Toddler not walking, would you be concerned ?

[Brunff]

Ds just turned 15 months. He can’t even stand without holding onto something and needs something to grab to even pull himself up. He will slide along furniture and stand up holding rails in his cot but that’s it. I am worried this means he is developmentally delayed? Will he be less bright than most children? He’s my first and I’m worried , no other friends with dc to chat to about it

Speak to your health visitor

Yes, speak to your health visitor. I think before 18 months they probably won't be too worried, but always best to ask if you are concerned.

my first didn't walk until 17 months. I didn't walk until 20 mo and my sister didn't walk until 22 months. All are now fine and healthy with good academic grades etc.

don't worry.

Definitely speak to HV. My now teenager was like that, possibly slightly older; turned out to be vitamin d deficiency (within a week of taking the prescribed dose he was off!)

As far as I’m aware age at which a child takes their first steps has nothing to do with how “bright” they are.
If you are concerned, speak to your health visitor.

You seem to be jumping to a lot of conclusions and overthinking it. Talk to your Health visitors if you are concerned.

Every child is different, DD took 1st steps on 1st birthday but didnt crawl ever, shes now very sports and very clever (not like me!) DS was walking well by his 1st bday. Friends son bum shuffled and walked later. He was happy shuffleing around.

Isn't the average age to take first steps around 15 months, meaning around half before and half afterwards? My first walked at 14 months and I thought that was quite average. My second walked at 19 months. I was starting to worry but he got there in his own time. If yours can stand and cruise holding on, no worries. Mine wasn't even doing that!

Firstly, it doesn’t mean anything at all about how bright he’ll be - children develop physically at different speeds. 15 months is within the normal range for walking. It’s a bit more unusual that he isn’t standing alone, but still not necessarily anything to worry about. How’s the rest of his development - is he crawling? Clapping/waving/pointing? Any word sounds?

My DC was similar - he didn't even crawl or bum shuffle until around that age. He stayed exactly where i left him. Then, all of a sudden within a month or two he was running around.

He fell over a lot when sitting too, so my health visitor referred him to a paediatrician and physio. The physio said he was just super flexible which caused muscle weakness. He was running around, playing football, etc by the time the paediatric appointment came through, so I cancelled it.It was worrying, but the physio was very reassuring. It is still within the normal range, but worth pushing for an appointment.

He can stand up holding on? Wait til 18 months.
Walking age has nothing to do with cognitive function. two of my dc walked first wobbly steps at 23 to 24 months first steps . One has severe learning disabilities the other super a star.
Speak to your h v but 15 months is not a delay per se.

I didn't walk until 18 months, I used to be a member of Mensa! Not walking at 15 months is not an issue, it's well within the normal guidelines.

Try to enjoy your child rather than worrying

My son was 16 months when he gained the confidence to let go and walk without holding onto something. Don't start worrying just yet

Sounds perfectly developmentally typical for his age. He's pulling himself up and cruising so is on the way to walking.

My youngest didn’t sit up until 10 months and wasn’t standing at all until about 16 months then just started walking a month later at 17m. She’s now a very healthy and very bright 17 year old.

I think 18 months is the time at which you should present to the GP if they agent yet walking as anytime before that is totally normal. Even after that may well still be entirely normal but they might start the ball rolling with just checking hips and general truncal strength check.

Dont worry OP

Is he small ? DD2 was a very small child and wasn’t tall enough to pull herself up on furniture. She eventually walked at 18 months and within a week was striding around like she had been walking for months.
Nothing wrong with her intelligence as she is a whizz at computer coding and software.

Her cousin didn’t walk until 20 months, he was over the top of the charts for weight but average height. He just didn’t want to move and when he did he struggled to pull his Body up.

Speak to your health visitor.

My dds both walked after 18 months. The youngest was around 22 months. The advice used to be (may still be) that after 18 months they might need checking. Both mine were ok - they were slightly advanced with speech but totally average intelligence afaik! They liked sitting on their bums and chatting just like their mother…
in our area there was an OT doing some sort of research/assessments in reception at school and my youngest had very mild core balance issues - she had some little exercises to do. She’s fine now it wasn’t a big issue.

My son was like this. Was 17 months. He just was lazy so in holiday one year I said right had enough. Got him up on his feet and spent most of the holiday walking around with him holding his hands. He never looked back.

I wouldn't be concerned to be honest. Both of mine were late walkers (17 & 22 months respectively). My second we were actually concerned about as around that age she wasn't even pulling up or standing so I did speak to the HV who referred her to physio. Was told there that she was just lazy but they did give us some exercises to help strengthen her.

Does he crawl?

Nor meaning to be rude but is he chunky for age?

I knew 3 little boys who were slow to walk, all were very chubby - like 98th for weight, all drank a shit load of milk

Two slimmed out rapidly by about age 4 though.

All perfectly normally although actually one got glasses at 4 - vision problems can slow down this type of stuff.

My second DC didn't walk until 13 months and was late to talk - she went from sounds to sentences, missing out the random words. My DF always said that she was just absorbing the what was going on around her in preparation for doing it herself. She was a straight A pupil at school and is now studying architecture.
Look at the bigger picture rather than focusing on the walking. Ignore the people whose DC were potty trained at 7 days, walked at 6 months and spoke 3 languages at 10 months. Every child is different and develops differently; the expected milestones are an average rather than a target.

Otoh of the babies we knew it was the long gangly ones who walked latest.

And by the age of 2 it made not the blindest bit of difference to anything which of them had started walking when.

Isn't the average age to take first steps around 15 months, meaning around half before and half afterwards?

In the US its around 12 months.
Mine walked at 11m and 14m (unaided).

One of the latest walkers i knew is a cracking sporty kid now at age 7. Fast runner, good at footy etc.

My youngest was like this. We were under the paediatrician for something else and they said they weren't bothered until 18 months and even then it only needed to be 2/3 steps. She started walking a week shy of 18 months (literally double her siblings walking ages).

16 and 19 month walkers here. Strangely, I was not worried because each month I could see there had been progress. Yes they were behind other kids but I could see that their motor skills were improving every week or so. Do you feel your child is progressing?

I won’t quote A-level results here but just to say there is no relationship between age of children walking and later academic achievement!