Devlopmental Milestones for the Sexes...

Hi mommycakes-

My oldest (now 22) was VERY late to walk...(15 almost 16 months...WOW!) For him, I think it was a combination of things...first time older mom 'catering' to him...His 'laid back' personality...and that when he was 14 months, his brother was born. The rest of the kids came along quickly...and frankly I think 'learned' from 'olders' more quickly...(in spite of the fact I kept 'knocking' them down...lol...much easier with a non walker than a new walker...lol)

There is a 'wide' range of typical development/milestones across children of any gender...

Not to worry!
michele/cat

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This sounds less like a gender difference and more like a kid difference. In fact, most of what I've heard about gender differences would indicate the OPPOSITE of what you're describing. My son (now 5) didn't walk until his first birthday, but rode a two wheel bike on his first try at 3.

There is a set of 3 year-old twin boys next door and one uses short sentences and the other still uses only single words.

I have read that second children FREQUENTLY hit the milestones you described later, perhaps because they are spending time with another small child and modeling THAT rather than adults.

Anyway, I'd say this is a first child, second child, question more than a boy girl question.

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My DD walked at 11 months, spoke sentences at 19 months and was fully potty trained at 22 months. My DS walked at 17 months, spoke in sentences at 2.5 years and potty trained fully at 4 years old. Quite a BIG difference. They are both excellent students and both in accelerated classes now. It appears the early years don't always forecast what's to come.

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My SON sounds more like your DAUGHTER. He didn't walk till after 1 yr of age. He was saying one word sentences at age 1 "on" "off" "mama" "dada"..... He's very bright now that he's 3. He can tell me the sound of each letter of the alphabet and sound out words and even add and subtract a little bit.

I only have the one boy, but when I read your post about what your daugther was up to, she sounds just about in line with my SON which would mean that the sex thing doesn't make any sense. Gender can't determine it all. God made us all unique!

Kids are individuals.
There might be similarities, but it's ok for there to be big differences.
There's a very broad range for what passes for normal as far as milestones go.
Your daughter is doing fine.
My son didn't walk till 14 months, and he wasn't a big talker till after his 2nd birthday - then there was no stopping him!
It's hard but try not to compare siblings to each other.

I agree with Thea that generally the opposite is true when you're talking gender stereotypes, and it was/is certainly true with my kids! I honestly think in your situation it could be more first born vs second born or even just simple personality differences. By about 1 year of age your daughter should say 4 words...she may not be there yet and that's okay, but just keep an eye on it and she'll probably catch right up.

I know this could be far off but my kids are very similar to yours. My daughter was speaking in paragraphs by age 2 and my son (23 months) is only using like 10 words/day. I finally called Infant Toddler Services and he's getting therapy 2x/month. I wish I would have called sooner! I'm not saying you'll need that, but I know I often wondered if the difference in their language development was just that she was so advanced and he's "normal" so I hesitated to have him tested. I'm glad I finally did, and he's just a late talker but it's nice to be getting some help.

Our daughter was totally walking unassisted at 6 months.. I did not walk until I was a year old.. My husband also walked at 6 months unassisted.

I spoke early, our daughter was speaking in sentences at her first birthday, My husband was a late talker..

I think it really is an individual development.. Even in families with multiple same sex children the children can greatly vary in development and skills.

Actually my "slow" baby is far brighter than her brother's. My dd was so delayed they thought autism. She's now a grade ahead in math and reading, outgoing, and everything else you could want, she's also the youngest girl on her gymnastics team at 8 years old. My first son was more average. walked at a year, potty trained around 2, his brother who is 16 months younger walked at 9 months and was potty trained around 1, he wanted to keep up. Academically now at 11 and 10, My oldest does a lot better than his brother. So I don't know that it's all gender or anything else. I think birth order plays a big part in it as well, the simple fact that yes, all kids are different. In fact kids are so different I worry about my 9 month old, because he's just now army crawling, but the doc swears he's on track!

In my experience little girls are always miles ahead of little boys. There are exceptions to this but its just always been my observation.

Ive always figured that thats why women tend to find older men to marry, because men mature slower.....Again, im not being sexist as well.

Boys often can do physical tasks earlier than girls. 9 months old is actually early to walk. 12 months old would be in the normal range. It would still be normal as long as she walks by the time she's 18 months old. If she's cruising along couches, then she's "walking." She's developmentally typical in that area.

Girls are usually ahead of boys in speech, but you have to remember that your son was first so you probably spent a lot more time focusing on teaching him to talk. Or your daughter has a more shy personality. She could be focusing on different things. She could be studying things more before she does or says things.

If you're worried that your daughter should be saying more words, talk to your pediatrician or have her assessed by Birth to Three.