17 month olds development

[Roboh1]

Hi everyone I'm new to mumsnet and have joined for some support really hopefully to reach out to some parents who are going through have been through something similar to me. My Little girl is 17 months old. She's never crawled, stood, bum shuffled, pulled herself up. She's way behind all her peers both physically and socially. She is our first child and we have nothing to compare her development to other than her friends. I'm seriously struggling at the moment I feel really alone and like no one understands. We're going through referrals with paediatrician and physio and next step is blood test for chromosome conditions or any other conditions. She's now got a frame to help her into a standing position to encourage her to get used to standing. I'm just tired really of pretending I'm ok and not worried about her. I see all her peers moving on walking running playing and interacting and my little one is just sat there watching. It breaks my heart. I love her so so much and just want the best for her I just can't imagine her being able to do these things and am exhausted trying to think how to help her all the time. Sorry for the long post I'm just a very emotional mummy. Would love to know if anyone has had a similar experience with their little ones. Thank you for listening x

Hi there. I've got a 17 month old DS. I don't have any concerns about his social development and he has been crawling since 10-11 months and cruising since 14 months, but he's still not walking and I feel very much like he's behind so you're not alone.

It's good that you're getting some referrals, especially as you feel your little girl is behind both physically and socially. Is she a smiley baby? Do you feel she understands you, does she try and communicate, point/gesture etc?

Hi, I'm sorry for your worries. I know what it's like. My lo is nearly two. He's been physically behind for a long time. At 18 months he'd still never rolled, he couldn't get from laying down to sitting or from sitting to standing. He could walk but if he fell over he couldn't get up. I used to watch other children his age and feel so sad at how far behind he was.

I took lo to the GP and the HV but eventually I paid for a private paediatrician appointment. He confirmed lo had severe delay which he initially thought could be due to muscular dystrophy. Thankfully tests showed that he didn't have MD and so he referred him for physio and now just over 4 months later lo has turned a huge corner. He can get up and sit up on his own and even climbs on the sofa. He's still not as quick as other children his age but the doctor now just thinks he's had a weird quirk in his development where he just didn't develop as expected. He thinks he will be fine and eventually fully catch up.

I'm relating this just to offer some hope that sometimes there is not a sinister reason for developmental delay and that with the right help things can improve. I hope that you have an outcome similar to ours. Best of luck