13 month old reluctant walker, anything i can do to encourage her?

[mrswill]

My dd, was quite a late bum shuffler at 11 months, but soon caught up and has been pulling herself up and cruising, power shuffling up the stairs etc.
Shes also getting from sitting to standing without needing to hold onto anything to help, and bending over to get toys. HV says they usually dont do this until they walk, and how unusual it is, blah blah, so has put a bit of the fear of god into me.
I try and hold her hands to walk and she can do it easily, but seems frightened. Is there anyhting i can do to encourage her, has anyone found push along toys help. Have been considering waving a bar of chocolate in her face, as i know that would work for me

No worry as such with lack of walking, but HV said her development in the area was unusual. Hence PFB posting

lol mrswill; it isn't PFB at all

the fact she is doing other (more advanced) stuff is a good thing imo.

My 10.5mo old DS couldn't even crawl properly until a couple of days ago, but has been pulling up for a couple of weeks and standing alone for two or three seconds and spending ages practising letting go of things and balancing.

My other two were definate crawlers before they mastered any sort of pulling up onto furniture and letting go of it so this has been quite amusing for me.

The first little while, when they're still getting the hang of it, they fall a lot. DD1 still has a little scar on her lower lip where she split it falling against a chair. And once they walk, they start thinking about climbing. This is where DS came to grief, age 14 months and attempting to scale the bookshelves -- they have absolutely no common sense. HVs should all be smacked upside the head whenever they use the words 'usual', 'unusual, 'normal' etc.

Many thanks to all your kind replies. Now i dont know what i was worrying about! Seeing as other people have got babies that did not automatically stand up and start walking at 12 months bang on! thanks for taking the time to reply.

I think babies that walk at 12 months are in the minority...what made you think they walked at 12 months, just out of interest?

13mths isnt late at all.
Id say your DD is doing just fine.It is just gaining the confidence. Walking is a huge step for them ( pardon the pun!)

My DD is 13mths too and was walking at 11mths. She started doing a few steps, now and again..then a week later stood up and walked the length of the hall at toddler group! Hasnt sat down since!!
(not bragging!- DD is an impatient thing who has always been advanced in her development..She was sitting unaided at 4 mths.)

I know she is in the minority as most of her baby friends the same age are cruising.
Dont rush her walking she will do it in her own time and believe me, there will be stopping her! My DD is now into everything and doesnt miss a trick!!! Really keeps me on my toes!

DS2 isn't yet crawling at 13 months but I am not worried as I can see he has all the component skills but just hasn't put them all together. To be fair with ds1 and dd leaving their toys all over the place he never actually needs to move to get to a toy. Plus he spends a fair amount of time in the pushchair on school/playschool run so doesn't get much practice. To be honest I appreciate the fact he doesn't move very far - very useful.
I know he will get there in the end and that when he does I will be wistfully remembering when he didn't need such constant supervision.

There is a sure fire method to make sure that your child is walking, you just have to follow 3 simple steps:

(1) Buy a bottle of champagne ready to celebrate her success.
(2) Audit your house for trip hazards to new walkers.
(3) Wait six months.

Seriously, stop worrying - she will get there in her own sweet time. In a couple of weeks she'll probably be driving you demented by running away at each nappy change.