He's still not walking at 16 months!

[Noshzm23]

Hi there! Has anyone else got a child nearly 16 months whose not walking. He's been almost ready for the past 2 months but not yet. In general he's behind in everything. Don't know whether to worry or not. Plus he's waking up in the night for cuddles more than the breastmilk. I don't know whether to leave him to sleep in my bed where he will sleep through or trot up and down to his cot every half an hour. Help!!!!

Mine didn't walk properly until almost 16 months and I didn't think that was behind at all

My son didn't walk til 20 months!! He just couldn't be bothered! Now 10 and utterly fine x

DS2 finally walked 3 days short of 18 months. He also rolled and crawled pretty late.

Sorry, posted too soon. He's 9 years now, and also absolutely fine.

My son didn't walk til 18 months or so either
He walked for a day , then started running , he was so strong !
He's 21 now , at uni

Dd was 17 months. She bum shuffled and would not even weight bear. We had a paed appointment booked by the gp because of the non weight bearing issue. At 17 months she finally pulled herself up using the couch. 2 weeks later, she stood up and just walked. I couldn't believe it.

My friends dd who is the same age as my dd walked at 20 months.

I would keep your little one in your bed if it means more sleep! Do you have a good health visitor you could talk to about your concerns?

My ds on the other hand walked at 10 months.

All 3 of mine were 17 months before walking. The advantage was they were then strong and sturdy enough to walk well - very few falls, long distances covered quite quickly, no need to hold hands much etc.

My brother didn't walk until 16 months and he is now nearly 30 and fine! I think my third is going to be a late one too, he rolled, crawled and sat "late" and isnt showing signs of walking at 13 months. Both his siblings were walking well by now!

DD2 walked at 17 months 3 weeks. I was a bit worried as she wasn't keen on bearing weight at all in her feet (eg she would never be bounced on your knee). However, the doctor told me that they wouldn't even think of referring her unless she wasn't walking at 18 months, and we never got to that point .

DS was 19 months - sporty little bugger now.

You're in good company OP.

DS2 was 17 months, but once he started he was running around confidently within days (that's what it felt like anyway) compared with DS1 who was 12m but tottered around and wobbled a lot for a while. He's very coordinated and sporty.

He also woke me for cuddles at night for a long, long time . He still does sometimes and he's 3.5!

My DC didn't walk properly until they were 19 and 21 months respectively. No issues at all, just the way they developed. All fine and dandy now - tbh no-one (health visitors etc) seemed that bothered about it at the time!

This is totally anecdotal so I think (like I had) you should get all your referrals lined up if your health visitor thinks it appropriate, they are the best people to speak to really. With that disclaimer I too had a late walker, well at that age late even pulling up to standing. Also didn't speak until he was well over two (well he had maybe 5 words but I was panicking). He grew up to be so sporty he trained with a premier league development squad until well into his teens and is very bright now. This is not to say all late developers suddenly accelerate into sports stars (which he isn't but he is certainly above average) or geniuses (genii?? I am not one ) but I remember being there and being scared and not getting that there is a huge range of development stages that come under the umbrella of 'normal'. Plus the parents of early walkers/talkers certainly aren't backwards about announcing it which doesn't help .

He didn't sleep through until he was 2 1/2 either. I love small children, nothing like being kept on your toes eh? I did trotting over to his cot for quick 'sleepy time darling' with a cuddle. Eventually he learned to call for his older brother because he got more attention (maybe that's why he eventually learned to talk? ) Good luck, it's not easy but they all seem to get there apart from a very small percentage point.

I remember worrying about this when my DD was little - she was 16 months when she finally got going, but by the time my DS came along I was positively delighted that he left it to 18 months! Life gets a lot more chaotic once they're on their feet! They are now 8 and 6 and are full of energy and run, walk, skate, scoot, do gymnastics, play football.

With regard to the night time waking - I'd keep the little one in bed with you. It'll be a phase that won't last forever...

DS is 16 months next week and he's finally starting to realise that walking is easier than crawling. He didn't roll and crawl until very late. Is he pulling himself up and cruising? My HV wasn't concerned and said I should allow until 18 months (she sees us every six weeks so had a good overall impression of him and wasn't worried).

He's also got a helluva separation anxiety thing going on right now, and I think you should just get through it however you can. If you all sleep better in your bed, so be it. DS is in my bed now but last night he slept straight through in his cot. Who knows.

NO - DON'T WORRY! Our DS didn't walk until 18 months - he waited until he knew he could do it without falling over!

DS2 didn't walk properly until he was 17.5 months. He was late with all physical developmental milestones. He turned out to have dyspraxia as well as several other significant physical problems which I won't mention as one is rare and might identify him, as well as ASD.
He has always struggled physically. But now he's a happy, sociable teen with loads of interests and doing well at school. So although the late development did signify genuine life long issues, they haven't held him back from thriving and doing what he loves in life.
It's not necessarily a sign of dyspraxia, but some dyspraxics (DS and me) need to know in our conscious minds how to do anything physical before we can do it naturally or instinctively, so we study for ages how people move and memorise it before trying it out, because we have no other way of processing how to do it. He did the same with riding a bike and writing. Very late to do it then got it overnight, and caught up with his peers almost immediately.

The mean (ie average) age for walking is 15 months. So your baby is a bit later than average, but obviously someone has to be!

Does he bear weight on his feet - ie if you hold him up does he put feet down; does he cruise round the furniture etc? If so then he's fine.

The range for walking in an NT child is 9mo - 20 mo so I wouldn't worry - unless he won't bear weight, then you should take him to the GP.

DD was 24 months!! Did knee walking for months before she finally just one day upped and walked. Had the strength but not the will.

she's tall so took more muscle strength so get her up and going. Plus she said was tall enough to reach any toys she wanted from the back of the sofa, so little incentive to try.

I was a late walker too so no surprise she was really.

How old were you when you started walking??

Thanks for all your comments! I feel so much better that it's not much of a problem as I thought it was. Yes he does furniture walk but no interest in walking at all. I guess he'll do it she he's ready. And the night time routine....I'm sticking to all of us in one bed for now. Then see what the future holds

Good for you :)

My DGS2 was 22 months. A bum shuffler extraordinaire, who literally just stood up one day and walked into the other room! My DS nearly fell over in shock.