walking

[catfan]

Dear All,

Not sure if I am worrying unnecessarily. My son who turned 15 months yesterday is not yet walking. He is crawling at lightening speed, pulling himself up on everything but not yet standing independently. He does though only seem to need minimal support when standing - uses one hand to lean slightly or hold on lightly. He walks with a baby walker but won't holding my hands. I'm probably being silly and his nursery aren't worried at all but I'm finding all the comments from other parents stressfull... I'd be very grateful for anyone's opinions.

He sounds perfectly normal to me. Is he cruising? walking while holding onto side of the sofa, that kind of thing? I think as long as he is bearing his weight, which it sounds as if he is doing he'll get there in his own time, and it probably won't be long. DS1 was walking at 10 months, DS2 not until 17 months. As for the comments from other parents, ignore, ignore, ignore. They'll soon be onto something else, potty training, talking, reading, blah blah.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, he is cruising and bears his weight easily. For some reason I've just been getting in a panic...

exactly the same as my ds1, he walked at 15.5 months & now never stops running around. i wouldnt worry too much, they do it in their own time and being v fast crawler & cruiser maybe he has less motivation to walk iyswim? mine also wouldnt hold hands, and i think that slows them down too as they dont let you help? he is probably quite an independant child then? mine is, he just wanted to do it totally by himself and he is like that in most things, doesn't want any help only wants to do everything for himself so i think personality plays a part too
also 15 months is not thatttt late, at the time i thought my ds was very very late but apparently up to 17, 18 months classed as normal? im sure your ds will be fine :)

Identical situation here, only my DS is 16 months tomorrow. In the past couple of weeks he has been getting more confident with walking holding on to us, and general movement, so I don't think it'll be too long.

Really don't worry and ignore other parents - he will get there, and in a few months you'll be wondering what you were worried about as he bombs around with the other kids. He is obviously physically able to do it, he just hasn't quite got there yet, bless him.

Ignore all stupid comments from assorted other parents/ relatives etc - Loads of babies don't walk by 15 months! Mine didn't walk until she was 20 months, can you imagine how many comments I had to fend off in that time!! I look back now and think I should have just told them all to zip it.

Thanks very much for all your supportive responses - it has made me feel a lot better. My GP told me I should get him referred if not independently standing by 14 months. I didn't because I felt it a bit of an over reaction as he is clearly weight bearing and moving at top spead all over the house - crawling, climbing, etc. Do you think I have done the right thing?

Thanks again

mine only just did it at 15 months and now he is pretty good indoors but won;t walk outdoors! He was quite a way behind some of the little girls round here and you do worry but the minute they do it you start on the next thing! definitely not a GP issue I would have thought.

My DD is 18 months next week and isn't walking yet. She didn't crawl until 11 months but at 18 months can complete jigsaw puzzles and dress her teddies! All children are different and certainly in DD's case, she's been concentrating on other things!

She has started to take a few steps now, walking from DH to me, but only when we sit down and do it with her, she doesn't seem bothered about just walking without encouragement. She's happy to crawl around at top speed instead.

Please try not to worry, you don't see many teenagers crawling so they all get there at some point!

DD didn't walk until 19 1/2 months (3 weeks ago!), compared to all of the boys in our family she was very slow.

She was cruising very cautiously for a couple of months. She completely shocked us one evening and just did it. Since then, she has been flying and has gotten very confident.

But like MaybeTomorrow's DD she is better at things involving fine motor skills and also speech.

DD1 walked at 16 mths
DD2 walked at 14 mths
DS walked at 11 mths
All different but I would say DD1 was the easiest because she had a small bit of sense by the time she was walking. DS was the hardest because even if I called his name in a sharp voice he didnt have the sense to hesitate let alone stop iyswim.

Let all those eejits who don't have anything better to do get their knickers in a twist. He will walk when he's ready and sounds like he's nearly there!