10 Month Old Not Using His Legs-Should I be worried?!!

[Happymum1985]

Hi all, As the title says really... I don't know what I can do to encourage him to use his legs. Or if I even need to be doing anything? My DS is a happy, sociable boy who is pretty easy in most respects really. He was a month early, which I am aware can hold up development a bit, but I am just starting to wonder if there is anything I should be doing?

I spoke to the HV and she said that if he wasnt making any progress in a month she would refer us to the doctor so he could 'check him over' which worried me- I didnt think anything could actually be WRONG with him??

If I hold him up to stand (which is quite difficult for me now as he is a big boy!) he either lifts his legs up, or pushes down for a second and then wants to sit down again. He can sit up no problem and when he lies on the floor he kicks his legs. If I place something out of his reach he ends up rolling to it rather than making an attempt to crawl. I bought him a jumperoo which he liked for about a month and then cried every time I put him in it, a door bouncer which he hates being in fullstop, and a babywalker which he has just started pushing himself backwards a bit in. But nothing else, and most of the time he just stands still in it!!

Help/ thoughts welcomed! xx

Do you put him on his tummy? Keep putting him on his tummy. Cant emphasise how important tummy time is - even at this age. try putting him on his tummy and play games like that e.g. pushing cars around, rolling a ball to him. strengthen his core muscles. jumperoos wont help- they just build up calf muscles. you need a strong core for walking. babywalkers arent always recommended for long periods of time either.
I would honestly go to your docs and ask for a referral to a paediatric physiotherapist. you are clearly worried and for your peace of mind, you need to talk to an expert.
Children's development is such a varied thing and things like being prem do continue to make a difference up until around 2 yrs (I would personally say a bit later), so please dont worry. You are on the ball and are clearly doing heaps for your boy.
hope that was useful?

Yes I do lots of floor time with him (he's a big roller so rolls around constantly when on the floor) -I will stop forcing him into the babywalker then and maybe focus on this!! I've said to myself that I will leave it one more month as HV advised, but maybe then I will request a referral. My mum really doesnt think I should be worried, but then I take him to softplays and see all these little tots charging around and I wish he could join in because I can tell he wants to!! Thanks for your quick reply!

My DS is 12 1/2 month old now. He didn't start bum shuffling till 11 month. He started to hate the jumperoo after a while, he hated tummy time. I also started to worry because some kids at his age where either crawling or walking. He just started now to get up from a sitting position to standing and walking along sofa. When he holds one of our fingers he walks otherwise he doesn't want to. He also started in a baby walker backwards but after he figured it out he now races through the house.

Want I want to say is that some kids tend to take longer to do things.
And DS was 6 days over due date..

My mom told me that I only started to walk when I was 16 month old!

I was told when DS wouldn't do at least one of the following bum shuffle, crawl, walk or rolling around by 12 month I should speak to GP and he would refer us to physiotherapy..

Apparently I was the same as a baby - bum shuffled until I was nearly two and wouldn't put any weight on my feet. It was because my ligaments were loose. There's no long term problems as far as I know and it got better fairly quickly. Definitely get advice but try not to worry too much!

About half babies i know didnt crawl till 10m, and they were full or overdue.
1 didnt walk till over 18m.
This doesnt guarantee theres nothing wrong with yours but development is still in range.

Also if say hes tall for age maybe some of the others are older than you expect.

Usually they seem to crawl followed quickly by pulling up and cruising then an odd step.

Some go straight to walking with no crawl but prob still do cruising.

However i think they usually step reflex if you hold their waist

My (very heavy) DS didn't weight bear till long after his NCT peers but after he started crawling the rest all came very quickly. Most of the other babies we knew were "standing" on their parents knees at circa 5 months but he used to collapse in a soggy heap and was unable to use door bouncer even at 9 months. He sat at 7 months, crawled at 10.5 months, and within 2 weeks of crawling was pulling to standing. So they do things all at their own pace

My ds is nearly 19 months and has only started walking at 18 months, he was like this and is perfectly fine. Tbh he was such a big boy iwas worried if he took too muh weight too soon.

My daughter didn't really move at all until 10.5m when she crawled from sitting - she only rolled ONCE before that. She first pulled up to stand on her first birthday but was walking by 13m. It's still early days.

Thanks all you have really made me feel better! No progress yet but I keep coaxing him hopefully and fingers crossed all will come right...

Pushing backwards i think is the first step of starting to crawl.

I think if you took him to your local NHS children's community physiotherapist they would probably just tell you lots and lots of tummy time. They have a saying 'back to sleep' and 'front to play'.