Bum Shuffler to Walker - when?

[Bumblelion]

I am not unduly worried, but thought I would just put this question to see if any other babies are in the same situation as my DD2.

Brief history (which I seem prone to do a bit too often) ... everything fine until baby failed 8 month development check on both counts of fine motor skills and gross motor skills - wouldn't pick things up, unable to sit, not crawling, etc. etc. Was referred to local hospital where they picked up she had a funny shaped head and thought she was crooked. After brain scan and spine scan, spine scan fine - not crooked at all but brain scan showed signs of synostosis (where plates in the head fuse too early). Further brain scan showed synostosis has not affected her development at all (the synostosis is not that noticeable, people can only see it when I point it out to them). She is being referred to Great Ormond Street for second opinion but am still awaiting appointment - 3 months later!!

Anyway, at the age of nearly 15 months, she can sit unaided (has been able to since 9 months) but can't get into a sitting position from laying down. If she sit her up, she will sit there for a very long time. If lying on her back, she can roll to her front (and back again) and kicks her arms and legs but doesn't move anywhere (she is great in the swimming pool - I think she may be swimming before she is walking!). She bum shuffles across the floor and can get around quite easily/quickly this way.

If you stand her up, she will now walk by just holding onto my small finger as just a bit of support and, on Sunday, actually took 2 steps between me and my mum.

BUT ... she cannot pull herself up to standing position from sitting position, can't get into sitting position from lying down (she is nearly there, but can't quite grasp what she is supposed to do).

What I am wondering is:-

(1) How will she learn to sit up if she doesn't crawl - a baby just normally pushes themselves back from a crawling position and then they are sitting up.

(2) How will she learn to walk if she cannot pull herself up to a standing position. As I said, if I stand her up, then she will walk, but she cannot get there on her own.

Anyone else had a late developer who didn't crawl.

I'm not sure but I think bum shuffling / walking late runs in families. My dd has only just learned to walk (15 months) because was quite happy to crawl and / or bum shuffle around at great speeds until then. My younger sister bum shuffled until she was 19 months, when she finally got up and walked. One of my friends also has a bum shuffler of about the same age (the two of them together was quite something) and he only walked at about the same age as my dd. His granny said his father did nothing but sit on his bum until he was well over a year old. Neither of our two babies are big - the opposite in fact - so not sure that this is necessarily the reason for bum shuffling.
I have heard that the very act of crawling teaches the child the necessary coordination for walking which is why bum shufflers generally walk later than crawlers. But they do eventually get there even though sometimes you feel that they are going to be scooping along the road aged 14...

Bumblelion from my experience and chats with others it's nothing to worry about they are so often better at staying upright the longer they leave it to walk and then you don't have the worry of them forever losing their balance and getting yet another bump!

I am going to give a general answer to development rates and not a specific one to anyone.Any mother who is worried should get their child assessed even if you have to be labelled pushy/worrier or whatever.

As we have centiles for height and weight, it could also be said that there are centiles for development.eg The age range for walking is (if I remember correctly)9 months to 20 months.Any child who walks at an age outside of this range is considered early or late.BUT not necessarily developmentaly delayed.The same is true for all the "milestones"Unfortunately baby books and magazines only usually give a specific age eg walking 12 months.We are all normal mums wanting everything to be OK with our children so on reading 12 months we then think we have a problem if dd/ds isn't walking by 14 months.

The most important aspect in assessing child developement is that the child follows the usual "chain" of developement -head support,bringing hands together in mid-line,,sitting ,crawling,pulling to standing etc( there are many other criteria but can't write them all now).There are some exceptions as always like the children who never crawl but on the whole its the overall flow of developement that counts.

The other thing to remember is don't compare.Every child has its own rate some stages will be passed quickly ,other stages may take ages to achieve.We are all individuals and each persons' developement is also individual.

The only other thing I would add is not to rush to anticipate your childs every need.There a lot to be said for leaving that much wanted toy out of reach so the a little bit of effort has to be made,not standing the child at the push along walker.(weight the walker so that if they try to stand up they won't fall over)

Hope this helps.