Any one else with a late walking child? update pg 3

[jwfla422]

My dd (now 7) didn't start to walk until she was 17 months old! She didn't start to crawl until she was 9 months old...when many of my friend's children started to walk!! She never crawled normally either, she crawled on one leg with the other bent like a spider!! And for the record, she didn't talk much either, she babbled but didn't speak clear. I put her in speech therapy at 3...well now she doesn't shut up LOL!! And, the walking, well she loves to dance and she loves my high heels that I can't even walk in!! And she wasn't potty trained til she was almost 4!! Stubborn and lazy on that one!!

My niece also was a late walker. She never crawled either, she was a scooter. My SIL put her through some physical therapy at 16 mths to build up her leg muscles. She was walking within in a month. And, she's a normal 6 yr old who plays soccer.

I think there is so much emphasis for children to do everything early these days. We tend to compare them with siblings, nieces, nephews and friend's children and we get worried. I know I didn't talk until I was 3 and look at me know, I just keep babbling!!!!

 

[nomie74]

My niece is still not walking at 16 months, the dr. said to give her another week or two then take her to see a specialist to make sure her feet and ankles are allright. I think she's just such a happy, laid back kid that she just hasn't decided yet to walk.

 

[susan1]

hi
yes had a son who did'nt walk until he was 18 months and didn't really talk until he was about two. understood everything that was going on, could put the right shapes in there places etc. when he did start talking it was in complete sentences. no baby talk fared alright obtained a good university degree. as said there is so much pressure nowadays. children progress at there own speed and are probably happier for not being "hothoused"

 

[anewvance]

My son is almost 17 months and he didn't start walking until 15 months. He was born 6 weeks early so I didn't have any worries at all. He was another one that I knew could do it if he wanted to but he crawled so fast he figured why bother getting around on 2 legs. Now he doesn't only walk, he runs everywhere he wants to go.

 

[sharbear]

I thought that the title said a late WAKING child. Yea, I have two teenagers! LOL! I must be getting old.

 

[michelle8671]

My sister was getting married when my DD was 16 months old, i agreed for her to be a flower girl as I was sure she would be walking as her brother had at 11 months old. As the time got nearer to the wedding we all realised it wasn't going to happen!!! DD finally took her 1st steps when she was just gone 18 months old!! by this time we had booked her into see a specialist!!

They all do it in their own time.

 

[marlasmom]

My children walked at 9 months, 10 months and 13 months respectively. The late walker is an exceptionally bright child. She didn't really speak until she was 3. She had a few words and babbled constantly. Her sister, who is 10 years older than the younger daughter found a book I bought when the older one was a baby. It is called "Teaching Your Baby to Read" by a doctor at the Insitute for the Achievement of Human Potential in Philadelphia. I found it to difficult to do, but my older daughter was dedicated to teaching the younger one and in fact, the "baby" could read and write at age 2 We'd ask her to point to various words in a book and she would - always correct. She would write words "on command" taking an entire sheet of paper to write a 3 letter word because she didn't have fine motor skills.

My new grandaughter was pulling herself to a standing position but could not crawl. At about 9 months she started to crawl - took off and crawled about 40 feet the first time she crawled.

The point of all this is that all kids are different. However, in this case the parents are concerned and taking action and I don't think any of your babies have hit the 18 month milestone. The baby in the original post is 19 months and her parents seem resistant to get a further evaluation and that is what upsets people. I also think that once a doctor recommends a specialist you go without any delay.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

My DS8 didn't walk until 18 months--he also had a scoot, with one leg out to the side and the other under him. He was really fast, pulling himself along by his hands! Plus, he was upright and could carry something--I think he just couldn't be bothered learning "our" way when he had a perfectly good way of his own!

He was in early intervention--he didn't talk until 2 and had medical issues (losing conciousness and seizing) which made a neurological problem a very real concern. Luckily, it's nothing, but he's definitely a "march to your own drummer" kid. I keep reminding myself that it's a good thing to have your own style!

One of his therapists said that, since he was late walking and talking, that he was likely to be a late reader. Well, joke's on them--he learned to read at three, and when he entered K, they tested his reading. He got 95% at a sixth grade level! So, another case of, "this probably means nothing in the long term!"

All that said, it may be worth a trip to a specialist to make sure there isn't some underlying problem. If there is one, early intervention can make a world of difference. More likely, though, you have a smart kid who doesn't meet "the chart" because nobody gave her "the chart"! I got into that fight with DS's neurologist--He said, "Your son doesn't meet my chart!" and I said, "The problem isn't my son--it's the chart!"

 

[antmaril]

My son started walking at 16 months. Crawled late too.

Anyway, he graduated 4th in his class and is a freshman in college. I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[scanne]

I bet I can make you feel a WHOLE lot better!

My DS (now 3) did not walk until he was 20 months old. But he was talking up a storm until then and still is. He never seems to STOP talking.

My DD (16 months) hasn't walked yet. She is cruising and walks alright with a push toy, but won't walk on her own.

Both my kids are "normal" even with this supposed developmental delay. Don't worry yourself at all! Babies do things when THEY are ready. Not when some book says they "should."

Hope this helps.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My younger DD started walking at 15 months. She made up by talking very early. Her older sister was the opposite walked early but didn't start talking until about 2 years old.

 

[grlpwrd]

Our 4 older kids all did things differently yet they all walked in the range of 11 to 17 months. My late walker was screened by the dr. and didn't show signs of any problems and so we gave it time.

Yes, kids walk in their own time, but that particular poster's child has issues which weren't addressed even after being referred by the dr.

Early intervention is vital.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Well, I missed the hullabaloo on the other thread, but I have to second grlpwrd 100 %!!

The reality is, most late walkers will do just fine--in fact, my son's physical therapist said ~80% would catch up on their own with no intervention. Problem is, you can't be positive which 80% they are, so you give early intervention to all of them, knowing that in most cases it's not needed.

In our case, DS was also in speech therapy--the number of "catch ups" there is less, and some problems, such as deafness, the earlier you work with the child, the better.

I firmly believe in seeing a specialist to rule out any bone problems, inner ear problems, etc. I'm not trying to panic you, but my DH grew up with an undiagnosed learning disability, and it still steams me that his parents refused to get him help--they just told him he was lazy! ARRRGH! So, I'm very sensitive to the whole "he'll grow out of it" mentality.

 

[SunFloridaDisney]

I thought that the title said a late WAKING child. Yea, I have two teenagers! LOL! I must be getting old.

I have those also!

But years ago, when they were little, they walked at 11, 13, 14 and 16 months. I'd say to the OP, relax, don't worry about it, unless of course there seem to be other developmental problems, but not walking 'early' is certainly no reason alone to be concerned.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Well, I missed the hullabaloo on the other thread, but I have to second grlpwrd 100 %!!

The reality is, most late walkers will do just fine--in fact, my son's physical therapist said ~80% would catch up on their own with no intervention. Problem is, you can't be positive which 80% they are, so you give early intervention to all of them, knowing that in most cases it's not needed.

In our case, DS was also in speech therapy--the number of "catch ups" there is less, and some problems, such as deafness, the earlier you work with the child, the better.

I firmly believe in seeing a specialist to rule out any bone problems, inner ear problems, etc. I'm not trying to panic you, but my DH grew up with an undiagnosed learning disability, and it still steams me that his parents refused to get him help--they just told him he was lazy! ARRRGH! So, I'm very sensitive to the whole "he'll grow out of it" mentality.

In my case it is rather interesting, I am actually a social worker, trained as a school social worker so I rather up on developmental disabilities and treatment. I also specailize in working with Deaf people and am fluent in ASL, one reason my DD is learning to sign. It really works for her. For her big sister she was such a talker it didn't really make much of a difference. She does talk when she signs, but it isn't as clear as her sign, often just the 1st sylable of the wrold for now. As far as we know her hearing is fine (she was tested at birth as Michigan law, something I was actaully on the commettie to make a law a few years ago). They allowed me to wacth it being done on her. However she is a masive ear wax kid so I sometimes wonder. I am a SAHM since I was pregnant with my 2nd though.

I just needed some reasurance that my DD was not alone. It looks like she isn't. I am so much more relaxed with her, being more seasoned mother myself. She is a very relaxed kid. I just don't want to be "too" relaxed and miss anything important.

Also as a social worker I know sometimes we can be the 1st to cacth things, or the last. I have seen the worst case senairos more then the normal so sometimes it is hard to judge what is normal.

 

[ZachnElli]

My DD didn't walk until 15 1/2 months. She is not delayed in any way. She talked in sentences at 18 months and is now a 1st grader who is reading 2nd grade material. And she hasn't stopped talking!

 

[DisneyPhD]

I'm still breastfeeding my DD too, so I feel your pain. DD and I are also vegetarian, so our diet is pretty limited these days (but no cookies, cake, or (most) ice cream has been good for my diet ). If she had been allergic to dairy, I don't know what I would have done!!! Can't live without my cheese!

If you had asked me yesterday, I would have said that DD was doing pretty good with the egg allergy. However, we had a bit of a scare today. DD and I were at a library storytime and one of our friends, with my permission, gave DD an animal cracker (which typically do not have eggs in them). All of the sudden, DD's cheeks were bright, cherry red. By the time we were driving home, I became concerned and called our allergist. His office was a couple minutes from closing for the day so they sent us to the emergency room!!!! DD was okay a couple of hours later and it turned out that the cookies didn't have eggs listed as an ingredient. The dr. at the ER said that if the cookies were processed on a machine that also processed something with eggs in it, that may have caused the reaction, or she could have another food allergy that we are unaware of. So, I guess that we'll be back for more allergy testing sooner than we thought. What a day!

We delayed DD's MMR, for now, until we do the allergy testing again (it was suppose to be in February...who knows now...). DD also didn't get a flu shot because of her allergy. On the 0 to 4 point scale with the allergy testing, DD got a 4.

Until possibly today, she had never had direct exposure to egg, so we weren't sure how severe her reaction would be. We suspected an allergy because of her excessive spitting up and HORRIBLE rash after I had a flu shot so I am a little concerned about the vaccines. This allergy business is scary stuff. I guess that I am just very grateful that she doesn't have a peanut or tree nut allergy.

Sorry to babble on...but it's nice to compare notes with someone in a similar situation!

My thread, so I am going to hyjack it for a min! Wow, it sounds like her egg allery is really severe. So glad she is doing ok after the animal craker. I hate them, many have milk in them too, every kind of gold fish cracker does also, even the pretzel! There is a few brands she can eat, like teddy grams thank goodness. My DD has a 2 for egg and a 3 for dairy. Even the smallest amount and she will get a face rash, but it isn't to severe. However we do have an eppi pen now just in case. I am a freak at parks and play dates picking up kids food they drop. My DD would much rather eat anything she found herself on the floor then food we feed or give her. I think having a child with food allgeries makes you a bit insane (at least temporarily). My Doc said she shouldn't get a flu shot, but I could. I haven't yet. Wow, I can't belive she had an reaction from you getting one. (Her big sister is the only one to get a shot yet this year.)

About the food thing, they sound just alike. Too bad we aren't at WDW at the same time, I bet they would love playing together!

Of course right now I wish they were late waking, then maybe I could get some sleep myself!

 

[justhat]

Madison wasn't a late walker (she was 11.5 months), but my cousin's baby was so this thread interested me. I noticed you and another poster mentioned your babies had small feet. Well my cousin's baby had very tiny feet and her dr said that's the reason she couldn't walk yet (she was only about 10 months at the time), because they were too tiny to balance on while walking. She also had no interest in walking with help and used an 'army crawl' to get around. She actually started to walk right after Madison did, but she's 3 months older than Madison so she was a little over 15 months. But in keeping with that small feet theory, Madison had/has very tiny feet too. She pulled herself to standing right before she turned 6 months and was cruising within a few weeks so we thought she'd be a very early walker. But then she just stalled. She kept with the cruising till she was over 11 months but would not let go of the furniture or your hands. Her shoe size then was a 2 (she was in size 0 till 5 months). Then all of a sudden between 11 and 11.5 months her foot went from a size 2 to a size 4 and within days of her foot growing like that she was walking on her own. She still primarily crawled till a little over a year though. She's still got fairly small feet-at almost 21 months she wears a size 6 and in the Robeez she's still in the 12-18 month size. Oh, and she's still not a runner-my FIL says she has 2 speeds: slow and a little bit faster. Not sure if that's got to do with her shoe size or not, but she tried to run, just isn't very fast. Big difference from my nephew who walked at 11 months too but was running full speed by 15 months.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Hi justthat

I am glad I started this thread because the more I think about it the more it seems her tiny feet are a lot to do with it. It is funny the poor girl went the 1st 12 months of her live never wearing shoes, she was a baby, then it was summer and she didn't need them (what cute toes) She absolutly feel in love with her robees and will find them around the house and then bring them to you and yell at you until you put them on. If we don't want her to wear them we need to hid them.

I have noticed that one or her left leg turns in a bit when she is pushing things around, but it apears to be getting better so it might just be a learning thing. She is unsteady on her feet, she can stand up just fine, but needs to lean or hold onto something or she will sit back down. She is also very stubern. Often she just wants to be carried. However whenever we want to carry her (malls, stores not good places to put her on the floor) she is dying to get out of our arms.

I think I will bring up the foot size thing to the Dr. next time we go in. Of course more then likely she will be walking by then, or if she isn't (18 months) it will be time to look more carefully into the situation.

 

[justhat]

Hi!

I forgot one other thing that seemed to help Madison. The size 2 shoes she wore were soft soled (like most infant shoes are) but we had to put her in shoes since it was the winter. When her foot spontaneously grew 2 sizes we took her to Stride Rite and bought her a pair of the Stage 3 sneakers (the ones for 1st walkers). She could really walk a lot better in them than she could barefoot or with the Robeez (and she too loves the Robeez!). We tried to limit them to outside only since I know it's better for them to learn to walk barefoot, but the real shoes seemed to help her. Now she's a shoe addict and spends her time putting on 1 pair of shoes, walking around, gettting another pair to switch into, etc.