2 years old and can’t walk

[FirstTimeMum0]

Hi my little one turns 2 in March, has only just started to walking inside the house. The second we go anywhere outside he will just drop to the floor refuses to even stand up or take a single step outside. I have mentioned this to health visitors who don’t seem so concerned. Am I in the wrong to be worrying about this?

I would go see a pediatric physio to check there isn't any physical reason for it, it can't hurt really. They can also give some exercises to do at home to strengthen their legs if need be.

Kindly, your child can walk, they’re just choosing not to. At this age, as long as they have the skills to do it, I wouldn’t worry about it. It will come. Especially if he’s still getting the hang of it inside, or if something has put him off (has he maybe hurt himself falling over and is just a bit of a cautious child?)
My niece pretty much refused to walk anywhere for her first 3 years. She’s 7 now and still whinges about it, but is perfectly capable of running around when she feels like it. You might just have a stubborn one!
There’s also a big difference between 21/22 months and 2 years, you might find he just takes off one day. Then you’ll be wishing he didn’t…
It’s easy to say when your kids are a bit older, because I do remember how much I overthought every little thing, but try not to worry too much. If he’s still like that in a few months you might need to get him checked.

Maybe he doesn’t like the feeling of having shoes on or the hardness of the ground. It’s not something I would be stressing about right now. Give him time.

As the pp said, he can walk he’s just choosing not to. Which is exactly what toddlers do.

IIrc they suggest you take to GP if not walking by 18 months? I had similar with my now 4 year old - he wasn’t walking by 18 months, took him to GP, who suggested we monitor him for a few months and by the next time I went back he had started to walk and he wasn’t concerned. So if you are in any way concerned I would speak to your GP, if only for reassurance (I think it’s relatively common). Appreciate you have already spoken to HV, but I find GPs generally better if I have any concerns. My 4 year old has no issues with walking or running now by the way.

Is he verbal at all yet? Can he express to you why he ‘can’t’ walk?

If he's not a bottom shuffler, probably reasonable to refer to physio.

He can only say a few words such as mum,yes,no and car.

Can he say any words (or sounds that are recognisable as words)?
Is he a confident walked in the house, can he do it unaided without constantly falling, and get up on his own?

My DC has SEN and didn’t walk until he was 3. Assuming your DC is developing in all other areas, I wouldn’t be too concerned. Consultants will only class it as global development delay if there’s 2 or more areas of significant delay. That said, if there are 2 or more areas, in the most gentle way possible, please push your health professionals for investigations. Coming from someone who has been battling with the system for over 12 years now, you want to kick off the process early.

He can walk unaided but only just started to do this same as standing up unaided only just started to do this as well. Does fall quiet often and has only just started to say a few words such as yes,no, mum and car.

Personally I would push health professionals, they're great at fobbing people off, which means children don't get the support they need in EYFS.
Just so your little one and yourself get the support you need in these early years, It's worth investigating. Mum's know their kids best, if your head is telling you that the HV might be wrong, I'd listen.

Is there a chance he is hypermobile?

I would recommend booking into with children’s physio who can rule out a physical reason. Then I would go down the path of an occupational therapist to see if there is a sensory issue.

Thats what I would suggest

Are there any other areas he's missing milestones? I would be concerned about the speech. Does he appear to hear well? If he's walking well inside but not outside it could just be confidence but also could be an early indication neurodiversity.

I would try and get a GP appointment again, if nothing else, to put your mind at ease. Children will do things at their own pace but 21/22 months is quite late to not be confidently walking.
Do you feel like you give them enough opportunity to walk? By that I mean do you let them climb the stairs at home, do you encourage them to tidy their toys, find their own shoes? Setting small tasks like this can help build confidence for when outside the home. Some children are quite lazy, for want of a better word, and if they are being carried about, or don’t need to walk to things they want, then they won’t.

It’s great that he’s started walking unaided. If it were my child I would push for an assessment though. My DC walked unaided at 14 mo, but was delayed in more than one area at 2.5 thought not globally delayed - this still allowed him access to early intervention.

His speech and his walking are delayed

I'd get him checked out

Sounds like a confidence issue if it's an outside only thing.

If both his speech and walking are delayed then I’d push for guidance.

Is it a shoe issue? Can he walk outside without shoes on? Or inside with shoes on?

How are his fine motor skills? And his gross motor in areas other than walking?

My dd was 26 months before she decided to walk. Nothing wrong with her, just didn't want to! She is 8 now and this has been a common theme, she does things in her own time and I'm happy for her to do that.

Both of mine were late walkers at 18 months. I have friends whose kids bum shuffled and didn't walk until nearer 2. I was never concerned about the walking but at closer to 2 I think your right in questioning it. Although not walking independently mine would climb the stairs and play equipment, cruise and hold hands when out if the hourse. Language also seems a little delayed (as was my eldest) do you have any concerns about his understanding, play or attention and listening? Can he feed himself and understand routines?
HV fobbed me off for years but I was more people would question whether their child is meeting milestones as so many come to nursery at 3 and are so far behind and parents have no idea. (I'm a nursery teacher).
For clarity, my eldest was diagnosed autistic at age 7 and still struggles to speak and we've spent thousands on speech therapy and he was always dismissed as his understanding was good.

He can feed himself unaided mainly with hands and not cutlery. I am beginning to worry about his understand such as when getting dressed he doesn’t understand shoes go on feet ect. Also when asked to point to ears eyes or nose he doesn’t have a clue what we are saying.

He has Clark’s pre walking shoes measured by them so they definitely fit correctly. He walks in the house with shoes on or socks or bare feet it isn’t at issue. He just refused to walk outside. He does attempted to climb stairs (obviously with us supervising closely) I do feel he is behind children his age.

First thing first is to check out physical things so ears, eyes, hips and feet.

I'd go to the GP and see if you can get a referral to a pediatric physio or OT.

Teach him to sign, it uses a different part of the brain to speech and if he can clap he can sign

Normally by 18 months they'll refer to physio so I'd ring the HV and push for a referral. Same for speech, I wouldn't be overly concerned at this point however my almost 3 year old was referred by nursery and there was a wait of 6 months for an assessment by SALT so you're best to be in the system now. My DD didn't really speak until she was 2, it was a month after her first birthday she said mommy for the first time. She did end up under SALT for 3 years, she's 7 now and I can't shut her up talking now.