19 months not walking yet, not worried just that it's killing me! Any suggestions on how to encourage him?

[thehairybabysmum]

Hello...im not worried about this developmentally...he will walk between us if we do pushy parent type encouraging, walks atround the furniture no probs, will walk holding hands so clearly nowt wrong with his legs.

Its just that he has been at this 'nearly' stage for over 4 months now!! I think he just doesnt get that it is actually a more efficient way of getting around than crawling.

Anyway im nearly 7 months pregnant (+ SPD) and this is why it's killing me to be carrying him or bending over holding both his hands!! Any suggestions or tips to help him on his way??

I got mine going eventually by sticking a football in front of them.

bugger...just did a search on here on late walking and the consensus on these threads seems to be get it checked by HV after 18 months...wasnt worried before but now i am!!

tried the ball...he loves to drop to his knees and throw it instead! will percivere though.

Do you use reins? We found them quite useful for hoicking up dd without having to bend down and she was also more willing to walk when she had them on because they made her feel secure.

Sorry to hear about the spd! Hope it's not too bad.... when is hairybaby#2 due?

Mine didn't walk until 18 months. Just got up and went one day. She then decided she didn't like it much and took another two months to get going. They're all different. At least you know there is nothing wrong with his legs. I'm sure he'll take off when you least expect it. If I were you I would probably help him as little as possible. That might encourage him to do it himself.

have you seen your HV or a peadatrician?

he might benefit from a bit of physio input

i don't think the child needs physio input if he will walk between its parents. Some completely healthy children do not walk before the age of two. (Including a few steps between very pushy parents.) Children who are bum shufflers are often late walkers.

I would have thought if he can walk between two parents there isn't likely to be a physiological problem. Far more likely he just doesn't se any good reason to walk yet. DS was 18 mths before he walked - as others have said, he just suddenly got it (having walked everywhere holding hands from 10 mths - so my 'nearly there' period was eshausting!). Dd is 16 mths & has just started walking between parents. I ain't worried

For ds, what made a difference was learning to stand alone - once he got that, he was off (& dd hasn't got that yet) Perhaps you could focus on helping him stand alone?

I wouldn't personally be worried, but perhaps seeing a hv would help you feel better??

Good luck with the pg & the spd, btw

Hello everyone, thanks for the replies...feel not worried again now after reading most of these; i feel it is more that he jsut doesnt get it yet as opposed to a physical problem.

I have it in my head that once he is walking i wont have to carry him around anymore...once toddlers can walk they dont want to be carried right?? If only...so i doubt it'll actually make much difference in reality.

Interesting what you say about the standing alone FP as he doesnt really do this much...just starting to by accident IYKWIM when he is holding a toy or suchlike...he always looks horrified though when he realises he is actually stood with NO HANDS!! tis v. funny to watch. Hope your back has recovered from your long nearly there period!!

Hi Kathy...Hairybaby no 2 is due on 6 Oct...SPD not as bad as last time yet, ive been having accupuincture which really helps so im hoping that im staving it off getting really bad.

I did wonder about reins and them making him feel as though he is being held, i might borrow some to try.

bit late to this - but just wanted to add some further reassurance. dd1 didn't walk until 20 months old and sounds very much like your DS. In terms of 'getting her going finally', I bought one of those baby pushchairs from the early learning centre - I think they cost about £5. As soon as she had that, she would spend what seemed like the whole day pushing it around by herself and within a very short space of time after that, she just started walking independently.

So - as long as you don't mind your DS having a 'pink' buggy to push around, it might be something to try....

Choose reins carefully - you need ones that can give a good degree of support without slipping too much so you might need to try them on him in the shop (reasonable shops should allow this!).

Agree with Handbag - get him something to push around - ds had truck with bricks, also used to attach him to the back of the pushchair and just steer (getting the rugby player in him going).

Good luck!

He has a brick trolley thing and a ride on car that he happily pushes and plays with the dolls pushchairs at nursery so dont think buying him owt else will help.

Will try the reins though...good tip about trying on in the shop.

Thanks everyone (why has noone added that yes it is true...once they walk you dont have to carry them around anymore???)

Because it's not true!

Ds 2.3 still likes being carried up and down stairs some of the time.

We went on holiday when he was 2.1 and the buggy lost a bearing so was inoperable - thank heavens for Hippychick seat that I had flung into the car at the last minute - it was a lifesaver (you might find one of these quite good as it at least puts the weight on your hips and saves your arms - although it might not fit at the moment (but worth trying!).

He can now go 2.5 - 3 miles with breaks, but that doesn't mean that he always will!

Second hba's suggestion of the cheapy toy baby buggy. I got one of these in frustration for dd2 who was still bum-shuffling at 19 months and wearing out a pair of trousers a day. The advantage of the buggy over the brick trolley is that the buggies are flimsy in the extreme, so the child has to do much more work in terms of balancing, because they can't lean on the buggy in the way they can on a trolley. The other thing that worked for me (cruel but effective) was to put her outside with nothing on her lower half, so that bum-shuffling was too uncomfortable. She got up and walked pretty quickly after that. It might work for a crawler as well.

he crawls all over our paved yard and our allotment in bare knees, even got some splinters the other day off some bits of wood he climbed up (woops) but still happy to crawl.

Now that mistlethrush has destroyed by hormonal delusions with the truth i cant see as how it makes a difference anyway!!

I don't think you can force it. He will walk when he is ready, ime if they spend ages cruising or walking holding hands, then one day they will just let go and walk really well. My friends dd bum shuffled till past her 2nd birthday no matter what they did to encourage it. Its absolutely not true that when they walk you don't have to carry! 2.6yo ds1 still wants to be carried sometimes even though he is a very good walker, and I end up with one of them in each arm (ds2 13m) staggering about!!