Any suggestions will be great! My almost 18month old daughter still chooses not to walk And I put emphasis on chooses! Oh, that little girl can and has been scaling furniture before she was 1 yr. Can climb on furniture and down (in fact she climbed up onto a sun chair and on the kitchen counter) she can walk behind push toys, but often thinks of this activity as a game and will stop shortly afterwards! As soon as we try walking with her by holding on to her hands-legs buckle knees come up and frustration settles in. Now keep in mind my little angel is not your typical 17 month-she weighs about 28 lbs. So standing holding on her little hands while she's buckling her legs and is complete dead weight is not an easy task! I haven't been too concern for the fact that my son didn't walk until he was 18months, but the difference is he always tried-we see no effort in her.
One thing to consider is not to "indulge" her. If you leave the room and she wants to come with you, let her get there on her own. Don't pick her up, just leave and she'll come. She may crawl at first, but she'll learn that walking is faster.
Just something to think about. Girls can be so stubborn can't they :)
No good advice, but I just wanted to say "been there, done that". Both of my boys were late walkers. My 18 month old was the same way in that he "chose" not to walk, even though he could run and drag the push toys all over the place.
I'm not sure what finally clicked with him, but he finally (around 17 months) started walking across the room. We made it a game at the end of each day to play "go to mommy, go to daddy". His big brother would cheer him on and we sit a few feet apart and he would lean from one of us to the other. Eventually this turned into one step and then 2, etc. Then we couldn't stop him!
Good luck! DS still prefers being carried, but at least now he will stand on his own for a few minutes, or toddle over to get me if I wander too far away.
SHE COULD VERY WELL HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HER LEGS, HIPS OR KNEES. I WOULD SAY TO RULE THAT OUT BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE.
Hi S.
One thing to try is to hold out a treat, like a cookie or favorite drink, and hold it in your hand next to your leg so she'll have to stand up to get it then walk over to a chair across the room and have her follow you she'll have to eventually walk to catch up to the treat. I know it sounds like getting an animal to do what you want it to but it does work, maybe not the first time but eventually. We did that with our son and he was walking at 9 months! (drawback to that is now I cannot keep up with him and he has become very independent, he only wants to walk and run no being held and holding hands )
Good Luck!!!
My second decided not to walk until she turned 18 months. My first was walking on her own at 12 months. They are all different! Don't worry too much.
i am from mankato too..and also have two kids. the one thing i learned is that they all do things in their own time. she has to eventually walk so don't get frustrated. she'll do it. keep your head up:) have you asked her doctor about it? is he concerned?
i am 27 and love to scrapbook too. not so much time to do it though with two kids:)
good luck and i'm sure she'll be walking soon!:)
My son had the lack of motivation too but he would walk with a hand just not alone. What worked with him was to hold a short rope and then I held the other end. He eventually walked around with a rope in his hand for a few weeks then realized that he did not need it.
I would try not to emphasize the importance of this to you, and just let her do it when she's ready/has a need to get around. If this is simply a choice that she doesn't walk (unusual as that would be) she will eventually see the utility in it especially if you aren't pushing her to walk.
That said, have you discussed this with her doctor? If she's not walking after 18months I would definately bring her in--that's outside of the normal range. Probably not a big problem if walking is her only developmental delay, but she could have a congenital hip problem or other problems not identified yet.
I just wanted to say that you are not alone. My little guy is also almost 18 months (he was born March 2nd 2005), climbs like a monkey, furniture walks and is also a very big kid - top of the charts for height and also somewhere around 28 pounds with enormous feet (7 triple wides). We just got him a pair of Stride Rite shoes that could actually fit on his feet and that seems to be helping him feel more stable and confident. But I think there might be a genetic component, I did not walk until I was 18 months old and my husband didn't until he was 16 months old. So I'm trying to be patient. I also think it is a personality thing. He doesn't like to fail or do anything incorrectly (however being "naughty" is not a problem for him!!) so I think that he just falls back on crawling because he knows he's good at it. We just encourage and praise his efforts as much as possible and remind ourselves he won't be off to college still crawling.
Hi S.,
I was in the same boat with my daughter as well and it really concerned me, especially when her pediatrician made a big deal about it. She has always been a big girl and I agree that it's hard hauling that weight around. I knew she was fine and that it was just something she didn't want to do, but I followed the MD's advice and took her to a physical therapist. The PT thought I was nuts to bring her in but had her do a few exercises anyway to build her confidence. One exercise was to help her to walk by supporting her waist/hips and not hold her hands to help her with her balance. My daughter HATED it, but she gave in a couple of times. Another thing the PT suggested was when she would climb stairs or furniture, have her change her leading foot/leg to increase muscle tone on each leg equally.
I believe that every kid has a particular strength - my son was more physically coordinated and walked earlier and my daughter was a late crawler and walker but she was an early talker(both were huge kids). She's 2 now and speaks in full sentences, is learning to count and knows some colours, things my son didn't do at that age. Every child is different and it's hard not to compare them. Just have confidence that you know your child better than anyone and if your gut feeling says she's fine, then go with it and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. I had to really work to ignore the looks and comments I'd get about my late walker. In the long run, every kid catches up and you can't tell who were the early walkers or the late talkers, etc.
On a different note, since you're a scrapbooker too, did you hear about Scrapfest coming to the Mall of America in September? I've never been but can't wait!
S.
Hi S.,
My daughter Emma was the same way. She would actually scoot across the hard wood floors instead of walk. Give her some time. When I started to get worried she started walking. Another option is to look into what your county's public health building or WIC programs offers. A person was sent to my home to do an analysis on Emma. The thing about it was that she started walking the day before they came out. That made us all laugh. I hope these ideas and words of support help you.
M.
Hi S.,
WHat kind of flooring do you have?? When My son was that age he didn't want to walk in certain areas of the house He would walk on carpet but not on tile and not on hardwood floors. He fell a couple times on the tile and it scared him into not walking on it. all the carpet we had had furniture on it so he chose to hold on to the furniture. I also saw that some one suggested using a treat to get her to walk. Don't do that. Food is not a reward that is where overweight children come from. Good luck!!
hi S.
did you try the birth to three program. they may be able to help you out .. my daughter who is 7mnth is in this wonderful program .. she is in it bc of her myopathy which causes her to met her milestones at a slower rate then aveage kid .. .. mayb the program can give you some ideas
becca
