17m old won't let go of my finger

[Rubyabcd]

Hi all just looking for some tips and reassurance about my 17m old (on sat) daughter. She was relatively late to become mobile at all, started crawling at 13m and them onto pulling up and cruising at 14m. We have now got to the point where she is walking confidently but only when holding onto one finger of mine or dh, she just will not let go, if I pull my finger out she will just go back to crawling. In the last two weeks she will walk between my husband and I only if we stand her in front of one of us. When cruising she makes no attempt to let go at all. It is very frustrating as when she walks between us (about four metres) she is very stable and able.

At gym babes today she started refusing to put her legs down at all as she knew we were trying to get her to walk alone. I have ordered some reins today in the hopes the support will help her let go of my finger. She is my pfb and I am an anxious person so don't think this helps.

A helpful person said to me today, don't worry they are either walkers or talkers but she isn't exactly talking, handful of words, lots of gibberish but does mimic us a lot. Can I do anything to help along? My mum keeps telling me not t compare but I am the worst for this!!!!!!!!!!!!

your mum is right, don't compare, that way leads to madness!

My DD1 was conned into letting go of my finger by placing a chubby crayon between me and her for a few days...then letting go of the crayon from my end! You should have seen her face.....but beware, yours may be wise enough to anticipate this.

Does not sound like she is develppmentally delayed, she'll get to it eventually. (Try keeping socks and shoes off...it grounds them better)

She'll let go when she is ready.

Relax! Honestly, you know she can do it so there's no need to worry about her development. It's just that she hasn't quite decided to feel confident about it yet - trying to push her to do it won't help her to feel confident, so stop "trying to get her to" do anything, and just let her do it her way and in her own time.

Some are walkers, some are talkers, but some don't appear to be doing that much of either at this age - by the time she's 3, or 5, or 10 or whatever, all the things she did earlier or later or just plain different from the typical will be forgotten and meaningless.

If she needs you and is nervous without you, don't try to push her into something she isn't ready for, as this may have a negative effect on her confidence. Think about WHY you are so desperate for her to walk alone - as other posters have said, it clearly isn't a developmental issue, so is it really just so she can be like the other LOs her age? My DS1 liked to be with me and I thought it would be nice if he was a little more independent. Now DS2 is very independent and runs off creating mayhem - I should have appreciated my DS1 more!!!

Embrace your child's uniqueness.

Mumof three kids, you are so right, thank you for putting it perspective.