help with walking

[gardeningmum05]

any tips on helping your child start walking.
my other 3 were walking by now,but ds is not. he is nearly 15 months, and just got him leaning against the sofa unaided, and takes afew wobbly steps with help.
he was a lazy baby in fairness, didnt crawl until 13 1/2 months.
any tips gratefully received!

I don't think you can really speed the process up much. I would let him get on with it in his own time, unless you think he has a genuine physical problem stopping him from learning to walk, although it sounds unlikely if he's already doing all the things you say. 15 months is not really considered late to walk - he won't achieve that until he's 19 months old - albeit he is obviously a bit later than your other children, so probably a bit of a surprise to you!

My ds1 had physiotherapy from 15 months until he was walking, because of late gross motor development, and we taught him how to roll over, get to sitting from lying down, crawl, cruise and pull to stand, but we didn't teach him how to walk. He just had to work on that by himself and gradually build up strength and confidence in the normal ways (walking with a cart, etc). He had piedro boots to help support his ankles, but that was because he was excessively hypermobile and had low muscle tone, hence the physical delays. If you don't have these issues, it's apparently better to learn to walk without shoes on, as you develop a better sense of balance and strengthen up the relevant muscles sooner that way.

My little boy did not have physio for walking until he was 25 months old. Not walking is not really an issue until a child is two years old. He had 18 months of physio and had orthoric inserts to help him.

My son had orthopedic problems which meant his toes were stuck in a pointed position. He could only walk on tiptoes and had no reflexiblity in his ankles. We did various stretching excerises. Doing physio with a toddler is a bit of a nightmare. I agree with asteamedpoater that there isn't a lot you can do. They walk when they are ready and my son's physio daughter walked at 18 months.

Anyway my son runs about the playground and enjoys life and at the age of seven you would never know he had a problem.

thankyou for your posts, he has been standing against the sofa today unaided.

we have taught him that as part of getting praise we all clap our hands, so unfortunately when one of us praises him for standing against the sofa he lets go, claps his hands and falls over
men, not the sharpest knife in the drawer

It sounds like he is doing great. My little boy could not stand unaided at 15 months. I think he was about that age when he first pulled himself to standing.