18mth DD late walker and very wide gait

[nellieellie]

Just wondered if anyone has noticed anything similar with their toddler at the time. My DD is 18mths. She was a late crawler and only started walking about 5 weeks ago. Because she did not weight-bear or crawl by 12mths we had her checked for hip dysplasia - saw a consultant and had an X ray. Everything was Ok we were told. However since she has been walking she has a wide gait - she is not bow-legged, but holds her legs wide apart when walking. I thought it natural for a few weeks, especially as she is quite chunky, but there seems to be no improvement. Is this normal? It's like watching frankenstein's monster cruising down the hallway.

is her nappy in the way?

lots of babies walk like John Wayne because of bulky nappies

it goes without saying that if you are worried, then get to your GP/HV

Well, she walks just the same when she has no nappy. Yes - I will be making an appt with the GP - but all they will do is refer her to a consultant - who will take an x-ray if s/he thinks anything is wrong - but she has already had an x ray. Just thought in the meantime it would be useful/poss reassuring to have comments from mumsnetters. Thanks rubyslippers.

Sounds like a completely normal gait for a new walker to me and not unusual for her still to be walking like this after only 5 weeks (remember that if starting to walk at 17 or 18 months, you have a greater height to fall from and more weight to get used to carrying around than a 12 month old, so it is hard work getting used to it and avoiding getting hurt). And whilst she is later than average, if she's already walking at 18 months, this isn't actually genuinely late walking at all - plenty of children walk this late, so isn't a major cause of concern if her development otherwise is on track. Walking with a wide gait just helps with stability in a child that is still not feeling entirely steady on her feet. My feeling would be to let her keep practising for another month or two before you start to worry.

My ds1 had a funny wide based gait and held his arms up high for several months after he finally started walking (and didn't walk until he was 23 months old). Ds1 is now 5 and doesn't look remotely odd when he walks.
Ds2 didn't walk until 17 months and I didn't even consider this to be "late."

thanks for this asteamedpoater. I prob wouldn't be at all worried if it hadn't been for the Hip Dysplasia scare but what you say does make sense. Wish I could remember how my 3 yr old DS walked - but he was a lot more streamlined - and much younger.

I'm not an expert but what you describe sounds perfectly normal to me. Ds2 has only just stopped lurching like Frankenstein's monster (arms outstretched and everything) and he started walking at the beginning of December.

If she is still doing it in 3 months then maybe raise it with your GP but for now, I wouldn't worry.

Thanks wb, I'll give it a few months I think