12 month development check (fail)

[justmewithmylifetoday]

DS (12 months 1 week) had his HV development check today. Long story short it ended with the HV saying he hadn't met some areas. (Personal social/fine motor I think it was) She was lovely and said to speak to nursery about what he's doing there and that she appreciates babies all come on differently etc etc.

She wants to see him again in a month, to review him again and for me to do the 13 month questionnaire for the appt in a months time.

When she said this I said happy for you to review him again but tbh if I'm doing the 13m ASQ in a months time when he's already not meeting the 12 month one are we not setting him up to fail? At this point she said how about I just phone you in a month to see how he's getting on and check he is walking by then. She said I'd really like him to be walking by then. To this i said DD didn't walk till 15m and tbh the walking side of things isn't at all worrying me. And funnily enough gross motor was the area he scored well in.

It's not a surprise as I've always had some concerns over ds.

Just wondering if anyone else has had the outcome of being told they need to be reviewed again in a months time after the 12 month review?

I think it's standard to be told they want the 13 month questionnaire as they asked my DD to do it even after seeing her at 12 months. They didn't really have concerns with her (though she was a late crawler) so I think everyone is asked to do the questionnaire regardless.

I am surprised about the walking though as lots don't walk until well after 13 months and my HV said not to worry about lack of walking until 18 months (I thought DD would be late as she only learned to crawl at 11 months though she did actually end up walking at 13 so each to their own I guess)

Plenty of children aren't walking at 12 months. It seems absolutely bizarre that not walking has been raised as a concern. I'm assuming there's some crawling, cruising, rolling and shuffling etc going on?

What else has been raised as a concern? Babies do all develop at different rates which is why tick box tests don't always really work well.

Hi op my ds just turned 14 months last week and he literally decided to walk overnight (although he stops himself from falling and is still crawling a bit) however I thought he wouldn't walk for ages. I would not be concerned if he still wasn't walking at 13months that's not realistic because as you said it can take a little longer.

What did she said about the social aspect.

Could it be that she mistook your lack of surprise for apathy, hence wanting to see again in a month? Or are you happy with him being seen again in a month but not against the 13m ASQ?

Not walking by 12m is not unusual in isolation.

My DS wasn't even crawling until 12m, health visitor just said come back (back when they still had clinics) if he's not walking by 18m. He walked at 17m.

Could they be a new HV OP? When I first started I was extra cautious, followed up everyone who had scored on the lower end...worried I would miss something! Very quickly got more confident in the role and as PP have said, I would now say to get in touch if they're not walking by 18 months or if I am actually concerned I would give activities to try and follow up in 3 months so it gives the child a chance to progress.
HVs should all be doing the same thing, but sometimes it comes with more experience, maybe they are just being extra thorough, I wouldn't worry x

It's not something you can make them do - they walk when they walk! How bizarre.

My first walked at 15 months and my second at just under 9 months. There is nothing unusual about not walking at 12 or 13 months.

Thanks all.

The non walking isn't a concern to me at all as I said DD didn't walk till 15m. He has been crushing for a month and she saw him take 3 steps towards me during the assessment.

I'm not sure why she made a thing of the walking thing. The areas where he didn't score well in the ASQ were fine motor and personal social. (See my previous anxiety riddled posts about thumb tucking etc!)

@PaulRuddDoesntAge you might be right!! it wasn't a surprise to me so I probably came across as not bothered. Obviously I am and keen to get support if needed/help him progress etc.

I didn't realize it was common for others to do the 13 month questionnaire. Assumed if development check done on at 12 months then it wouldn't be necessary unless there were further concerns at 13 months?

I suppose I'm just thinking if we do the 13 month ASQ in 4 weeks it's unlikely he will suddenly be able to tick the necessary boxes when he is seemingly falling behind on the 12 month one ...

He's gorgeous and perfect in my eyes anyway 🤣

*cruising (!)

@Buttercup2023 good point hadn't thought of that. I don't think she was new judging by age. But understand I can't judge by her age so she could well have been. She was lovely and seemed to know what she was doing etc.

Bizarre that she mentioned walking!

At 11 mo mine scored "lower" in two areas of the 12 m check. HV then called me a month later to see how he was doing. I got the impression this was pretty standard.

She just asked the same questions as before, and as his new score was okay that's the last I heard from her

She didn't specify but I think the areas he didn't score well in were most of personal social (not waving properly yet/doesn't point when he wants something) he also wouldn't put anything in and out of a box, roll a ball back and forth, pass me a toy when asked .. can't remember what else was on there.

Does he do any of those things at all at home without a health visitor watching?

@Lindy2 No he doesn't, I filled in the questionnaire at home, then took it with me. I think HV was giving him the opportunity to see if he could do the things I put he couldn't.

You said you had concerns already so why would you not get him checked out again? I would definitely ask the health visitor to come back in a month time. He will propably catch up on everything that he "failed" anyways but its always good to know.

Happy to have him checked out again! Just not as keen to do another questionnaire so soon after. I just wanted to know if others had been in the same boat etc.

I had something similar OP in regards to mobility for my DD’s 12m check. I actually went away from it feeling awful! It was face to face (pre-Covid) & they were talking about a physio referral because she wasn’t walking which seemed totally overkill to me. They actually didn’t pressure me to pursue anything straight away though & I said I would contact them if I had concerns in 6 months. My daughter actually started walking at 18 months (I was the same as a child) so like you it didn’t concern me. I would be tempted to say you wanted to wait and review in 6 months time.

My now 13 month old isn't walking and wasn't when he had his 12 month review. The HV said no concerns until 2 years! She also said that as he is weight bearing, no concerns. She said it is just a matter of confidence! I mentioned that I walked at 15 months and she said it is more likely they take after one or other parent.

Yeah I'm not worried about the walking as he's taken 4 steps alone and can hold with one hand and do a sort of wobbly toddle !

How was his babbling and imitation like sounds dear mam.. Please help

Hi I’ve just found your post, I am in a similar situation my son has just failed his check, he is 12m 2 weeks and I’m so worried all I’ve done is cry 😢 the HV said it can be a sign of autism so will review in 3 months time. I was just wondering how you got on at the second check?

Hi @justmewithmylifetoday how has your ds come on? @GenieJ?