Late Walkers

My daughter was a late talker and I went through some of those same questions but when I posed the question to my pediatrican she pointed out that my daughter walked on time if not a little early and mastered all of her motor skills like the pincher grasp, sitting up, crawling etc all on time or early. She pointed this out because she said that many times a child will excel in one area at a time which would explain her late talking. She was great with motor skills but not so much language skills. Is that maybe your son? Is he talking up a storm but just not walking? He could be the opposite, mastering language now and taking a little longer with motor skills. I don't think it's really anything to worry about right now. He sounds like he's right there on the brink and will probably be cruising around in no time.

Definitely talk to your doctor about it. My daughter was not even pulling herself up to stand yet at 14 months and the doctor said to try First Steps. They are amazing! She started walking at 20 months and is doing great. She is now getting speech therapy as well. At first when my doctor said to call the First Steps program it made me feel like there was something wrong with my daughter. Once we got her evaluated and in the program I realized that the program is not to help my child because something is wrong with her, but rather to help her now so she isn't always behind developmentally. I just think every parent needs to remember that even though there are all these guidelines about when our children should be rolling over, walking, and talking it just doesn't matter because in the end every child is 100% different than the next.

It sounds like he is attempting to make the move but just hasnt gained confidence yet. My daughter is the same way. She is 16 months. She has a twin brother who was walking at 11 months and 9.5 months adjusted. And of course people always seem surprised that she isn't walking yet. She is taking her time and there is nothing wrong with that. Now, if she wasn't making the motion (walking along things, etc) and not walking by age 2 yea...we may have a problem. We just have to be patient and provide an environment for encouragement. :)

You should ask your child's doctor about having him evaluated by early intervention. There may be a reason why he is not walking yet and from what I recall a child is considered "delayed" if he is not walking by 18 months. They can check his other motor movements and overall muscle tone. He may be perfectly fine and start walking next week but it never hurts to check things out. You didn't mention if he crawls and cruises and gets around ok otherwise...

I would try getting him out of the walker and getting him one of those push toys to help stimulate walking upright with confidence basically on his own. I had a friend with a similar problem and that is what she did. I think Fisher Price is the brand she uses and I know it's adjustable for height so it can be used for older babies too. Her daughter is now walking and just uses it as a toy so it's entertaining as well. If that doesn't work I would consider asking your family doc for advice and also to see if maybe he may need some pt to help him with balance or strength.

Hi there! I am a PT who works primarily in Early Intervention. It sounds like your son has all the foundations for walking:) However, I would absolutely refer him for an evaluation just to rule out anything going on that you or your ped(they don't always pick up on subtle low muscle tone etc) may be missing. My advice would be to tell your ped you want to refer for peace of mind whether he agrees or not. You don't need his ok for a referral. Feel free to email me if you have any more specific questions!

Hi M.!
My son Roland is now 3.5 years old. VERY late walker too. Same thing -- he was 18 months and 30 pounds. He was late with everything - rolling over, didn't really crawl -- dragged himself around like a soldier mostly. We got him a walker eventually just to help him along. He hardly walked around furniture. But did just get up one day. He also had a speech delay. These were all signs for a sensory integration disorder. I don't know if your son shows the other things mine did. But I did get Child and Family Connections of DuPage to do an evaluation on the speech issues. He failed every test and was eligible for services thru the state. The sensory part came out a few months later. We thought it was behavioral -- one of the therapist noted that something else was a play. With the late walking -- we have found that his hip muscles aren't very strong. He has needed occupational therapy to get the muscles working properly -- even pedaling was a big problem. Thru therapy he is now pedaling away. There is poor motor planning when using is muscles. Hope this helps.
Good luck!
S. in Lisle

Hi, I've heard that walkers delay kids because they don't need to learn to walk on their own to get around, they can get around in the walker well enough to be satisfied. Take him out of the walker, that way he will need to do it on his own if he wants to get around.