17 month old still not walking - would you be concerned?

[Purple89]

My 17 month old DD still isn't walking. She is primarily a bum shuffler and only started doing that at 11 months - can traditionally crawl (very fast) and started that at 12 months. She started pulling to stand at about 14 months, cruises on furniture very well, can stand in the middle of the floor from sitting just about but is wobbly. Climbs well. Can walk holding your hand. However she just doesn't seem interested in taking independent steps (we're encouraging her as much as she can). Needs to hold onto her toy pram for example to walk with confidence. I can't notice any obvious physical weakness. She is very tall and heavy (98th for height on last measurement).

She is a very good talker and can say hundreds of words - can identify some colours (green blue yellow red purple green), puts some simple words together - e.g. more toast please, I did it, I love you (last one is not said particularly clearly lol). Could it be that she's just focusing on that instead?

I am starting to get a little worried as we approach 18 months that she's going to need tests etc.

Would you be worried? Should I contact HV? Thanks in advance! Any words of reassurance or tips appreciated.

Loads of us n my and my husbands family didn't walk until we were 2 haha. We are fine

Mine didn't walk until 19 months. HV said they wouldn't worry until he got to 2 years (and in our case they were right not to worry - he's absolutely fine). Do you have access to a sensible HV?

Bum shufflers are anecdotally later than crawlers (there are many theories as to why!)

My DS was getting on for 2 before he walked. I got the impression he just couldn't be bothered - why walk when I can crawl or be carried or pushed . We were on holiday and he suddenly started staggering the 3 steps between the beds on his own and it went from there. He's 10 now and never stays still !

We have a bum shuffler! I was worried as DC was slower to move in general and still hasn’t walked. Saw a physio who said there’s no issue, but to expect very late walking as bum shufflers often don’t do it till they’re two sometimes. Movement has improved a lot recently, but physio really reassured me there was no problem. You can get referred via GP/health visiting team if you are worried, I found it really reassuring.

Sounds like they are very close. If still not walking by 19 months I'd make an appointment, but already standing means they obviously are capable

I do think it’s worth raising- mine was given supportive boots wjile waiting for tailor made callipers and the boots alone made an immediate difference. Really remarkable.

She’d been prem and had poor tone, but the difference the right shoes made was immediate.

I would make a GP appointment for when she turns 18 months. With a but of luck she will be walking by then and you can cancel the appointment.

Please don't waste a GP appt, the HV is the place to go for this query.

We have a 19 month old in our family who has just finally started walking a bit. I wouldn’t worry at all.

My DD was a very speedy bum shuffler. She eventually walked at 20 months. She Is now 17 & headed for a dance career. Her 2 older siblings walked at 15 months so I was worried at the time. Check with your HV but sounds within usual range.

Sounds just like my DD. She started bum shuffling at 16 months, crawled a bit at 19 months and finally started walking at 21 months. No issues, just taking her time.

About 18 months she was in hospital for something completely unrelated and they took a very thorough history. Paediatrician slightly raised an eyebrow when I said she wasn't walking yet but then I said she was a bum shuffler and he laughed and said that explained it. Bum shufflers are always slower to get to their feet. They can already see where they're going and dont have the impetus.

My DD (also a total chatterbox) didn't walk until 18 months, and I can confirm she's an absolute nutter of a toddler now at 3 - very physical, loves running, jumping and climbing. A proper little daredevil. Some kids just take a little longer, so there's honestly no need to worry for a good few months yet. Her little brother looks like he'll be the same - currently sits like an inert potato and is showing no signs of crawling or even rolling and he's 9 months. I know it's difficult not to obsess about milestones, but try to keep focused on the child in front of you, and not some arbitrary checklist of what they should be doing. Your little girl sounds like she's doing just fine!

Don't worry now, but if still not walking at 18 months then speak to your health visitor and/or GP.

DC1 was bum shuffling at 11 months and walking at 16 months.

DC2 was crawling at 12 months and walking at 21 months. Unfortunately he does have some physical needs that have been identified. He is 2.5 now though and being well monitored by the hospital, wears orthotic boots from them and is walking happily and confidently albeit still visibly delayed compared to peers (can't run, can't jump, can't negotiate steps independently, fatigues easily, poor balance and so injured himself more, unusual gait etc).

Totally in the bounds of normal. This was also me last year; DS started walking 2 weeks shy of 18 months. HV told us that taller kids sometimes take longer (our DS is tall too). Also bum shufflers take longer.

Thank you all so much this is really helpful. ❤️ so good to know others have been in the same situation and found their DC just did it when ready!

@pickledandpuzzled and @WeightoftheWorld were there any obvious signs your DC needed extra support with their walking? I will speak to HV for an appointment but just wondering if there's something I should be looking out for.

Also I have heard that about bum shufflers. Downstairs we have mainly hard flooring and she whizzes around SO fast, she is faster than her friends who can walk; don't think that gives her a lot of impetus to try and walk!

I'm glad you're speaking to your hv op. My youngest didn't walk until 2.5 and we alerted the hv at 16 months. We were offered a physiotherapy appointment and he was checked over for physical reasons for late walking. It was a very helpful process.

Sounds just like me. I turned out fine!

Hi OP, both my girls were later to walk but much further ahead with their talking! They were both later found to have hyper mobility (which apparently is very common). For my eldest this just meant she was on the slower side to reach her physical milestones, my youngest needed some more supportive footwear as her ankles were super flexible! It sounds like your little one is really close - my youngest wouldn’t even put her feet on the floor to weight bear at 17 months. My HV was very helpful - worth mentioning if you get to 18 months though x

Bottom shufflers naturally walk later. As soon as I saw your thread title I was thinking "hope they're a bum shuffler".

If she walks holding your hand and is cruising and climbing she will just walk when she’s ready.

DC was 19 months. He was very prem so no one concerned at all. It was pretty obvious he didn’t need to keep holding the furniture. In the end the first independent steps were running. He ran to the window because he was worried grandad was going home. He was just getting something from the car. When DC realised he’d let get of the furniture he grabbed the coffee table 😂 Clung onto the furniture for another fortnight before showing his skills again

I was exactly the same.

I'm 48 now and realise that the bum shuffling was because I get slightly dizzy in crawling position, so find it more comfortable to shuffle along sitting bolt up right. I do get balance problems sometimes now, but they go away if I do a lot of rollerblading. I do that out in the street in all my 48 year old mumsy glory. The trick is to do any kind of "bipedal exercise". That means walking or running or rollerblading. That resets the balance systems somehow.

I also had developmental differences with my eyes and it would have helped if I had been assessed by someone from the college of optometrists in vision development when I struggled with reading in primary school, rather than waiting until I was 28 years and old and finished my PhD.

I'm diagnosed level 1 ASD.

Good luck there. Great that she's talking.

The late age he started walking (21 months) and then once he was eventually walking the gait was very obviously visibly different. His balance was also particularly wobbly and poor but I don't think I'd have picked up on that if he'd been my first, but with him being my second it was obviously very different to my first was.

The HV referred him to physio at 17 months because the NICE guidelines say children who aren't walking by 18 months should be assessed, and at 17 months he was absolutely nowhere near walking so it was clear he wouldn't be doing it by 18 months. He was seen by the physio at 18 months who also referred him to orthotics. The GP then also referred him to orthopaedics at 18 months. He remains under orthotics and orthopaedics.

Lots of reasons in her case- really I posted to say that it almost certainly isn’t a big deal as everything else is going well, and he might just need a bit of physical support to get going. My little girl just needed hers for a few years.
She had lots of other complex needs that I was trying to get the HV to pay attention to, and the walking was by far the most easily helped!

Two of mine walked around 18 months. One crawled, the other never did, but had been walking around on his knees since about 8 months (and had got very speedy at it).

Not aimed at you, OP, more a general comment - I don't know why walking in particular seems to attract such pressure and angst, and anything above about 1 very quickly becomes 'still not walking yet' (obviously there is a caveat there when walking 'late' can be indicative of something, as per the posts on this thread, but if all other gross motor skills look to be going in the right direction, it's likely, albeit not guaranteed, all is well).