Encouraging toddler to run

[mizzles]

Hi all. DD is 20 months old. She is lovely, bright and funny (talks in sentences, 'counts' to 20, recognises letters, etc) but seems a little behind in gross motor skills. She walked at 14 1/2 months but can't run yet or walk up the stairs at home without me holding her hand (she can walk up smaller stairs holding onto the rail with both hands). She is good at climbing and I make sure she gets plenty of physical activity at the weekends (walk around the park and play for 90 mins or so each day plus active play inside like climbing, hide and seek, etc). But she can't seem to get the hang of running, which apparently most kids can do by her age. Any tips on how to encourage her? I encourage her to chase after the pigeons etc in the park but at most she does a slightly faster walk. She seems to be much more interested in chatting than running, bless her.

The normal range for running is between 18 and 24 months OP. She sounds fine.

Well every child developed in their own pace. She's going to run when her body is ready for running. I would say allow and respect her own pace of development. Running comes naturally and she will do it in time.

My daughter is also 20 months old, and has only just started running. She didn’t walk until 16 months either.

They all do things in their own time, try not to worry!

I really think this is not one you need to rush having chased too many toddlers before they nearly ran into the road

My 19.5 month old doesn't run, while children a little younger than him at the groups we go to seem to be dashing about. He also still crawls up stairs or needs adult help. But his "focus" seems to usually be fine motor, and speech and gross motor often seem on the back burner (apart from climbing, he did that early...) until he's totally ready for the new skill. Sounds like your DD's is speech and language! She'll get there, they all do

My DD was exactly the same as yours. Super chatty etc but slow on the gross motor stuff. Don't worry, running will come in time and then you'll obviously wish she would stand still!

I think as long as she has opportunities to be physically active, then it's fine.

Thanks all for the responses. It's hard not to worry a little when she takes a bit longer to master certain skills but it's reassuring to hear that she is within the range of normal development. And she is a sweetheart in so many ways. Thank you all.