DD can’t support herself on legs

[luska]

My DD is just six months old. She has very good neck control and can sit up on my knee with me holding her round the waist. She’s also showing signs of crawling by bringing her knees up towards her stomach during tummy time.

But... when I try encouraging her to stand (with me holding her, obviously!) her legs are just slack and she makes no attempt to straighten them. I know she can do it, as when I’m changing her nappy she will often straighten them very firmly whilst on the changing mat (which makes it a bit hard to change her!) A friend’s baby who’s the same age as mine can already stand with support from her mum, which got me wondering.

Should I be concerned?

So leave it for now and get a review in two months.
You can mention it to health visitor or gp
If they say wait then wait. Don't obsess. Just keep playing as usual and holding her to stand for a couple seconds thru normal play.

Either she will bear weight in few months or she wont. You cannot make her. And you can let go for now and follow up after christmas. Even kids with hypermobility usually walk by two years old like mine .There s nothing you have said that would indicate a more serious problem just yet.

If you extremely worried and nervous and feel it might be more significant then pay a private physio review.
(No different to the people on here paying for additional private prenatal scans for "peace of mind")
My suggestion to get a review is so you can see a professional who can see your baby in real life (or video) and give a proper assessment. To reassure you...(or if really needed to book for physio.)

More important is does she interact and play and show interest in you and toys and books?

My dd never stood, but walked at 13 months.

A child clearly cannot walk before they can bear weight on their legs
So they may stand leaning against something then one day walk
Walking also depends on core strength through trunk not just legs
That s why sitting comes first
If you cannit sit it will be hard to walk without support

www.parentingscience.com/when-do-babies-start-walking.html

All different approaches produce walkers

(Sometimes there is an issue like hypermobility. But yeh give it a couple months unless legs extremely floppy)

More important is does she interact and play and show interest in you and toys and books?

Yes she’s very interactive and loves her toys.

I wish we could afford to go private but we can’t

I find myself wishing her life away until she reaches the next milestone so I know she’s okay - it’s sad

Lujsa
I find myself wishing her life away until she reaches the next milestone so I know she’s okay - it’s sad

That is problematic.
You need to spesk to gp for you.it is not heslthy. Your daughter is not her milestones.
So what if she doesnt walk til she is 18 months or two?
If she is late wzlking you will deal with it.
You spent 70£ on s jumperoo which wont hurry things along.
Take step back
She is inteeactive and loves her toys
She loves you
You love her
You will love her and support her whatever right?

If you wishing her life away and other negative thpughts please speak to gp fior some counselling

What does her dad say if he is around?

My first didn't sit up until 9 months with support.
10 months without support.
Crawled at 11 months.
Didn't stand until 1 year old.
Didn't walk until 14 months.
Had only 4 words at 3.
Doesn't stop talking now!

Perfectly normal child. Just tall. Health visitors weren't worried.

I wouldn't worry about this at all at 6 months op, seriously. It's perfectly normal for a 6 month old not to stand. Cancel the jumperoo you can't afford or send it back!

OP it sounds like you’re getting yourself very worried. It’s difficult and I am also an anxious person but nobody online (or even a doctor) can honestly tell you at this point whether there is anything wrong with your little girl or whether she’s perfectly ‘normal’. Plenty of people have told you that she is well within the range at which she wouldn’t be expected to weight bear yet so chances are she’s absolutely fine. However at the same time no one has a crystal ball. There are things that she hasn’t yet done (like walk, talk, read, write) that she may turn out to have a delay in or have difficulties with. But spending your life worrying about it isn’t going to change it. If she does have a gross motor delay then worrying yourself silly won’t fix that.

I say this as the parent of my DD who is a constant source of worry as she has a gross motor and communication delay. I spent the whole first year of her life worried, but you won’t get a referral until she has passed the age range for the milestone and my regret is that I spent so much time worrying about her and not enough time enjoying her. My DD could sit without support by the time we had our 9 month HV appointment so they wouldn’t refer us even though she still wasn’t weight bearing. It was only once she turned one and couldn’t weight bear, crawl, pull to stand, lie to sit etc that the GP finally agreed to refer us and that was after a huge amount of fussing from me. Standard procedure I’m told is that the triggers for referral are a) not sitting at 9m or b) not walking by 18 months. They don’t care about much in between as all babies are different and some don’t crawl, some bum shuffle etc.

My DD is nearly 2 and has hypotonia and hypermobility and she is having some genetic tests and scans. She’s still not walking but I’ve realised that worrying about it won’t change anything so I may as well just enjoy her as she is. It’s not like we love them any less if they are behind. So please try and enjoy your little one.

I'm actually annoyed for you OP because I think you could be very easily reassured by a HV that your daughter is not missing her milestones and it is not at all unusual for a 6 month old not to be able to sit unassisted. There is absolute nonsense on this thread that has made you more concerned, I feel, than you were before. You should not have had her "assessed" by now. I think it would be absolutely reasonable given your anxiety to call a GP or HV for reassurance.

Sorry to revive your old thread but my nearly 9 month old is also not weight bearing. I've got no concerns about her otherwise and I do think she will do it eventually but my health visitor, who I saw 3 months ago, said to ring at 9 months if she still wasn't weight bearing so they could arrange for her to be assessed by a physiotherapist. What was the outcome with your baby? I'll ring my health visitor tomorrow but just seeking some information about what they're likely to suggest. Thank you and hope all is well.

Hi @winteranimal @luska any updates please? As my baby put his feet on floor but not fully put weight on them and quite wobbly. TIA

Please don’t do this unless they are prescribed because of a diagnosis. You sound like you’re panicking, yet she’s only 6 months and there’s no indication of a problem yet. The normal range for things like this in babies is quite broad. My dd stood early and walked late, there was nothing wrong at all, babies do things at their own pace. Comparing her to other babies is of no value.

You say I find myself wishing her life away until she reaches the next milestone so I know she’s okay - it’s sad and that’s more than sad, it’s really worrying. You and your baby will both be better off if you find a way to get out of that mindset. You could end up trying to medicalise every small difference between her and another child.