Help! Bum shuffler with summer coming

[MaximusHeadroom]

So my 16 month old is still a fervent bum shuffler and although she has started to pull herself up, is showing no inclination to be walking soon.

She has been checked for developmental issues and there are no worries there. She is just taking her time.

However, now she is so heavy and active, she is shredding 2 or 3 pairs of trousers a week. The fabric is totally worn through so we can't sew or patch and with the summer coming up (we are not in the UK and get summers of 30 degrees plus for about 4 months) I have no idea what to do clothing-wise.

She wears cloth nappies which protect her bum largely but the top of her legs and outside of her ankles rub along the ground. Thin leggings would last half a day before they were shredded and I don't want her overheating or damaging the skin on her legs.

At the moment she is in waterproof trousers outside and we are just having to throw away lots of clothes.

Has anyone had a bum shuffler who was also a late walker? Any pearls of wisdom?

Same here, she finally got going at 18 months, I was so worried about the summer! Lots of cheap leggings from supermarkets!

How about denim shorts to (hopefully!) get a little more longevity? As for ankles and legs getting sore, I would have thought she'll quickly realise and either adjust her movements or her skin will toughen up accordingly.
With any luck she'll be walking soon so it won't be for too long. I haven't had a bum shuffler, but DD2 was late walking. Because she already had the strength for it (just not the inclination!), when she did decide to walk she went from tottering steps to across the room and back in a few days, and was running within two weeks.

Thanks for the ideas. The denim stuff I find is often too stiff to go over the cloth nappies but I will keep looking.

I hope you're right about this phase ending quickly. She is certainly able to walk, she just finds the shuffle more efficient I think

DD2 didn't crawl but used 1 knee and 1 foot, was very funny to watch, but we also went through leggings or at least 1 knee of them quite quickly, we were lucky with being able to get knee pads.
Not the easiest of options but could you sew denim sections onto the bum of leggings to get around the cloth nappy issue?
Trying to think of others ways of doing it that wouldn't be as much effort.
My DD started walking around 16 months so hopefully your lo isn't far off.

Dd shuffled on one knee and one foot on the ground until she was 17.5months. She wears cloth nappies and I found denim dungarees were best option for her. Like pp have said, as soon as she took her first steps she was walking and then running. It does happen so quickly. She's 18.5months now and very confident at walking, although does go back to shuffling in the evenings

Yes, it's tricky finding clothes that fit over cloth nappies (we used them too), but there are definitely denim options out there. We had some pairs from Next and Mothercare at that age, as well short denim dungarees.

Can you find big bundles on eBay? I've found lots of cheap ones in there - we use them for nursery clothes that get trashed quickly, but could also be a good option for her trousers!

I’ve had three bum shufflers, who walked at 16 months, 20 months and 19 months. People will tell you it’s about the child’s weight, but my older two we’re big and solid, while my youngest was a tiny little dot of a thing, so I’m not convinced by that.

My youngest was shuffling over the summer, and for a while I bought piles of old trackies and cords in charity shops, but we had a paved garden and she was going through a pair of trousers a day, so even at 50p a day from the charity shop bargain basket it wasn’t sustainable, not to mention the waste.

Eventually I hit on the patented method of making a bumshuffler get of their lazy little behind and walk, which I am happy to share with you: wait for a nice warm summer day, and put child out in the garden in just a T-shirt. Within 24 hours of being made to go commando she was walking, and within a week walking was her preferred method of moving around. As a learn to walk accessory I recommend one of those flimsy toy pushchairs, rather than a more solid push along - the pushchair won’t take their weight, so they actually have to make the effort themselves.