18 month old not walking & hates shoes

[mermaidwave]

He took a couple of steps last week (I put 2 blocks in his hands as I read that can work) so he walked from me to DH but it was forced IYSWIM. He just has no interest. He walks with a walker, runs with it even. He's been cruising for months. I bought him some soft soled shoes yesterday hoping it may help & he hates them. He turned 18 months last week & I was hoping he would have cracked it by now. He's the biggest at his nursery & all the others can walk.

Looking for a hand hold or advice really.
No siblings to compare to.

He had viral meningitis as a baby & I always wonder whether that is having some effect somewhere, or whether he's just not interested/lazy. He had a physio assessment last summer as a standard neonatal follow up & no issues identified there.

TIA

My friends little girl didn't walk until 2. Turns out she is just incredibly risk averse and it has continued as she's got older! She had physio etc. 8 years old and developmentally fine now. Hope everything ends up fine with yours. Your health visitor or doctor must be able to start a referral of some sort if they are concerned?

what kind of walker are you using? The one he pushes or the one he sits in? I'm asking because baby walkers (the ones babies sit in) have been known to be causing gross motor delays.

Ds could walk at 10 months. He chose not to unless it was the easiest option until he was about 19 months.

Reasons:
Crawling was quicker
He could crawl with a car in each hand and watch the wheels

There may have been going on that he had glue ear badly, so he was often ill, and that may have effected his balance too. He started walking more than he crawled about 19 months, just before his first grommet operation, so not totally convinced that was the reason.

I think it was simply that it was easier.

If it is a Walker he sits in I would get rid of it. It can affect their stance making it harder to walk when they do have to. Plus he's got no incentive to learn at the moment if he gets places more quickly with the Walker.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

He is using a push along walker. He also walks just holding on to my finger, but only if he feels like it. If you let go he will take a step on his own, then almost realises he's on his own, & gently goes back to ground level & continues to crawl. Hopefully with time the confidence will come. I would be more relaxed without his rough start, but of course anything that happens or in fact doesn't happen, my brain goes straight to when he was poorly & wonders if that's the reason why.