19m old, walking but not pulling to stand- advice

[AtWitsEnd21]

Just looking for some advice from anyone who has experienced similar

DS has been walking since 11.5m thereafter he bum shuffled and now can walk and run very efficiently but is unable to pull to stand. He never crawled or cruised. He has attended a physio 3 times and is making some progress but she has now referred him on to a paediatrician to have his hips assessed and as of today has mentioned that it may be a sensory issue. This is obviously worried me greatly.

DS had a terrible first year and a half. Plagued by reflux and lots of illnesses (brought home from preschool by older DS). He cried almost constantly for the first year and only recently has calmed down. He is a bright, engaging, affectionate albeit fiery little boy with lots of language and loves interacting with people. I’m very blindsided by this referral and also talk of a vague diagnosis. I work in the area of additional needs and I cannot see any indicator or characteristic of a developmental issue.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

I don’t think I can follow precisely what’s going on here. So if he doesn’t cruise or stand up by himself, how can he walk?

apologies only seeing your message now. Yes it is a very unusual presentation indeed, he can walk, run, kick a ball, stand from a seated position but cannot pull to stand. To get into a standing position he usually cries and asks to get up. Or if he is seated he stands from there He has seen a physio and weakness in his upper legs has been identified. He is making progress and doing very well since I initially posted

I can understand you being blindsided but if it does turn out that he is ND then it is really good that he is being reviewed so early as early intervention will have the best outcome.

Has anyone asked you to do this simple progress checker from Speech & Language UK? I think that’s a good place to start if you want to try and get a picture of what’s going on with him before you see the Paediatrician.

Let us know what the progress checker says

Similar situation here. My daughter was walking independently at 17 months but couldn't get up from sitting to standing by herself until about a month later. Also a bum shuffler. She could pull to stand though but wouldn't get on her knees. It was so strange, she sort of pulled herself up on her heels with straight legs! Apparently that's very common with bum-shufflers (said our physio).

I don't have any advice apart from wait it out and see what the paediatrician says. He will likely get there in his own time but worth getting him checked for the sensory issues. Good luck and try not to worry.

Hi there, thank you for your kind words. DS is a prolific little talker, he has words and sentences and only this week we discovered he can count to 8. Far beyond where his older brother was at 19m! When we took him for a second opinion at a different physio she commented on how advanced his speech was. She said there was no signs of ND. He is just quite behind on that gross motor skill of pulling up because he skipped so many steps on the journey to walking, was so unwell from viral infections brought home by older DS which probably delayed him further and is a typical bum shuffler late to hit certain milestones. Thank you though for your comment and I agree early intervention is key!!

Thank you for that! I sought a second opinion from a different physio and she echoed what you have said, typical bum shuffler and will get there in his own time! She was happy he is making progress (standing from steps, can move easily in and out of a child’s chair and car) where the other physio did not regard this as progress. Her advice was completely different from the previous physio, she said continue to build his strength by focusing on the skills he has rather then forcing him on to his knees as the other physio had suggested. She was confident he will get there albeit late. We will go to the paediatrician appointment and get the hip scans done to be diligent but I don’t expect anything will show up and I’m informed if it is hip dysplasia that was missed it’s a wait and see approach with no intervention.