Any ideas why my son can't walk?

[blacksheep2014]

Deeply unreasonable to ask an Internet forum but will let me talk it through while we wait for the physio appointment.

DS is 21 months old, 75th centile for height, 91st weight. He has about 15 reliable words and lots of animal noises, he cruises, weight bears, goes up and down stairs and can crawl at lightening speed, he He holds his right foot at a 90 degree angle out the way the vast majority of the time. His right ankle feels very flat to me, no ball on the inside or outside that i can feel. A few sensory issues and some flapping but nothing that would push me to act except the fact he will not walk.

In the last two weeks he has begun to walk holding hands and also does this funny hands and feet on the ground bear crawl but still with both or at least the right foot pointing out.

Mummy is trained in childcare and starting to panic. What could it be mumsnet?! Have been referred to physio by health visitor but she hasn't seen him for 6 months. Expecting appointment in the next two weeks.

Paediatric physios are usually well integrated into the services that look after children with serious nerve/muscle/brain control of movement disorders so seeing them and them being happy with exercises + "wait and see" is usually a good sign, if they suspect other problems they tend to be quick to involve the relevant people. You can ask specifically at their next appointment if they're worried at all about anything serious.

The other things you describe seem within the range of usual 2 year old behaviour and appropriate for "wait and see". The reputation of HV has unfortunately taken a hit (especially in pandemic) just because of such limited provision, but actually they are usually the best informed professionals for spotting what's out of the ordinary (and are well connected to paediatricians in most areas AIUI).

i would push for hearing test to check for glue ear and see a SALT privately if you can afford. The speech therapy charity ICAN are wonderful - you can book an appointment with their lovely speech therapist on their helpline. I would ask for a referral to physio for the walking.

I would also do the MCHAT and see how he scores. Buy Hanen book It Takes Two to Talk for the Wilmslow Press (v pricey on Amazon etc) and that’s brilliant for encouraging speech.

I don’t want to be ’that person’ but lots of signs of autism to me! My son is autistic. They just develop differently, doesn’t mean things will never happen. I hope things become clearer for you all soon.

His M-CHAT score is 9, his dad and I did it separately and both scored him at 9

My son was the same weight / height percentiles as yours and didn't walk until 23 months.

His size plus low muscle tone makes it harder for them to start in my view. He was (still is) flat footed and needed eye patching and glasses for his eyesight.

Core exercises, lots of practice and specs helped a lot!

My DD didn’t walk without holding hands until 22 months but would hold hands and walk from 18 months, if you let go, she sat down.
She is 19 now and was a very talented gymnast for 15 years, where her hyper mobility was actually a useful “problem”. She saw a physiotherapist at 11 for an ankle injury, and we found out that she had hyper mobility. We were around similar DC so much we didn’t realize she was hyper mobile. Gymnastics apparently is brilliant for strength training for hyper mobile DC. The physiotherapist said it had actually prevented my DD from having problems with hyper mobility.

Oh and just to add she walked on tiptoes all the time as a toddler and young child.

No signs of autism but definitely of sensory seeking behaviour and problems with focusing/ attention. As PP said it does all seem to be connected in some way.

on revised M Chat iirc 9 is high risk isn’t it? If so then might be worth taking a print
out of the MChat to GP and asking for a referral to developmental paediatrician

just to share my experience I have a somewhat similar sparky dc who is now a teen. I wish I had pursued early diagnosis and got an EHCP in place at age 3 for speech etc. i left it until much older to get. Diagnosis and that made it harder to get the help we needed. Mine is a chatty and happy bright boy in mainstream doing really well with support. Don’t know if this helps.

Took his first steps today in case anyone out there comes across this thread on a similar situation. 21 days before his 2nd birthday we have a fully fledged toddler 😁

I had similar issues with DD.
I recall she wasn't walking at 19 months but would sit.
She walked fine before she was 2 but took a fisher price walker with her everywhere and couldn't walk without that for months.
She struggled making friends at school throughout and had other issues including discalcula.
Looking back she was very likely autistic but we didn't really know about it then.
She re took her Maths GCSE 5 times and passed in the 5th attempt .... jeez the whole school were so behind her the Maths teacher arrived at our house the night before and sat in our dining room revising with her !
She found her people in 6th form.
Went to uni and is now 32 / married with a gorgeous new baby / qualified as a year her teacher and head of year with specialism in Maths.
Sorry didn't want to make it all about me but not all babies are the same. Your dc is later than average so you're doing the right thing and getting them checked over. I'm sure your GP will do a paediatric referral if you're worried. You will know your child so much better than anyone else and if your worried that in itself needs hearings

Mine was like this - they are 18 now and have hyper mobility - didn’t stop them doing Gold D of E though!

@blacksheep2014 How lovely!!!! I was so delighted when mine walked! I hope you have a lovely weekend celebrating toddlerdom!