Physical Therapy for an 18 Month Old Not Exclusively Walking...

A., did the pediatrician mention that the ear infection itself could be causing your son balance trouble? My son's ear infections were so continual as a tiny one that he didn't even fuss over them. The only way we knew there was a problem was in the doctor's office when the doctor looked at his ears. Because of the infections, though, my son had several mild delays and had to be evaluated for early intervention. That process couldn't be more painless.

The good news to this for your son is that studies have shown the longer and more a child crawls, the better his reading skills. Crawling has such a major effect on reading, in fact, that when sixth graders with low reading scores are made to crawl around just once a week, their reading scores improve drastically. My grandmother, a teacher, saw this first hand with her own students. So even if your son doesn't want to walk on his own much, he is sure to want to read. I hope you have your library card ready. *S*

Infinite Blessings!

You mentioned ear infections, is it possible he has constant fluid in his ears? Our 16mos. old was falling frequently until he had tubes put in. He had only had a few ear infections but the fluid never fully drained. Just a thought. Good luck :)

I haven't personally been through this, but I know a mom whose 14 month old wasn't pulling up or showing any interest in walking/crusing. She did go see a physical therapist, and it was very helpful. If your ped is concerned enough to bring it up, I suggest taking her suggestions seriously. There is a range of when it's normal to walk, and while your husband seems to think there's not a problem, this is something to be checked into. Good luck

Your husband could be right, he just may be more comfortable crawling. But just in case he's not...I'd explore all options. I've learned the hard way, it's better to be safe, than sorry and regretful later. Besides, if you get to physical therapy and the therapist thinks he doesn't need it,they will tell you so.

I am a PT and I would definitely encourage you to at leat go through the evaluation process. He may qualify fo free early intervention services and, like others have said, if the PT does not feel it is appropriate, they will say so and consult back with the pediatrician. That being said, ear infections can most certainly cause balance impairments but I would rule out any kind of joint dysfunction, muscle weakness, or systemic cause of the delay. It also may put your mind at ease to talk to a PT who can explain some of the rationale for the late walking. I am not a pediatric PT (I do mostly adult neurological rehab!) but that is where I would start! Good luck.

Hi A.!

Listen to your doctor, children develop at vastly differnt rates, but this is far enough outside of normal for her to have real concerns. It could mean a great many things, and any time a little one has one developmental delay, there could be other delays or causes for the delay that you should try to catch as early as possible.

I would check out help me grow at www.ohio.gov and have one of their practictioners visit to check out all of his development for you, at the very least, it will ease your mind if nothing is amiss! Speaking from experience, you are far better off finding out for sure if the development is normal than you are seeking reasurance that he might out grow it. The earlier, the better for any intervention.

Our children were actually on the autistic spectrum, and gate and gross motor development can be effected. It would be very rare that anyone would diagnose autistic features at 18 months, but someone who is trained can spot things for you to watch so that you catch on early if you have an issue. One of ours did not really walk until 16 months, and the other could not get up by herself from sitting without a wall or a chair until she was nearly 2. They both had muscle tone that was just too low, and that was one clue (if we had known to look) could have been an early warning sign to take anything else we saw more seriously.

My advice is to NEVER wait and see with issues related to development, get answers from profesionals right away. I did not listen to that Mommy voice for a long time, and it is time that my oldest will never get back.

M.