My 19 month old...problems?

[tvfriend]

My nearly 19 month old DD isn't properly walking or saying much yet. She didn't crawl until she was just 1 and although won't walk on her own pulls herself up, cruises the furniture etc all the time. She has recently started to walk holding onto DH with one hand etc. I can see the improvement from week to week and am sure it won't be too long before she is walking.
In terms of vocab she only has a couple of words really but whitters(!) on a lot, points, waves etc etc and pretty much understands almost everything I say. (even to the the extent that when I said that DS had a dirty nappy the other day she straight away went to get the changing mat without me saying a word about it).She isn't remotely frustrated by her lack of words. Sleeps well, eats well, generally happy etc and although a tiny bit concerned she wasn't walking I wasn't worried about her development in general.
However, my SIL is a GP and has been talking to various doctor friends of hers and between them they seem to have decided (without having met DD) that she should see a specialist as she is obviously developmentally delayed and is talking about dyspraxia. Although I don't have a problem with seeing a specialist if ness, my gut instinct is that there is nothing wrong with her but I have asked the HV to take a look at her. She was a month early and I have just had another baby. She has been very good with him but I have noticed that she wants to be carried more by me etc as she sees me carrying and feeding him.
Not entirely sure what the point of this posting is , I guess I just want some reassurance. Reading mumsnet it seems that most late walkers tend to be late talkers and vice versa but I'm sure some 'normal' children must be late in both?
Because of SIL I keep looking at DD and worrying about her now eg when we are with her little friends and they are all walking I find myself feeling really sorry for her even though she's not remotely bothered. In terms of speech there seems to be so much variation amongst her peers I feel it's too early to worry just yet. The ones with the most words seem to be the ones at nursery. She starts in April so maybe will pick up a bit more then?

sorry- bit of a long post!

She sounds perfectly normal to me.
at your SIL.

Ds is completely normal (imo!) and also babbled mostly at that age. As mother of a pfb, I was pretty worried about it and there's no doubt that he's taking longer to talk that average, but since he's turned two his speech has come on at an incredible rate. He's still not very clear but he speaks in small sentences.

At 19 months he was probably about the same as your dd. I can't comment on your SIL, but the range of normal is so vast that it seems a little premature to be trying to diagnose a child (that none of her doctor friends have actually seen) who is making progress.

I think it sounds normal.

my DSD2 didn't really speak till she was 3YO.

And my mother keeps trying to say DS is 'delayed' cos he's not walking yet. He's 8 Months old . Apparently I was walking at 9 months, therefore he should be well on the way now.

If YOU don't have worries, then don't worry.

I keep telling my mum that my son is perfectly healthy, perfectly average and that's JUST the way I want him.

Just like to add (in case she a mumsnetter!) that SIL is lovely and I know she's only trying to be helpful but...!

I am not a specialist but have been reading a lot on child development. IMO her speech development is perfectly normal, nothing to worry about until 2-2.5 years old. It seems her walking is a bit delayed (not extremely, only slightly), maybe you can have her examined for that.
One of my cousins did not say a single word until 2.5 years old and then suddenly started talking perfectly. He is now a teenager with a perfectly normal IQ, social, not problematic and very sweet. I don't remember when he walked but somewhere between 15-17 months.

If your dd was prem then that's mainly the reason for her delays. My dd was 6 weeks prem and never walked til she was 21 months. I took the fact that she was early into account and never rushed to the doctors, I told myself I would give her until she was nearly two and then I would refer her to a HP.

Once she learnt to walk there was no stopping her and now at 2.9 years she is very steady on her feet.

She was late crawling and walking and slower at learning to chew lumpy food; there is nothing wrong with her mentally at all; in fact she is a very bright spark.

My advice is give her a bit more time. She was prem and it takes prems longer to build up their muscle strength.

Thanks for replies