14 month old not walking and not really saying recognisable words - when should I get worried?

[whattheheck]

Hello DC is 14 months old this week and still no sign of walking. She sat up at 6 months, but didn't crawl til late into 10 months, cruises ok but just isn't standing independently or walking.
All of her other little friends are, and quite a few seem to have started walking around 10 months.
Kind people have suggested that she may be concentrating on other type of development but she's not really talking. Still only says mummummum when she is crying, occasionally says daddy (sort of), and says 'baba' for byebye.
DP and I have kidded ourselves she has said other stuff eg row row for row row row the boat, but I think we are kidding ourselves.
What can I do? And when should I get really worried and see the HV? Am working so she hasn't been for ages.
Sorry if this sounds stupid but wd never forgive myself if I was missing some big problem for months

re the walking. I read somewhere (probably on here) that although it used to be said that you should seek advice if a dc isn't walking by 18 months, the professionals now say 24 months.

Apparently the average age for walking has got later. Something to do with the back to sleep campaign which of course started many years ago. As babies/young children spend significantly less time on their tummies, this makes them later to crawl than in earlier years. This in turn delays the age of walking.

fwiw my dd1 was about 21 months. dd2 was around the same age. HV with dd1 was very helpful (an older lady, now retired) With dd2 we saw a less experienced nursery nurse who made noises about a physio referral and I asked he to put this off until age 2 as I kind of suspected dd2 would be "later" than average to walk.

otoh, both of mine have been fairly early talkers. Imo because they were sitting round on their chubby little bottoms for the extra months () they had more time to learn lots of words.

p.s. within a period of (literally) days dd2 went from a few hesitant wobbly steps to running.

I have very happy memories of about a year ago when she got up from her nap and spent half an hour running into my arms, up and down the landing.

The previous 2 days the cm had noted she had done "6" steps and "10" steps, I worried that dd would save the best for the cm but no.

Please please don't worry it is entirely normal not to be walking at 14 months. My daughter didn't even move at a year so if yours is crawling and cruising she is well ahead of where my DD was at that age! She only cruised at 15-16 months and then walked at 20 months almost exactly. However when she started walking we never had that toppling over unsteady phase, she just started walking and was really good at it! Within a week she was running, jumping, hopping etc-. My HV said she had only heard of one other child walking so late but i'm sure she was exaggerating as there are loads of posts on here on late walkers.

Oh yes the talking - again DD is only just starting to be understandable now at just over 2 years so I think "baba" is pretty good! There is always someone who says their child is a genius - my friends child (same age) reeled off ten types of dinosaurs (the proper long ones) to me the other day whereas my LO can just about say "more water"!!

If it helps my dd didn't crawl til 16 months, or walk til 20 months. v much on late side but still considered normal range. she just couldn't be a*sed i think! (now age 5yr, is fine btw). REALLY regretted worrying myself to death about it. dc2 walked at 10 months so just goes to show they're all different & nothin to do with what you do/don't do. talking sounds like normal range too to me. (trust me there'll come a day when you wish you could get her to stop yabberin... My dc3 is 14months & only at dadada, mamama & 'luh' (light)

Actually, now dc1 older i find it helpful to remember that she was so late @walkin and that i wasted so much energy worryin; most mums worry about their kids learnin to toilet/read/swim/whatever is the current issue and whether their kid's ok, generally these days i manage to let mine do stuff at their own pace a lot more than i probably would've otherwise

thank you again everyone for your reassurance. Still laughing at Katy1368's friend with children with dinosaurs in their vocabulary . Sounds like all the wonder children who surround me!
I will try to relax (all partly bound up in guilt issues, that I haven't done enough to encourage her to talk or walk)

DD1 crawled 10.5 months. Walked 17 months.
Said first word 23 months.

Now at almost 4 you wouldn't know she was a late starter.

She was also the first of all her friends to learn to peddle a tricycle very competently - 21 months!!

Sounds totally normal,just like a lot of babies I have known.

My DS didn't walk until 15-16 months. I wasted lots of time worrying about it. He never sits still now.

I'm now wasting lots of time worrying about his lack of speech. He's 18 months and has great understanding, but hardly says anything. He did have 3 or so words last month, but he seems to have abandoned them for the time being. I'm just going on the fact that he understands most of what I say to him and he will imitate sounds I make, so I'm hoping that nothing is wrong.

It is worrying though. I keep hearing people say "late walker, early talker" or the other way round. Yet my DS seems a bit late on both fronts. He's a bit cautious and I think he just won't do things until he knows he can do them properly (if that makes sense?).

Your DD sounds normal to me and I don't think I would see the HV just yet. Though maybe it would help to put your mind at rest.

"I will try to relax (all partly bound up in guilt issues, that I haven't done enough to encourage her to talk or walk)"

Have you done enough to encourage her to breath or to encourage her hair to grow ? Walking and talking are normal natural processes for a child who develops typically. I am not saying don't read stories or don't talk to your child but it's important not to exaggerate the role of the wonder parent. Often the boasting about the 'advanced' child is the parent boasting about herself - 'You see I knew she would talk at 9 weeks if I chose the right colour of cot bedding and fed her on carbon filtrated EBM.' I shouldn't be on this thread as DS1 has real speech problems but when they became apparent, it was very wearing to keep hearing variants of 'You see I always talked to my babies ..etc' I also think folk sayings like 'late breather, early hair grower' or whatever are just nonsense as well. You'd be better off checking her horoscope.

My DS didn't walk until he was 18 months, or talk until he was 20 months. He now doesn't stop doing both!:0 Try not to worry.