Very worried - 18 month old still not pulling up

[zen1]

I've posted here before about my DS when he was very late to sit up unaided. Well, he eventually mastered sitting up at 2 weeks before a year old. He fell backwards a lot at first, but now sits very well and doesn't fall over. At 15 months (again very late), he started bum-shuffling and now gets everywhere by this method. However, I took him to see the hv today and she asked me if he weight-bares, and to be honest, he doesn't really. She looked him over and said he has good muscle tone and can see no obvious sign of anything being wrong, but has said that if he'd not pulling up by 21 months she will refer to the paediatrician.

He is bright and interactive, has good fine motor skills and communicates well, so I am not worried about him in any other respect. He is also a very tall baby. I should point out that my other DCs were late walkers (one at 21 months), but I just keep thinking what if there's something awful wrong with DS?

I just wondered if anyone else out there had a baby who was very late achieving the gross motor milestones but didn't ever have a reason behind it?

Thanks

To be honest, he is late passing his developmental milestones. The fact that your others followed a similar pattern is reassuring, but to be honest I would push for a referral, if only to set your mind at rest.

It seems to me that it is a along time for you to feel anxious if there is nothing seriously wrong and that is reason enough. I would say that to your GP if you feel awkward about going over your HV's advice. If it is a something to more serious then it is better to find out sooner rather than later.

Ask your GP to refer to paed. It is unusual for a child not to be weight bearing at 18 months. It would put your mind at rest for some of the horrible ones to be ruled out if nothing else. My DS1 was not walking at 17 months, although he was weight bearing, and I was told if he was not walking at 19 months they would do blood tests / x-rays. Of course he walked a week later. He also sat up a bit late - about 9 mths ish.

Any chance he could be double-jointed btw? This is what they think is behind my DS's probs. Were your other DCs weight bearing at that age?

hi my dd is also late in her gross motor milestones - we got refered as it was picked up by a HV - we saw a paed physiotherapist. Like Owelingate it was hypermobility (think that is the same as double jointedness) extra flexibility in joints meaning they need stronger muscles to support joints hence it all taking longer. the physio said it was fairly common reason for late walkers. she gave me some exercises for her to do but i haven't bothered and let her just get on with it and she is slowly but surely getting there. so maybe you could ask to be refered to a physio

Hi, thanks for the replies. I think my DS could be double jointed as he is very flexible and bendy. I hope it is something as benign as that.

4oclock how old is your dd? Can she weight-bear? I am not worried that he can't walk. 18 months is the average in my family - it's just the weight bearing thing. My first DC walked at 15 months and like I said DC2 was very late at 21 months, but started weight bearing at 15 months.

she is 18 months. sat up around 10 months - was weight bearing sometimes at about 12 months but would often just stick her legs out if you tried to stand her up (so she was in an 'l' shape sitting position) she still does that sometimes. i think she started to pull herself into standing about 6 weeks ago quickly followed by cruising. but still on the weight bearing she feels v different to others of her age and younger who seem to instinctively push their legs down to weight bear if you stand them - she prefers to lean on you with her upper body or head to get up to standing.
sounds like you ds follow a v similar pattern to my dd so could well be the same thing

Thanks 4oclock. My DS also uses his head a lot to lean. Actually, before he could sit up and bum shuffle, he got everywhere on his back and used his head to push himself around.

Hi,

My son is still not walking at nearly 20 months. He was lateish sitting alone and crawled the day before he was 13 months. However he started pulling up by 14 months. He now cruises, walks with his trolley walker and has started to take the odd step unsupported.

He's been seen at the development clinic by a paediatrician twice (at 1 year and at 18 months). The current conclusion is that he is just a late developing boy - on the late side of normal and he will be checked again at 2 and a half.

However, it is standard in my area that all boys not walking at 18 months have a blood test for creatine (a substance in the muscles) a low reading could indicate muscular dystrophy. Fortunately my son's came back as normal. He has been referred to a physiotherapist as well.

Since he started to crawl I've been taking his to Gymbabes (the non-walking class at Tumbletots) and I think this has definitely helped him progress.

Was he prem Zen1? Apparently this way of getting around - like a backwards crab is sometimes seen with premature babies.

My DD has low muscle tone and hypermobility. She crawled at 15 months and walked at 20 months. She was weight baring at 11 months although although took ages to progress from cruising to walking. She has needed physio to help strengthen muscles - particularly in her trunk area.

No, he was overdue and a big baby (head circumference off the scale (ouch!)) I often wondered if it was his heavy head that was part off the problem. He always hated tummy time though and would flip back over if you put him on his tummy. Still won't lie on his tummy. I guess that's why he never crawled and went everywhere on his back. My DS1 took ages to go from cruising to walking too (about 5 months), though he walked at 15 months.

Hanbee that it what I am worried about (and I would rather not know if it was something like that tbh). Your DS sounds very like my DS2. He sat at 9.5 months, bum shuffled at 13 months, pulled up at 15 months but didn't walk till 21 months. I was never worried about him so I never saw a paediatrician or anything, but he was late meeting all his gross motor milestones. He is 4 now and you can see he's still slightly behind his peers, but doesn't stand out at all.

My dd1 walked at 21 months and my dd2 was later, around 22 months. Neither had any identified health problems associated with this. (interesting both were "early" talkers and I used to say that they enjoyed sitting round chatting rather than learning to walk; probably a grain of truth in this)

With dd1 I had an experience hv who said not to worry and she was right. With dd2 hv had retired and we saw quite an anxious nursery nurse. She worried that dd2 was late to roll, she worried that dd2 was late to sit, to crawl etc etc. I was less anxious as I suspected that it would be the same pattern as it was with dd1. at 18 months noises were made about physio referral but I asked her to hold off for a few more weeks and in the end there was no need.

I also read (on here I think) that it used to be advised that you sought professional help if a dc wasn't walking by 18 months. I think that has changed to 24 months. Part of the reason is due to babies now being put to sleep on their backs. When babies were put on front/back/side or whatever this motivated/encouraged them to roll and move earlier, apparently. Now they are all put on their backs, it has caused a slight delay in these skills for some babies.

hth

Incidentally dd1 was a large baby (almost 10lb) and 11 days later than edd.

Just to add that dd1 (who is now 6) was also one of the latest to do things like hop/jump/skip so has always been a bit later than her peers in these areas.

Likewise dd2 who is almost 3 now was quite "late" to jump. Also she still waddles a bit like a much younger child when she runs. dd1 also did this but soon learnt to run "properly"

It's tricky because ime children do develop at quite different rates, but obviously the health professionals have to be aware that for some there will be reasons for this that need addressing.

Yes that does help onepiece - thanks for posting that. Yes, a different hv wanted to refer my DS when he wasn't sitting at nine months but I said I wasn't worried then as my last DS was late too. I persuaded them to give him till he was one and fortunately he was sitting by then.

My DS's were all around 2 weeks past edd as well

hi i've not had any experience of this (DD walked at 10 months) but I would just like to say trust your own instincts. You know your own son better than anyone and if your other DC were slow to walk and can do so now without any trouble then don't worry. I get a bit annoyed with milestones about when children should be doing things by a certain age.

If you are still worried in a few months then by all means look into it. Is there anything they could do if they found out about any potential problems now rather then in a few months?

Something to make you

When dd2 wasn't rolling at the "right" age, (I have no idea when this should have been, can't really remember) we were "recalled" to the baby clinic.

The nursery nurse (who is lovely but very serious and a bit inexperienced) told me that it was essential that dd2 rolled from tummy on to her back. I had never seen dd2 do this, she showed no interest and just used to lie still if put on tummy (or complain)

anyway, dd2 was placed on her tummy by the lady. She (the baby) lay there quietly for a while and looked at us expectantly. She then spontaneously turned over. lol

The funny thing was she was far too young to know what was expected, but it was almost as if she was thinking "ok mummy, she obviously thinks it is a big deal so I'll do it the once and then we can go home for lunch"

She never did it again (well she did, but not for weeks and weeks)

I know what you mean about trusting your own instincts. I have to say I wasn't really worried about DS3 until other people started commenting and someone even asked me at what point I would be worried. I just assumed he was just going to be very late, but would get there eventually.

I understand that physio would be the main thing that would be offered if I sought professional help now. However if something truly awful was behind this (like MD) then there is no cure so I would rather not know at the moment.

onepiece.

Ds never rolls from back to front, but this is his own choice as the one time he did do it (at a few months old) he got wedged against the end of his cot as he couldn't roll back again!

I think you are right zen. Is there any point of doing physio if he is going to do it in his own time anyway? and you are also right about it if it (god forbid) turns out to be anything serious.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thank you BrokenB

I agree, we had the blood test mainly because we're expecting DS2 and if anything had shown up we could at least get antenatal testing and be prepared.

I believe DS1 was offered physio so they could assess how he's using his muscles, legs, feet etc. rather than actually "doing" anything to him.

I have to say that the paediatrician we've seen has been immensely reassuring. DS is late in nearly all his development areas so we were quite worried something major was wrong. She has reassured us that 1) he's a boy (!) 2) most of these things are genetically programmed and just because a child is on a slower track doesn't mean he has less chance of reaching the same final destination.

You know better than anyone when to be worried and when to wait and see.

Hope everything works out.

Just to reassure you, my mother neither walked nor talked before she was 2 years old. She was very contented and enjoyed sitting and smiling and being told she was beautiful.
She was slow to do everything, but for no particular reason than just that she was like that.

My DD is 20 months and has only just started crawling. She doesn't stand or take her weight but was seen my Paed and Physio last month and diagnosed with hypermobility (extreme double jointed) so we have been told she will be fine but will take longer to stand and walk etc.

I understand it is very common so maybe seeing a physio would reassure you? The Paed also wanted to test DD for Muscular Dystrophy (despite her being a girl) but I refused this test until we could see the physio as I didn't want to put her through that if it was Hypermobility iyswim

Thank you everyone. Hanbee, it's funny but when I've mentioned DS not walking / pulling up to other (experienced) mums, a lot have responded with "well, he's a boy!". It was reassuring to read what you had been told by your paediatrician.

Peasandbeans thanks for posting about your mum. Does sound like my DS. He just likes sitting and smiling at everyone too. That's why I'm so reluctant to go down the referral route: I know they'd find something (even if it was just to say he was slow), but I feel that it's just his personality.

tothy do you find your DD is very "bendy"? Who was it who decided to refer her to the paeds and at what age?

My DD is 18mo, has only just started weight bearing and is a bum shuffler- have posted almost identical OPs to yours!

HV said that bum-shufflers often walk later as they can get around upright, carrying toys etc in this way- so it could be a factor.

I walked just before my 2nd birthday. I could talk very well so I could just get people to do stuff for me, I reckon.

I'm still a bit lazy, tbh...