Over 11 months, not standing or crawling

[gnu]

Here's my latest thing to worry about.

DD is nearly 11 and a half months, doesn't crawl or bear any weight on her legs. She has sat unaided since about 6 months but still spends most of her time sitting, stretching for things, collapsing onto her front then rolling over or (lately) lying on her side, resting on her elbow like an ancient Roman. She does occasionally manage to go into reverse too.

She's a huge girl, 25 lbs and 99th percentile, so that has led me not to worry too much until now as she certainly has a lot of weight to be borne. But I am beginning to, especially the continuing refusal to bear weight on her legs.

Any advice? Should I raise it with her HV/GP at some point?

if you hold her under her arms does she bear any weight on her feet? or does she refuse to?

does she get around at all .. ie can she roll around the room .. does she bum shuffle?

sorry don't mean to be alarming as I'm sure its nothing

I don't think it would hurt checking out the refusal to bear any weight on feet though

My godson was like this at 11 months. He was a lazy little tyke. If you sat in front of him, just out of reach with some food/a toy etc, he would flop forwards onto his belly and stretch out his arm. If he still couldn't get to you, he'd just give up and stare at you with utter disdain. And he could go into reverse occasionally too, just preferred not too.

Took until about 14 months for him to have any interest in using his legs. He's 3 now and you can't stop him- he's just started ballet and is surprisingly very good!

That said, if you are at all worried then check with the HV if you have a good one.

She pretty much refuses to bear any weight. Her feet won't go flat to the floor, and she tends to slide them apart. We've tried her in a bouncer and she tends to just skim her feet around the floor surface rather than press down or jump.

She can roll all over the room if she fancies, often disappearing under the sofa to emerge covered in the dust I hadn't reached with the hoover . She doesn't shuffle. For some time she's looked on the verge of crawling - diving forward from a sitting position. But she always has one leg kind of folded in front of her which she finds difficult to extract other than by pushing it right back and ending up on her front. She either doesn't like to or hasn't found out how to bear weight on her knees (or both at once anyway).

I've had three late walkers (17 months, 20 months and 19 months) and none of them were weight-bearing at that age, nor were they crawling. And none of them rolled over either, or could get into a sitting position unaided.

I know they sound like a bunch of lardy puddings, but they weren't -- dd1 was big for age, ds on 50th centile and dd2 was a little runty thing below 9th centile. All of them sat very well, and later bottom-shuffled. All are completely normal now and very active.

Personally, I wouldn't worry, unless she obviously has poor muscle tone in other areas as well. Don't go the HV route, they're much more likely to put the wind up you than actually know anything. Check with GP if you really must, but it's probably just the way she is. You might check with grandparents at what age you/dh walked, as late walking/crawling is highly heritable. And now that babies are not put on their fronts to sleep, a child with an inherited predisposition to late or nonexistant crawling is less likely to spend time in a position conducive to learning to crawl.

hth

OK I wouldn't worry about the not crawling personally .. because she is capable of getting where she want to however she chooses to do it is fine

I would though just check out the weight-bearing .. not that I'd be worried about it . .but that its worth double-checking as even though some don't weight-bear at this age and that's normal for them .. many do .. I would say 99.99% there's nothing wrong though

but your instincts have picked up on it .. and that's why you have them

Don't worry. My DS was over 11 months when he started crawling. He then proggresed to walking within a matter of weeks.

Well, I think part of the issue with crawling is that she has always hated being on her front. She seems to be pretty strong in the upper body - she can lift her head and chest up well and happily flings heavy object around the room (just missing me with a telephone directory). But, yes, I may raise the legs issue next time I see the GP.

When my DS began crawling he went from sitting position to all fours, but with one leg stuck underneath in front like your lo - it took him ages to learn to push it back.... i'm sure its only a matter of time.

Hi there

My daughter only started to crawl at 13 months and now a month later is pulling herself up onto her knees and speedily on the move. My friends told me I'd be exhausted running after her when it happened and I am!
Don't worry, she'll move in her own good time. My husband was a late walker... I've read it's genetic.
F

DD is 2 in 3weeks and not yet walking. She didn't weight bear at all until about 16mnths. I am waiting to see a paediatrition to be sure, but we were told it can be quite normal. She crawls a bit but mainly bumshuffles (since about 16mnths) so that can be linked to late walking. Yours might do the same.

my huge girl did not move either
crawled at 12.5 months
walked 16 months
now 12 and skinny!

my huge girl did not move either
crawled at 12.5 months
walked 16 months
now 12 and skinny!

Thanks everyone. I will probably bring it up at her next assessment but will try not to worry unduly.

When we try to stand her up she just doesn't know what to do with her legs - she holds them too far forward, back or apart. She will bear a little bit of weight momentarily before her knees buckle. I'm not surprised she's confused though as she's always been too heavy for us to hold up comfortably. For that reason she's had hardly any practice at being vertical.

Her muscle tone seems good and she can certainly control enough to aim a good hard kick when I change her happy. If I was concerned about anything it would be her knee joints. She has seemed on the verge of crawling for ages but can't seem to use both knees to support her body.

She doesn't bum shuffle, but I know I did and that it can be linked to late weight-bearing. Perhaps there's a bit of an inheritance here?

I'm still worrying, despite all your reassurance. I've tried standing her up a few times but she seems to only put her toes down, rather her foot going flat. I've read that this can be connected to cerebral palsy (diplegia), but I don't know if other baby's tend to point their feet downwards like this at first.

If it's any consolatiom, dd1 was like your dd and didn't even begin to bear weight at 12 months. Being a worried first time mum, I took her to the GP - she was fine. Started to weight bear about a month later, was walking at 16 months. (Was a bottom shuffler, ahich is also often associated with late walking).
DD2 just about managed to crawl at 12 months. Started weight bearing on straight legs at about 14 months. This time I'm not worried. BTW, she's only a little thing (around 9th percentile) - I think it is common for heavier babies to start standing quite late because their legs have to be that much stronger, IYKWIM.
From what you are describing, it sounds like she is trying to get mobile. I wouldbn't be at all surprised to hear that she is mobile within a week or two.

Gnu, mine were all exactly like this. None of mine were even mobile until after their first birthdays, and none would weight-bear, crawl, or even get into a sitting position by themselves until they were 12 months+. Dd2 even turned one of her feet inwards in a slightly weird way that freaked the HV out completely. And they're all completely normal now.

Seriously, since you were a bum-shuffler yourself there is clearly a genetic predisposition for something other than standard crawling, so what you're describing sounds even less worrisome than it would otherwise. If she is sitting steadily and is not otherwise floppy or showing poor muscle tone, it's v. unlikely to be a problem.

I had a terrible time with dd2 who went down and down the centile charts (from nearly 9lb 10oz at birth to below 9th centile). So she was being monitored by the paediatric dept at the hospital for her growth issues, and inevitably they kept muttering about her 'delayed development' (not rolling, not crawling, not weightbearing). Despite me endlessly repeating that this is completely normal for my children (and I was onto no. 3 by then) there was a lot of brow-furrowing. They even bullied me into making her have a blood test at one point, and what fun that was. But I had the last laugh, as once she finally did get onto two feet, she'd caught up within weeks, although she is still dinky.

I know it's harder when it's your first and you have nothing to compare it with. But really, the likelihood of her having CP without you or medical personnel having noticed properly worrying symptoms are infinitesimal. Don't spoil her early months by worrying about something that is almost certainly just the way she is.

Hi gnu. Both mine did the pointy feet thing. I also bumshuffled and didn't walk til really late so probably some genetic influence. DD sees the paediatrician in a couple of weeks so I'll let you know if they say anything useful.

Thank you both. It does seem so much harder when its the first and the only comparisons are with stick insect younger babies running around . I was OK with it until I read something about 'tip-toeing' being connected to CP.

Another thought... do you use a baby walker? Because I've heard that babies who use those a lot can often end up trying to stand and walk on tiptoes.

my youngest wouldn't weight bear at all until she started pulling herself up at around 15 months - she didn't crawl either until she was 11 months. She's not heavy either she just was happy doing her own thing in her own time I guess!

I finally bullied dd2 into walking at 19 months because it was summer, she was bum-shuffling outdoors and was wearing out a pair of trousers a day. Evil mummy got so fed up with buying new trousers that I put her out in the garden with no nappy on. Within 48 hours she was up on her hind legs.

But I think that would only work if they were pretty much ready to walk anyway. 11 months is still very young. Really, really, don't fret. And be aware that seeking medical assurance may not help much because (a) they don't have a crystal ball and (b) they tend to look slightly askance at anything other than normal textbook development. Your best bet is a slightly older, calm sensible GP who has spent 30 years looking at normal babies. Hospital medics spend most of their time looking at abnormal development, so they tend to interpret things in the light of that.

Bum-shufflers really are the last misunderstood minority.

No, I don't use a walker. She hasn't had too much practice at standing as she's too heavy to hold like that for long. Its like she doesn't really know what to do and angles her legs forward like she's expecting to be sat down. When she does put feet to floor its on her toes and her knees will tend to buckle straightaway, or her upper body won't balance.

Its similar with crawling - her upper body seems ready but she can't get her legs moving to propel her forward. Its not that her legs are uncontrolled - she can direct her kicks and clap her feet together - just that they won't propel or support her yet.