Knee walking

[MooseyMoo]

My DD is 21 months and is knee walking instead of walking. She hit her physical milestones later, sitting up at 8months, crawling at 13months, cruising at 16months. She can walk holding my finger but as soon as I let go of her hand she drops to her knees.

Am getting fed up of comments that she should be walking now. Best one so far 'she'll have knees like a housemaid'

I know it's mental rather than a physical issue. Wondered if anyone else had a dc with similar issue?

Thanks

My DS did this -and with him too it was a mental rather than physical problem. We had an appointment booked at the Child Developement Centre, and just before that, his Grandma took him for a walk outside, where he couldn't knee-walk, and that was that. He was just about 2yrs old.

But he does have other issues - he has Aspergers and Developmental Co-ordination disorder. He is now almost 13, and a gentle giant, tall, slightly clumsy, and has very lax joints.

I'm not saying this will be your outcome, but just wanted to share our experience.

Have you tried taking her outside, with some new, super-duper, very grown-up outside shoes, for stomping? Or wellies for splashing in puddles?

Hi flossie

Yes, she has new shoes and wellies. She will walk outside (with huge grin on face) but won't let go of my finger. In the snow last week I made a snowman which she stood against.

She's never been adventurous so I guess she will do it when she wants to. She's tall for he age which prob doesn't help her confidence. Long way to fall down!

Just looking at knee patches for another pair of jeans she's worn out at the knee.

Hi moosey-moo, my DD sounds just like yours. She's 18 mo and crawls and knee-walks. When outside (we have recently bought her soft shoes) she can walk for ages holding a hand. If let go, she either just stands there (she can stand unaided but never does so intentionally) or falls to her knees.

So atm we're just walking her outside a lot (since she's happier to walk outside than inside) and waiting for her to have the confidence to just let go one day. It is most definitely a mental issue rather than a physical one - she can weight bear and is strong.

Sigh - I was a late walker and it's genetic. I'm just trying to be patient and let her do it in her own time. I sense that pushing her too much won't help.

mamaMary yup, sounds very similar to my DD.

I know I need to get outside with her more but it's hard as I have a 14 week old ds as well. Getting out of the house is a struggle at the moment.

Nice to know there are other knee walkers out there.

Our DS2 is also 20mo and has been knee-walking for ages. For ages there was no sign of walking, he's never cruised or tried to stand up. We've been dying with impatience, kept saying we'll do X, Y and Z when he's walking and have still not done it!

Yet, in the last month, he seems to have got it. He's started walking for little bits, usually two steps away, then turn and back to us with huge grin. DS1 walked at 15mo, which is still a bit late by some standards!

Be positive and delight in your little one. They're little people, and like people, they all have strengths and weaknesses. They don't all do stuff at the same time, they do it when they're ready and they want to. Unless there's other signs that something is wrong, just smile and wait!!!

My DD is 21 months and knee walks/ runs, she’s preferring this over crawling now. She also crawled late at 14 months and only starting standing at 19 months. Within 2 days of standing she could walk if she held her arms which was amazing! But she just seems to want to knee walk instead as she’s so good at it! Eurgh... I desperately want her to walk now as I’m 8.5 months pregnant. Anything that helped? New shoes won’t make her do it I don’t think as she’s not that keen on walking and throws herself onto her knees. Physically she is fine apparently with slightly wobbly ankles.