14mo not walking - at what stage do I start worrying?

[BettyDrapersWardrobeElf]

My 14mo is not walking and doesn't seem that close to it. He was a late crawler, didn't start crawling forward till he was about 11 months, but has been cruising round the furniture since he turned one. He will walk holding both my hands and will walk pushing a push along truck, but has not yet stood on his own. He is my pfb so just wondered when I should start worrying? All the other children we know around his age are toddling about - or am I just being silly? What age did your children start walking?

start worrying at 20 plus months

My sister didn't walk until 22 months. My mum was concerned at the time, but not frantic. Dsis was just a very contented baby who didn't see any need to walk. She bum-shuffled about and was in no hurry. Some children are just slower. My Ds walked at 10 months which has brought with it a whole host of problems. I dream of him bring immobile. I wouldn't worry yet.

My DD sounds just like your DS, crawling just before her first birthday and then not really progressing. She started walking at 16 and a half months, once she let go of the sofa and balanced the walking quickly followed. I was starting to get worried but she just did it suddenly when she was ready!

P's Dsis is now a surgeon, so don't panic yet

Ds started walking at 16 months. One of my sisters started at 15 months, I started at 17 months, my other sister started at 19 months. I wouldn't worry (but it is frustrating, as all my other friends' children of the same age were walking before ds!)

My DD didn't crawl until 11 months, didn't pull herself to standing until about 13 months and didn't walk until she was nearly 17 months. She is now nearly 4 and super active. I definitely wouldn't worry at his age.

20 months is the upper end of the normal rane, so I would go to HV/GP if he isnt walking by 18 months (as there would be a waiting list for paed/physio referral, so wouldn't get an appointment straightaway anyway)

My dd3 is almost 14 months and not yet walking. Like your lo she can cruise round furniture though my dd won't step forwards even if we're holding both hands. I'm not that though as my other 2 were between 13 and 14 months. Dd3 wasn't crawling till 11 months either and has always been pretty heavy which hv says can slow them down. 33lbs at the moment so don't blame her for continuing to sit lol. Hv told me to phone her if dd not walking by 18mths but I think she'll be away in another month hopefully

Should add she's only learnt to pull herself up in the last few weeks

DS was 17 months at least before he showed an inkling for walking.

Don't worry at this stage. You'll probably find that when he does start walking he'll be steady & quick/have very few stumbles etc.

Both mine started walking with a push-along at about 12 months, but neither walked independently until about 14 months. DS2 has just started in the past two weeks, and now walks everywhere.

Ds3 has just bee n refereed to peads for not walking - he is 20 months but the main reason they referred him is because he wasn't standing either. They said no to worry about not walking until they are 2 so plenty of time yet! Ds3 has just this week started to pull himself up s o there is hope he will be walking before 2 which i was starting to doubt. He's a bum-shuffler too - am finding it odd because ds1 walked at 16 months and ds2 at 9 months - they all do it when they are ready!!

I'm sure the birth to five book says up to 20mths is "normal"?

DS crawled at 10.5 months. Is now 13 months and still not pulled up. Keeps looking like he will (on his knees, leg movements into air) but nothing. Should I be concerned?

dd1 was around 16 months - she is fine...

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I can see he's not THAT late. I suppose it's just because I've had a lot of "is he not walking yet then?" with raised eyebrows comments recently and it makes me want to punch people but wanted to check he wasn't really behind first!

Doesn't having kids make you paranoid??!

OP: I could have pretty much written your post word for word except that (unusually for me!) I'm actually not too worried about it all. DD is also 14mo and also started pulling up and cruising on furniture around her b'day and switched shortly after from a commando crawl to a normal all fours crawl, which only now really would I describe her as really fast and good at. In about the last week she has started stepping along when you hold her under arms - in a very unsteady manner! Since Christmas she occasionally 'lets go' when she is standing and stays a few second independently. We don't have a toddle truck (must get one!) but she has shown no signs of being able to toddle along behind something moving (like your DS) - if something slips, she tends to let go and sit down. Had vaccines and a scheduled development check with her last week. All fine and moving along well according to paed! BTW, she hasn't any words either, but not worried about that either, as she has three languages in her daily environment so a lot for a little head to sort out. So she's a bit more "babyish" than some toddlers (and is a small little thing as well) but we don't care, because her own pace is fine with us and we deludely think she is perfect in every respect and vastly superior to other more seemlingly advanced babies. Why yes, she is also a PFB!

Mine were
16mth
19mth
20mth
11mth.

No rhyme or reason.

My daughter is 19 months and will only take steps if holding hands - even that has only developed in the past month. She's been standing against furniture for a while though and flies about the place upright on her knees (a sight worth seeing, her elbows are bent for balance and she bustles slightly forward with her chest waggling like Les Dawson in his old lady role). She does that so well I think she has had no real interest in proper walking until now. I'm not worried in the slightest - although I agree that the 'oh isn't she walking" comments are irritating. (Yes Mum talking to you here)

DC3 is 13 months and I am quite glad he isn't walking yet, he manages to cause enough damage from his hands and knees!

Like others have said 20+ months would start to cause concern, not least for your back from lugging them around.

Ignore the "not walking yet" smuggery, it's hardly CV material.

The official advice, when mine were little, was check with GO/HV if they're not walking at 18 months. Chances are they're fine, but it's worth checking. Can be something like mild hypermobility which a couple of sessions of physio can make quite a difference.

Bum shufflers walk on average 3-6 months later than crawlers for some reason.

Don't panic. My ds crawled early, cruised early but didn't walk until he was 17 months. By then I'd had a bellyfull of the concerned "oh I'm surprised he's not walking yet". Interestingly he was diagnosed with hypermobilty a few months ago - he's 3.5. Once he started there was no stopping him and very little falling over compared to the early walkers I knew.

That's an interesting thought about the late walkers being steady and quick to pick it up. My friend was saying "Oh, yes it's all a bit heart-stopping when they're learning isn't it?" and I was thinking "No, it seems fine to me I must be super-chilled Mum." But I suppose it could be that her early walker was a bit more hair-raising to watch than my late one.

I personally did the grand total of sod all- no real speaking (few odd words) no crawling, nothing, just sat propped up by cushions in the corner- til 18 months.

Everyone was going a bit nuts, but my Mum, who had some training in this area, ignored the lot.

I then forwent crawling and words altogether and just went straight to walking and speaking in short sentences in little more than a week.

As long as your child appears happy, alert and interested I wouldn't worry for a while!