Parents of late walkers please come and reassure me!

[passmethewineplease]

So my 16 month old DS still isn't walking. I know all babies develop at their own rate and you shouldn't compare but I can't help but be a tiny bit worried.

He was late sitting, rolling and crawling. He can say one or two words but nothing else really. He can't say dada, he can say no and mam.

Any attempts made to help him stand end in him getting annoyed and upset.

So as title suggests, what age did your LOs walk? I hope he picks it up soon. hes bloody heavy to carry

Thanks in advance

I remember clearly my ds not walking at his 2nd birthday party, he also had no teeth!!
He didn't walk for sometime but did eventually and the teeth turned up too!
He is now a skinny but strong 9 year old, who can walk for miles and run incredibly fast.
He was a bum shuffler, never crawled, so I was never concerned, just presumed it would happen eventually.

Ds was 20 month, a commando crawler, lightening fast and used his elbows so could hold things and still get around. Dd was nearly 23 months and was a bumper shuffler, very fast and wore the bum out of every pair of trousers. Both are now keen on sports and Dd runs cross country and dances. Neither cruised nor really supported their own weight. Then suddenly just walked from a baby step to pretty much a run in days, no real tottery stage at all.

Haven't read all the replies but wanted to share my experience. DD (now 10) was a late walker too. She never crawled but rather bum shuffled everywhere. She walked at around 20 months, once she started, that was it, she was off and very steady right from the start.

I don't think that 16 months is late.

Our children started walking at 15m, 22m, 24m and 19m.

Please go to a playground full of children aged four plus and spot the late walkers! Best advice I was given!
My late mother liked to tell me endlessly how "both my children" walked at ten months. Are we now Olympic athletes? Nope. It has made zero difference over all. Apparently, my children walked late because I go out to work!

My friend's dd didn't walk until she was 18 months and she was put in for level 6 sats. She is super intelligent.

My 21mo does not walk yet but I am not concerned. She crawled at 12mo, cruises around and will now stand alone for a few secs but only on a bed because of the soft landing! She is very very cautious, has never had a bad fall as she will take things very slowly and carefully and not do anything that feels dangerous. The early walkers I knew would throw themselves about with no fear, so I wonder if sometimes it’s just their nature. DD will knee-walk or ask to be carried to her destination, I just start walking where she points without her so she has no choice but to move of her own accord.

16mo is still perfectly in the scale of average but if you have concerns about him then no harm in seeing a HV

It all sounds pretty normal but why don't you take him to your doctor just for peace of mind?

How confident is he at sitting, is he wobbly?

Can he pull himself up to stand on furniture and cruise?

I have heard the difference between early and late walkers is temperament.

Early walkers are supposed to be risk takers whereas late walkers are more considered and will only walk when they think they have figured it out entirely, then get up and just go.

Nothing to do with ability of any kind.

my eldest walked at 9 months, numbers 2 and 4 were walking by about 14 months. Number 3 however, was about 18 months. She didn't need to walk, she had staff! And she was a big toddler, so maybe her height and weight made a difference. Not that she was a fat baby, but almost 9lb at birth and very sturdy, she was never one of those slight babies. But she walked eventually and never had any problems.

redtoothbrush that makes so much sense, my eldest has always been the most determined person, I figured she walked so early because it gave her access to more things that she wanted, she's never been one to wait for things.

Both my friends dc didn't walk until after 20 months. Mine walked at 12 months, but there is no difference between them now. One was just too content and didn't want to walk. The other would only use his walker, two steps and he was running!

Remember, no one ever meets someone and thinks, 'I bet they were an early walker'

My DD was late to sit, stand, roll. Didn't crawl til she was 13 months and didn't walk til she was 17 months. She was too busy talking and being clever

Both my dc were late crawling and walking (but talked really really early ). They got around to it eventually and had no physical problems.

My dd is 18 months and 1 week and she started walking independently this week. She is the last by a long way in our little baby group and the oldest by 2 weeks! She also didn't crawl until 13 months so I worried a lot. She is quite advanced with her fine motor skills as she spent so much time sat playing with fiddly things in one spot unable and/or unwilling to move!

Dd was 18 months when she walked for the first time. She has been a little slower at the physical things - only learned to skip properly a couple of weeks ago (she is now 5). However, she is awesome at other things- free reading, drawing and writing really well.

Hard not to worry when all those around you seem like they're doing things way before you Mr own DC, but.... It all tends to pan out... My DS didn't walk until he was 18 months! He didn't talk his first understandable words until he was 2! But once he started he didn't stop. He became a very physically active and chatty little thing So please don't worry yet, if you can help it! My DS always seems to take a bit longer before doing things, he's only just begun to scoot and he's 4.5 now, but he does things when he feels ready, not when anyone else does it!! Lol.

Mine was 20months. It was a balance issue for her - she just wouldn't stand up! She walked around on her knees for ages, suddenly one day had a go at proper walking, and the next day walked the whole way around Sainsburys without falling over at all.

It was a couple of weeks later that she was confident enough to stand up (standing still) unsupported.

My youngest dd didn't walk til 20 months. To be honest at nearly six she still find some fine motor skill things a bit difficult. But she does gymnastics and is good at it. I don't think she has anything that needs assessment though (and if I did I would have done it already as I have an older, disabled child).

Dontthe - yes my dd was slower learning to skip too.

My son was around 21 months when he eventually walked. He is almost 3 and perfectly fine but quite lazy! As long as they are making progress in other areas there is nothing to worry about. I wouldn't worry about the speech either as that can develop much later too. My nephew didn't speak until 3.

Mine were 22 months and 24 months. It can be hereditary.

I have a friend with 3 children, none of whom walked until they were over 18 months, and two of them were nearly 2. They are fine. (Aside: they didn't crawl either, just sat there like extremely cute handbags. I was green with envy as my baby rampaged about, destroying things and running into walls).

Another friend had a daughter who wasn't walking at 22 months. It turned out that she did have a physicsl problem, but it was easily fixed with physio. She is fine now.

Lastly, I knew a lady whose son wasn't walking by 2 and it turned out that he did have a disability (both mental and physical). However, there were what I think were obvious signs. He was quite floppy and didn't push down with his feet when held upright. He slso didn't really interact with anyone.

Tl:dr - lits of children are just late walkers. If there was a major problem, there would be ither signs, and minor problems are easily fixed with physio.

Ds1 didn't crawl until 13 months, didn't walk until 18 months. He was also very late to sit. His speech was very poor. He is now a teenager, walks for miles but has poor hand/eye coordination, and is totally unsporty. . He is very articulate. He got 9 GCSEs, mostly As.

Ds2 crawled quite early, was very physical, had great sittingbbslance st 6 months..... and didnt walk until he was 19 months. He is now in his teens, and is incredibly sporty. He spoke very well from an early age, he was an incredibly articulate small child. When he started secondary school we got a lot of comments from teachers about how much he talked He now barely grunts at us!!

I spent a lot of time worrying about ds1 not achieving his milestones at the "right" age. I was much more laid back with ds 2. It took me a long time to realise that they nearly all get there in their own time, and being stressed about it doesn't help.

In terms of speech, does your ds understand what is said to him? When ds2 was born, ds 1 was 22 months was hardly talking. I asked my health visitor about it and she advised that, if he understood what I said and responded appropriately (eg "get your shoes" and he gets them) then there probably wasn't too much to sorry about, and he would develop language when he was ready. She did refer him to a speech therapy class for toddlers, but by the time he started, ds1 was talking in complete sentences as his language suddenly developed.

You can ask your health visitor if you are worried, but your ds is still very little.