Mums's with 'late walkers', give me some reassurance please!

[tvfriend]

My DD is 16 months and was a late crawler- started just after she was 1. She is now 16 months and will push her baby walker around a bit and pulls herself up all the time but has never tried to stand on her own, flatly refuses to walk when holding on to my hands or stand up holding my handsetc. I just can't imagine her ever standing on her own or walking!
All her NCT group are running around and she is just content to crawl to what she wants.
DO you think there's anything to worry about or is there anything I can do to encourage her? I'm having another baby in the new year so I'd quite like her to be walking by then.

Apparently my brother was 2 when he started walking.

my ds didn't start walking until late 16 months. i was panicked, thought there was something wrong with his feet, his legs, his hips.... it was just him taking his time. he was the same though. never wanted to walk holding my hands and only did it a bit with the walker. the little bugger - first day back at nursery after the summer break when i picked him up they said ah so pleased he has started walking and he did 7 steps today. i was completely gutted as you can imagine as had been waiting so long for the big moment and missed it.
the thing that really helped was a proper pair of shoes. i had him barefooted all the time but the support of the shoe seemed to give him a bit more confidence.
he also talks more now than any of his friends and thier mums are all panicking that their kids are late talkers!!

Thanks qumps- was wondering about the shoes. Sure I was told that it wasn't worth getting them until they were properly walking but was thinking only this morning that maybe I should get her some- she just wears the little soft leather ones or socks/barefoot at the moment. My mum said she would buy her first pair and she is visiting next week so maybe we'll get some then. DD doesn't go to nursey but I can imagine her doing the same as your DS! She refuses to use her walker if anyone encourages her but as soon as you look the other way she is up and off!

DD crawled at 13 months, then knee walked for ages before finally running across the room at 21months. She's still a bit behind with gross motor skills at nearly 3, but you wouldn't really notice.
I would hold off on the shoes until properly walking though, think the advice it that they have to be walking for 6 weeks before you buy proper shoes- The soft leather ones should be fine - maybe wellies for outside?

Hope that helps....

i had held off on the shoes because of all the advice too. hadn't even put him in the leather things as just thought bare feet the way to go. but they really made a difference. i am back to barefeet at home now but for a few weeks he wore them in the house. he did have a tendency to walk slightly on the outside of one of his feet though so it helped him put them flat.
def go to a good shoe place and ask their advice.

16 months is not that late,and far too early to worry IMO. My DD didn't even bear weight until 22 months and walked as she turned 2. If she is pulling to stand she will get there!

Also,my DD never used a walker or walked holding hands,just took off one day!

I'm not really worried yet to be honest, more that I want her to walk for both our sakes! When we are in places that it's too filthy for her to crawl I think it would be nice for her if she could toddle around instead. Of course I know that I will then be running after her all the time!

agree its far harder work when they actually walk!
hope you feel better about it

Both of mine bum shuffled and then walked late. dd was about 17-18 months, ds 20-21 months.

They are 5 and 7 now and don't appear to have any after effects of late walking!!

My DD was a bumshuffler (a rare and lovely breed) and seemed to spend age 10 months to nearly 2 working on speech rather than anything gross motor related .

She walked at about 21 months and thereafter was a fantastic walker (ie great stamina etc). I didn't do anything - they will go in their own time. There is a vast range of normal.

Til about 4 she was slightly less physical than her peers - now at 5 there is no discernable difference (and they seem to caught up with her speech and vocab )

I feel your pain - I was pg with no.2 while she was still bumshuffling and there was times I thought she would never walk (I also got quite fed up with people asking - is she walking yet?) But instinctively I knew there was nothing wrong.

DS1 was 18m+
DD 22m
DS2 nearly 15m and not there yet either.

DS1's paediatrician told me - when I said I hoped he'd be walking by 1 year - "It's as normal for a baby to walk at 20 months as it is for a baby to walk at 10 months."

Also, the later they walk, the less accidents they seem to have, IME. They don't do the "monster walk", they just get on with it.

Also,my DD never used a walker or walked holding hands,just took off one day!

oops, my phone reposted for me!

There's really no need to worry yet - my DS didn't sit up till about 10 months and didn't walk till 15 months. You could try what they call 'cruising' shoes (Clarks etc) which are supposed to be helpful at the stage where the LO is standing up and moving round the furniture.

Turniphead- the woman serving me in John Lewis the other day asked if she was walking. When I said No she said 'ooh aren't you worried?'. As I was returning lots of things without a receipt and I wanted her to be nice I held my tongue!

ds- 16 mths and I thought that was late until
dd- 20 mths, like turniphead's dd she was a bum shuffler from 12mths-20mths.

She is now 2.4 and totally fine!

dd2 is not quite 7 months and already up on hands and knees so I might get my first early walker

Both my DS's were around 18 months or so, both are completely fine and run like nutters!

another bum shuffler here- ds walked at about 22 months and now is same as peers but much better at talking as he concentrated on that while they spent an extra year crawling and walking!!

My DS crawled at 11 months, pulled up and stood at 15 months, but didn't take a single step unti he was 20 months.

Then the next day, he walked up and down the kitchen.

Your DD will do it when she is ready.

this thread has really helped me thx xxx
my ds2 is 9 1/2 months and not sitting or crawling but attempting both, good to hear other stories. i wasnt concerned until ther people started making coments, the usual mums that show off when there 6 month old can do everything! i can sleep easy tonight! just another reminder that mum knows best!

At about 16 months DD2 just got up and walked. There wasn't even any attemting to walk prior to this. My sis was 2 when she started walking.

Mine walked at 17 months. She can do headstands now that she's 3 and she is very good at running away when I don't want her to

DS2 walked, eventually, at 19mths. Is right as rain now at 3yo. I worried about it at the time and got lots of reassurance from MN.

I do fear that we spent so many weeks trying to force him to totter across the room ("Walk to Mummy! Now walk to Daddy!") that he still thinks running madly around the room is our preferred way of interacting with him!