17 month old not walking

[Brumbee6]

Hi everyone

My child is 17 months old I'm having some issues.
She hates shoes. It can take me literally hours to even put anything apart from socks on her feet. Even socks she takes off.

Walking - so shes perfectly fine when holding onto something or my hand, although she does tip toe quite alot. But in general she never wants to walk. She crawls or kneels to get around. She will stand and walk if holding onto something but doesnt quite have the confidence to walk. Should I be worried about this? I think I'm only stressing because EVERYONE starts every conversation with me with 'is she walking yet!?' Literally everyone at all times. It does grate me to the point I just want to say yes to shut them up.

Shes also being super lazy with drinking herself. I have about 6 different sippy cups / straw cups but she wont pick one she can take to. I have to keep encouraging her to drink by putting a sippy bottle to her mouth but she never picks one up to drink herself. I'm currently leaving bottles of diluted juice and water around so that she can pick them up and drink, but she never does.

Any advice for any of these?

DD walked at 17 months. When I spoke to a health visitor (she only crawled the week of her 12 month check) about walking, she said anything between 6 months and 2 years is normal. If you're worried, give your health visitor a call.

On a different note, why does she need to wear shoes? Advice when DD was small (she's 6 now) was not to get shoes until the child was walking. Not sure that's a battle you need to fight!

If they aren't walking at 18 months, that's usually the time your GP refers on to paediatrics - sometimes they just need a physio/OT to look at them and check hips etc, but usually the referral takes so long the child is walking by the time they are seen anyway!
(Doctor)

Purely because she loves the outdoors and when I put her down or try and hold her hand to walk in the garden I dont want her getting sore feet, she acts like shoes are the devil, I was wondering if maybe sandals might help? I suppose shoes arent the end of the world

My child didn’t walk until she was a few weeks off her second birthday. As soon as she decided she was ready, she was off and running - literally. Nothing wrong with her at all. She was a bottom-shuffler and basically it was quicker and she knew it. Pick your battles. There’s no need for shoes until she’s walking outside. She will likely want them more than the alternative!

Thanks hip il keep up the encouragement and see how this month goes

She will stand and walk if holding onto something but doesnt quite have the confidence to walk. Should I be worried about this?

Absolutely not. The sub skills are all there. One day, eventually, she will just do it and surprise you.

Yeah I suppose I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed from pressure. She seems happy and healthy and to me I'm not overly concerned, but I just wondered if walking later on should be such a concern. First time parent, my mother believes my child should be walking as they exit the womb I think

First, I'd leave the shoes off. Advice we received, and everything we read, said that our son didn't need them until he was waking confidently inside. He hated his shoes when he first had them, they clearly felt heavy and cumbersome and he spent a week tripping and crying before he got used to them. And that was as a confident walker. The socks being taken off seems like a common baby thing - I think it's mostly just because they can! don't give that another thought.

Second, I do feel your pain. Mine is the same age and a confident runner and climber, but has barely said two words. I'm beginning to stress about that, as I get the same "is he talking yet? Has he said mummy yet? My little boy just said X for the first time." Etc.

If he doesn't pipe up in the next couple of months, we'll be going to the health visitor. If you continue to have concerns, don't be afraid to do the same. Sometimes they get it. Sometimes they get it late. Sometimes they need a bit of help. just try and ignore the people who are commenting - easier said than done I know!

My mother wanted me to teach my firstborn sign language because she considered his speech delayed. (It wasn't, not significantly anyway.) Smile and nod

We used soft leather shoes at this age - Minishoes I think they were, from Ebay.

My DS didn't walk till 17 months but he does have some ongoing motor problems, though they are not mainly with walking/running.

My dd is 18 months and has only been walking a few weeks now. She was a bum shuffler and very quick at it so wasn't interested in walking. She wouldn't even walk while holding my hands as she likes to be independent. I was worried about it but then all of a sudden one day she got up and started walking by herself.
She's not a great drinker either and I have to encourage her to take a drink. Like you we tried so many different cups. She's now found one she likes and will drink it if she sees it on her mat.

Following with interest and to tell you that you’re not alone OP!

My youngest DD is nearly 16 months and not walking which shocked me at first as my eldest was walking at 13 months. All the other kids born around the same time are all toddling away quite happily. I don’t think she really sees the point. She stands and cruises and walks when holding my hands but knows she can get to where she’s going faster if she crawls! We didn’t get a one year check here so I think I’ll take her to the GP if she’s still not walking at 18 months.

Following with interest and to tell you that you’re not alone OP!

Yep me too - I have a 16mo who will only walk holding my hand. He's a demon climber, cruiser and crawler but just can't/won't walk unaided. I'm getting asked constantly if he's walking yet and it's so annoying. A colleague said to me yesterday that she'd never heard of any child walking as late as my son

@Narya Well that's bloody helpful of her isn't it 🙄 people are so thoughtless!

Conversely, people are telling me all the time that they know/had/were kids that didn’t walk until very late so it must be pretty common!

@Narya tell your colleague they need to get to know more babies.

Yeah it's very annoying. I've got mad a few times with people asking it, yet they still ask. She was quite early for crawling but she just has no interest in walking. She likes to kneel and shuffle on her knees too. I'm not too fussed if she doesnt want to walk yet but obviously I want to be certain there is no underlying issues. Mostly I just want people to stop asking if shes walking yet

@Brumbee6 my DD is 19 months old and exactly the same as yours. Mine was in hip spica cast for 3 months last year which has delayed things.

I'm getting worried as she has now started shuffling on her knees as her preferred method of moving around. I've booked an appointment with the health visitor later this week.

The rational part of me thinks she will be off walking soon. But the fear part of me thinks she will never walk!

My DD didn't walk until 20monrhs and within a week she was running. Try not to worry

I'm glad I'm not the only one :)

My son was happy to walk holding my finger but he was about 18 months when I finally got him to walk between me and his (much) older brother unaided. He was so chuffed with himself that he walked and walked for the next hour around the kitchen! Just took a bit of confidence. He’s a very confident 15 year old now!
Can’t help you with the drinking though other than when she’s thirsty she’ll drink?

Mines a bit younger, can't walk independently yet but always wants to go for a walk outside! We have a little routine for putting shoes on which works really well and now he knows where to sit for shoes. That might help create a positive link between shoes and going outdoors.

On sippy cups, pick a cup and stick to it. Make a big deal of drinking your water so she can see it's yummy! My lo likes an open beaker so we've done months of us helping him use it and suddenly he just started drinking from it by himself.

DS didn't walk until 18 months, my mum says my brother didn't walk until 19 months - it's nothing to worry about yet.

Thanks, she seems in good health so hopefully it will happen soon when she gets some confidence