18 month old not developing

[Louise0310]

Hi mums, in need of some help. My 18 month old just isn't where he should be. He can't walk, can't talk, can't do any gestures and has never slept properly (probably slept through the night twice). He's due a HV appt & is under speech and language but it's all just breaking my heart not seeing him develop in the way he should be :( any opinions and advice welcome

I would add that my older son didn’t speak until just before he turned 2 and walked at around 22 months … he did his A levels this year and got all A*s! I was worried like you at the time and obviously it’s worthwhile getting him checked out but there is a world in which he’s doing absolutely fine, at his own pace. Regarding sleep, my second son was like this. We used a sleep consultant in the end as I was exhausted - she sorted things very quickly. Might be worthwhile considering?

I agree it’s worth pushing for a community paediatrician referral to have his development reviewed and see whether any additional referrals a needed. 18 months is quite early days for speech and if he is pulling up that’s also a good sign. My daughter’s speech came on a lot between 18 months and 2 years but she didn’t walk until 2.5 years. She is doing great but notably delayed in her motor skills still at 3.5 years. We are awaiting various test results to find out if there is a cause for the delay.

Just wanted to post an update on here - after months of trying to even get an appt with HV we finally got referrals put in place for physiotherapy & paediatrician! Currently on a 4 month wait to do all the genetic testing for GDD. Thank you all for your help 🩷

Thanks for the update! Hopefully you'll get answers soon.