10 Month old wants my fingers to hold onto so she can walk ALL DAY! Literally! Help!

[TaraQ]

10 month old dd has never tried to crawl. Has always done the whole skydiving thing when on stomach and hates it. For past 2 months all that she has wanted is for us to pull her up by our fingers so that she can walk all the time. It has now got to the stage where she won't even sit and play for more than a couple of minutes - she wants to move and explore but the only way that she knows how to do that is using our fingers for support so that she can walk around. She will stand holding onto furniture but will not really pull herself up to standing alone or cruise. We bought her a push along walker but she has not really got the stablity or confidence to use this yet. Also bought her a hop n' pop thinking that she could stand up in it and play - not interested! I am at my wits end. Has anyone else had similar? Any advice or tips? Am tired of people telling me "enjoy it while you can" when I tell them she is not moving yet but they don't understand - she will not just sit there and occupy herself - she is completely dependent on me.

My ds is exactly the same TaraQ, he has been pulling to standing and walking holding our fingers since 7months and has only just started cruising round the furniture now (9mo) and taking a few steps on his own. It really is exhausting isn't it.

My dd never did this - my back is done in! No real advice I'm afraid, other than to get a low table and let her walk round it ad infinitum, keeps my ds happy for a while before he wants to run the length of the house after his sister again!

We can't even go near ds without him trying to climb us, and it's now impossible to bathe him- as soon as you touch him to wash him he leaps up- do you get this?

Oh my God - totally!! Even if I pass her a beaker or a toy she will grab my hands and make her body rigid to try and get up! She tries to walk in the bath but ends up doing a moonwalk because she slips along the bottom. It is a nightmare but she is clearly a long way off walking I think. Have no idea how much longer it will go on for. Am off out to meet some other Mummy friends for coffee now but I know that I will end up just walking her round the coffee shop to keep her happy. x

I know what you mean. I go to toddler group and the other lo's sit happily playing whilst their mums drink tea, and I'm chasing around the room trying to have a conversation over my shoulder! Good luck at the coffeeshop!

My dd had physio very young for this reason (she had developmental delay) One of the techniques they used was to put her on an inflatable rolly thing. They said it was important because her chest and upper arm muscles needed to be developed before the leg muscles. Also they said it was important to weight-bear on the hands to develop sensation and to strengthen.

I don't know if that helps, there are plenty of babies that go through development without ever crawling. I'm no expert, but I learned from experience that physical development is closely connected to cognitive development.

mine too [sigh]

my dd (7 months today) has recently discovered the joys of walking round holding my fingers. Whilst it was amusing at first it is now very tiring, I have been up and down the garden 4 times today already. If I sit on the floor next to her she tries to scale me every time. She can amuse herself for 5 mins max before she wants up.

No advice here either I'm afraid, apart from that dd likes her walker for about 10 mins before getting bored, have you tried one of those? I suppose it is just a phase they have to go through. I'm off to Granny and Grandad's for a week, I've already told them to get limbering up...their garden is a lot longer than mine

Ha! Yes, our walker gets a lot of use too. He particularly likes the garden where he can scoot over to plants and try and eat the leaves.

Thank you so much for adding your messages - at least I know I'm not the only one! Am trying to encourage her to walk with one hand instead of 2 - not quite so bad on my back!