To be worried my kid is not even close to walking?

[Kat256M]

My DS still can't walk and I am starting to get worried. The "well-meaning" relatives have been making comments since he turned one but I have been ignoring them. Every child is different! But I am currently on holiday with the grandparents and they keep saying we are not doing things right, we should be pushing him to walk more, his legs have issues and we haven't gone to the GP, we should get him checked out.

He does walk weirdly (he is out-toeing and one leg does it way more than the other). He really tries to walk, pulls himself up from furniture, goes from one place to the other as long as he can grab onto something. Loves his walker (one of the ones he has to push to walk). But no independent walking yet. We try to get him to hold our hand to walk but he just can't. He is too unstable, he gets tired and stops. He gets so frustrated that he can't do it! He is 18 months old-AIBU to start worrying? And what can I do to help?

Edit go say he is not really talking yet either. Very communicative and expressive but only 1-2 words really

My DS didn't walk until 19 months. No pulling up or cruising, just crawled at 100mph. Then one day, I was sitting with him in a storytime session and he suddenly just got up and ran. This was the first of several milestones that he appeared to be behind on, then just skipped steps and ended up ahead.

Yes i would see gp or hv at 18m . I'd also mention speech as you could get some early intervention from speech and language

Frankly I am more worried because he walks funny than because he is not properly walking yet. He walks a bit like a duck, with his left leg opening up even more than the right. And his toes still curl a bit inwards like a smaller baby-no flat feet here. It looks like he is really trying to do it but it is very hard work for him.

Both of mine were about 18 months when they started walking, I worried for ages with my eldest about his development but he did eventually get there.

Speech was slow too especially with my youngest but all of a sudden he just grasped it. I don't think lockdown helped because he was 2 and at the stage where he would have been going to nursery/out and about seeing others and interacting with them. He's still quiet in unknown social situations but I don't like new things either and it takes me a while to come out of my shell.

It's worth getting in touch with the HV if you are worried, they might ask to check the other areas of development and either keep an eye on things or get a referral. If it's nothing then no harm done, if it is something then better to get it flagged up quickly.

Try not to worry, it's not abnormal and it could just be that he's slower than others.

If he tiptoe when walking I will bring hi. To the gp
My cousin's child did it and he required an operation to fix the issue of walking only on his toe. My own daughter only walked at 18 months due to tight muscle on her leg. She had physiotherapy and it sorted out the problem. Physio advised me to get her shoes that supported the ankle

My eldest walked at 12 months and would say short sentences by 19 months. My youngest (now 2.5) didn't walk until 18/19 months, and until a few months ago would only babble and say a few words say one word at a time (e.g pointing - 'cow!'). Now his walking is confident and on track. Saw HV at 2, still wondering if the talking was ok. they weren't concerned. A few short months later and it's suddenly all coming together. It's good to keep in touch with GP/HV to monitor but they all develop in their own time. My youngest who was a late walker is actually generally more cautious and careful safety wise than my eldest who walked earlier but just bulldozes himself into situations despite being 7 now.

Agree with other posts about getting it checked out by the GP but I would also ask both sets of grandparents, if possible, when you and his dad started walking as these things can be genetic. I was walking confidently by 9 months. DH was around 15 months. DC1 didn’t walk independently until 15 months (pulling up from 12 months). DC2 was walking independently at 9 months. So in our case there was a heredity angle but definitely worth getting checked.

No ours was 19 months, she is a brilliant dancer, plays hockey and football and is one of the fastest runners in her class.

Mine learnt much quicker when we used a play pen (the type that looks like a softer version of the cotbed). It meant they were able to pull themselves up all the time and fall without hurting themselves so they became much braver about walking a few steps and standing independently.

You could just get him checked out for peace of mind, but he is still within the bounds of normality at 18 months.

My DD1 walked at 14 months following a few weeks of crawling.

DD2 began bum shuffling at 8/9 months, never crawled at all and walked at 23 months.

DD3 was the same as DD2 (a bum shuffler) but walked slightly earlier at 21 months.

Stop letting me grandparents stress you about it.

Mine literally just took her first steps at 18 months only then because we played a game every night for like 2 weeks to encourage her. We did end up going to see a physio about her walking as she was turning her toes in quite a bit. They give us a lot of advice on how to encourage her to change it.

Daughter walking so confidently now, I can't even remember what we had to do. Definitely contact HV of GP to get some advice and support. But don't worry about him being behind. They are all on their own timeline.

My 23 month old is hyper mobile and started walking independently at 21 months. He was walking holding hands at 19.5 months ish. HV referred him to physio at 18 months (the earliest a child can be referred here for not walking) and we saw them at 19.5 months. GP wasn't sure about the referral process into children's physio, but the HV was able to refer us straight in.

I have also had so many people give their opinions etc etc. The only opinions that matter are those of a physio/ paediatrician. You are concerned and that is enough of a reason to have a referral to someone who knows what they're talking about.

I don't remember but apparently I was 2 when I walked. Shuffled about on my bottom. 75 years later I still walk, although at times bum shuffling might be a good idea.

My eldest was literally running at 11 month. My youngest did not take a step until 20 months.

This made me laugh, the little pet was watching the calendar and messing with their mammy.

One of mine was 22 months before she walked.
Was very late to crawl too.
See GP by all means but I hope the posts on here have reassured you..

Paediatric physio here - Definitely get him checked out. Children often walk late, but the assymetrical leg position concerns me and needs assessing.

My dd is 20 months only consistently said 3 - 4 words but this week she's all of a sudden making sentences! Bar the physical side getting a check up I wouldn't stress too much until 24 months 🤗( she is 5th bubba ).

Thank you for commenting-any idea how to best approach this? GP app, health visitor or something else?

My brother was a late walker at 2.5, had to get physiotherapy to help him due to low muscle tone. He's 30 now and you can't tell that he ever had trouble.

18 months is the right time to query not yet walking.

You haven't done anything wrong at all. Pushing him to walk wouldn't work anyway. Some children need more support with milestones, but pressure wouldn't help. He might need some targeted physio exercises for example. If you'd taken him to the GP earlier they would have just sent you away and said wait longer.

I took my ds2 to the GP when he was 12 months because he wasn't weight bearing and they referred him to physio. They did a bunch of tests then just monitored him until he started walking when he was 22 months. He was bum shuffling before this though. He's hypermobile like his dad.

My daughter was 17 mths my son 20 mths, ( he took his first steps a week after a paediatrician told us he was fine)

GP or HV would be fine, whichever you can see quicker. Both can refer to physio in most areas, and physio can ask gp to request further tests if they feel they are needed. It's most likely fine, children have a habit of worrying us, and then the day before a long awaited appointment, their issue seems to magically resolve. But we would always prefer to see and check.

I think it’s worth getting checked out. Did he have a developmental check at 12 months and were there any causes for concern then? I think it’s quite normal to have a bit of a spike profile (walker or a talker for example). You can download the ages and stages questionnaire and have a look for 18 months to see the sorts of things they ask about at that age. Make sure you find the results sheet as well though or you’ll panic yourself (they don’t have to do everything on the questionnaire).

My eldest walked very early- was walking by 11 months but was much slower with speech and it was flagged in the 12 month development review as being something to watch. By the 2 year check it had all evened out and she was well ahead with her language.