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Slow gross motor development

2 replies

HP07 · 23/09/2017 19:15

My son turns 1 in 10 days time. He is a very happy boy, constantly laughing and generally lovely to be around but he is very slow on his gross motor development. He learnt to roll at around the right age and can sit very confidently unaided, however, he can only commando crawl. He really struggles to get up into the classic crawl position and his legs just buckle and splay back out underneath him. He can't get from tummy or back to sitting so can only sit when placed into position. He has just learnt to pull himself to standing but can only do it where there is something to hold only like a rail, for instance in his cot if he is sat facing the rail. He will literally use his whole upper body strength to pull himself up. Although he learnt to roll as a younger baby it seems that he doesn't do it anymore. His fine motor development is much better. His pincer grip is good, he can clap, wave and point to his head and tummy when asked to do so. He can say cat and dada, he interacts very well with me and other members of the family with good eye contact etc. He will hand things to you and show you things. So in that way his development seems good. He prefers to play with older children but I think it's because he is not fond of other babies poking him in the eye and grabbing his face as he seems a gentle soul.

Will the standing, cruising, getting up to sitting position etc all come in time or is he really far behind? He can put weight on his feet but he is quite wobbly. All of his friends are ahead of him and some are up to 6-8 weeks younger than he is. Am I worrying over nothing? Is this just a muscle thing where he hasn't got enough strength yet or is it pointing to something bigger? Thanks

OP posts:
underthebridget · 24/09/2017 19:08

Hi my DD is just 1 and she has only just learnt to sit herself up from lying down in the last fortnight. She's also only just started pulling up and as you say, it's a whole body effort and nowhere near as effortless as our baby friends that are two months younger!
I've been reassured by lots of friends and the HV that she is still within the "normal" range of development but will likely be a late walker. I can imagine she's another 2 months at least from walking, if not more.
Give your HV a call just to check but it sounds like we have late developers in terms of gross motor skills.

dimples76 · 24/09/2017 20:46

I'm not an expert (my son has global developmental delay) but I think your son sounds within the normal range. It sounds as though lots of other areas are progressing well.

My son really struggled with going from lying to sitting (didn't master it til 19 months). Lying on the floor and thinking it through made me realise how many steps are needed to get from lying flat to sitting. There are some useful YouTube videos showing how you can help your child learn.

Of course some children don't crawl. My son's physio was saying to me that she thought he would go straight to walking when he crawled across the rug behind her!

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