11 month old cannot push himself up to seated

[QueenBMum]

I'm a ftm with an 11 month old lb. I'm getting worried about his development because the best he can do movement wise is roll around. He cannot get himself into a seated position from a lying down position. He cannot crawl. He cannot pull himself up (and shows no interest in doing this). If I put him in a seated position he'll happily play with toys around him. However he cannot work out how to go from his seated position to lying down and sometimes just falls backwards or goes head first into the floor to get there. I give him plenty of floor time but he shows no interest in learning how to do anything. Also when I stand him up he locks his knees and cannot stand on his own but leans on me while standing. Any ideas what I can do to develop his gross motor skills?

My 14 month old can't push up to seated or pull to standing either and she doesn't crawl. We've given up on the crawling tbh, I just don't think she'll ever do it. She started shuffling across the floor on her bum a few weeks ago and is very happy moving around that way. We've started spending a lot of time every day working on standing and transitions, moving her from lying down to sat up to standing. She has an activity table and I'll sit on the floor with her sat on my lap and encourage her to put her hands on the table then help her to stand. She's getting pretty good at standing and will now walk with a lot of help. A lot of babies get into the seated position by rolling onto their tummy, pushing up into a crawling position then sitting back. My DD will never roll onto her tummy, not because she can't but because she HATES it and always has so this will slow her down in being able to sit herself up on her own.

Our health visitor isn't worried because she is making progress. She told me her own daughter never crawled and didn't walk until she was almost 2 and is normal. Have you spoken to your health visitor?

My DS is 11 months (he is one next week) and has literally learnt how to sit himself up this week. He did it at the weekend and now there is no stopping him! He doesn't crawl either but does love to stand up and walk with us holding his hands. If you stand your DS at a sofa or low table will he hold on and stand on his own then?

Do you go to many baby groups etc? I don't know if it's just me and it probably sounds a bit daft, but I find my DS moves around more and is a bit more daring if he has seen other babies doing things. For example, we went to soft play with some friends and their crawling babies, and then when we got home DS was trying to get onto all fours. He didn't manage to, but it was almost as if he had seen them doing it and wanted to join in. I don't know, maybe it was just coincidence! It's hard at baby groups though I know, everyone seems fascinated by my non crawling baby and seems to need to constantly ask me if I am worried?!?!

My DS seemed to learn sitting up overnight with no warning. He now does it the way you mentioned, onto tummy first, but when he first did it he sort of walked his arms round the side from lying slightly on his side if that makes sense - could you try and encourage her that way if she doesn't like being on her tummy?

Thanks all for your helpful comments. We are now approaching his1st birthday. Our HV had referred us to physio sometime ago and we had that appointment. Our LB is way behind on gross motor skills (as I suspected). We have 5 exercises to do with him as much as possible (easy to incorporate into play time). We have a follow up appointment in 6 weeks so hopefully we can see some development as I feel he's plateaued the last 3 months.

Thanks for posting an update. I am following this thread because I have a feeling my baby will follow your path. Let us know how he does at the follow up appointment!

I would recommend any concerned mum asks for a physiotherapy referral if you noticed be your child plateau in rest of gross motor skills. I noticed that between 7 and 9 months our LB didn't progress. I raised this with the HV who said she'd check in when he was 10 months. I confirmed still no progress and she referred us to physio. His appointment was when he was 11.5months and I can say that between month 7 and 11.5 months the only development gross motor skills wise was that our LB could pivot when I put him in a seated position. It was pretty obvious to me that something wasn't right and I'm glad we now have some exercises to help him along.

Update on my little boys progress. He learnt to crawl at 14 months. And he learnt to walk at 19 months. He is still under the care of the physiotherapy team and has special shoes and in soles produced by the orthotics team. He still curls his feet and prefers his feet in this position but he's getting there. He's now 26 months and still mastering the art of jumping.