on. Whilst he had baby friends that had walked earlier, their parents confided in me that they were worried about their speech being delayed, whereas my son was a chatterbox just not walking

You can always contact your health visitor (take baby to weighing clinic) for any milestone or development related advice or concerns.

DD didn't walk until 14 months and she is now a 6 year old with a reading age of 13. So from my single data point, I'm not persuaded that it has a lot to do with brainpower.

I tried really hard to get my first to walk. I barely tried at all with my second. They were either 14 and 16 months or 16 and 18 months 🤔

Definitely both smart healthy kids, I figure they must have just been working on different skills rather than walking 🤷 they just weren't interested.

My youngest son didn't walk until he was 17 months. His older brother walked at 10.5 months and his sister walked on her first birthday.

Late walker is now a very lanky, fast walking, mountain climber who works in medical research at a London hospital.

My first never crawled or turned, and walked at 17 months... We spent ages waiting around for him to just do SOMETHING! 😂
Now he's 2 and running around like all the kids his age

DD1 was walking just after her 1st birthday.

DD2 was 16 or 17 months. She was lazier though as her big sister would get her stuff so she didn't need to move to get it.

Dd23 didn't walk until 18 months and she is officially gifted academically so no, early walking and intelligence are not correlated.

My 2 ds', while not gifted, are both extremely bright and they both walked at 15 months.

If he crawls that’s great, it’s a movement which needs both sides of brain to make legs and arms move to go forward, it’s apparently very good for developing children whether they are walking or not! One of mine walked at 12m the other two were much later more like 16m. I didn’t teach them it was just how they were? The 12m has always been go go go. The other two were happy doing other things!

My DD didn’t walk until she was 22 months; she was a bottom shuffler.
She’s now a manager with a very well known organisation. Her son was 23 months, also a bottom shuffler. Don’t worry, he’ll do it when he’s ready.