Walkers

Hello O.,
This is an email that strikes my heart because my daughter is sixteen months and still not walking! I am worried and anxious! Every child we play with is walking and seems more advanced! Makayla was not pulling herself up until about a year! And she still can not stand on her own, she has to be holding on to something! She cruises furniture and all that but has yet to let go and balance!

I, personally would love to hear from any of you out there who had late walkers as well because it is driving me crazy!

Thanks,
M.

hi O.. my two were so different. 1st one was a girl and in a hurry. she was walking at 8months running by 9. but 2nd is a mellow boy who isn't in any hurry. but he did walk on his first birthday. fun how they are so diff. same is going with talking. 1st had whole sentences by 18 mo. 2nd is still not really talking at 18mo. oh well.

HI!
I have a friend who's babies walked early, at about 9 and a half to ten months! It was crazy to see them walking around! They looked like teeny tiny babies and they were toddling around on their own! My first son walked at 11 months and my second didn't walk until about 14 and a half months. He just was such a good crawler, he didn't even care about walking.

Hi O.,

My daughter didn't start walking until 15 months. She did the trail along the couch and standing thing a long time first. I think she was waiting until she could do it right. Same with talking. She started saying mama at 6 months but nothing else. Then months later she was speaking in two word sentences. All children are different. Please don't compare your child's developmental milestones with others around you. When you are legitimately worried, talk to your pediatrician. I've learned most mothers embellish a bit. Just make sure you have a camera ready. I got video but no pictures and I am so upset about it.

J.

My daughter started walking just before her 10 month birthday. She never crawled, so she was motivated to get moving on her own.

All children are different. My little one didn't crawl at all, instead she scooted in her own style. She mainly held on to things and wanted to walk very early. That is how she got around mainly, furniture walking and scooting, then at 11 months she started walking on her own. I heard of children walking very early at 9 months and others not walking until later after there first year.

Hi there....my son was an early walker. He could pull himself up and walk while holding on to things at 7-8 months. And he was fully walking on his own by 9 months. My husband and I were both early walkers too. We were walking on our own by 10 months.

I have b/g twins - my son walked on his 12 month (1 year) birthday .. clear across the room and started running shortly after! My daughter didn't walk until she was 15 months, and I was concerned (these are my only children and with my boy walking so 'early' and strong, that's all I had to compare to). I think she took longer because she wasn't motivated, and she actually took pleasure in my son serving her, getting her things, etc. The doc said don't worry about it, and the doc was right. No physical problems. They're 3 now, and although my boy is faster (and probably always will be!), she's much more coordinated.

My daughter never crawled (even though she could, she choose not to) and didn't start walking until she was 15 months. But she was pulling herself up way before 1st birthday.
My son, earlier. He was crawling by about 7 months and walking right before 1st birthday.
:-)

Hi O.,
My oldest son (now 34) started walking at 9 months. He didn't crawl much but kind of scooted himself around. He was gifted verbally, so we didn't realize he had learning disabilities until he was in 4th grade. About that time I was told that crawling is very important to learning to read. The sequencing of right, left does something to the brain that is important. Are you worried that your child is ot progressing fast enough?

Hi O.,

My son was a VERY late crawler and walker. He didn't crawl until he was 11 months old, and didn't walk until he was 15 months old. Our doctor told us that some babies never crawl, and that ALL babies learn to walk, so we didn't stress about it. In fact, we felt lucky because we had it pretty easy there for a while!

I had an early walker with my first child. My son crawled at 4 months, stood unassisted at 5 months (not pulling up but standing from a squat), and walked (well) by eight months. My daughter is six 1/2 months and rolls over nicely but shows no signs of even crawling. Not even a half push up. Thank goodness because I really missed out on the baby stage the first time around.

My daughter started crawling at 7 months old, but then did not walk until she was 16 months old (up to 18 months is still within "normal" time frame for walking). However, when she did walk, it was like she had known her whole life - she just stood up and walked. There was no "learning how" at all - no falling, no wobbling, no difficulty, she could just suddenly walk all over the house and outside without a single problem. She is my first and currently only child, so she had no siblings to keep up with or look up to to be motivated to walk at an earlier age. I supposed she just watched everyone walk for so long that when it came down to it, she just knew how - girls are often much later when it comes to walking than boys, too. My daughter was always very normal when it came to all other physical milestones, so I wasn't concerned with her walking later than other children. She just did it in her own time. As long as your child seems normal and typically developing in other ways, then don't worry about it - she will walk when SHE feels motivated to do so.

hi O.. my two were so different. 1st one was a girl and in a hurry. she was walking at 8months running by 9. but 2nd is a mellow boy who isn't in any hurry. but he did walk on his first birthday. fun how they are so diff. same is going with talking. 1st had whole sentences by 18 mo. 2nd is still not really talking at 18mo. oh well.

My son was taking steps at 12 months but didn't walk well until 13 months, don't woory all children progress at different stages. Good luck, S.

My daughter started cruising at about 11 months, and started taking a few steps on her own just recently at 14 months. I was a bit worried for a while because all her friends from playgroup were walking by 12 months, but then I told myself that she's a very cautious child in everything she does, so it fits her personality.

Hi O.,

I oldest son did not walk until he was 14 months old (he's twelve now) and my younger sons began at 16 months (they are now 8 - twins :-). If you compare them with most of the other babies that I know, they were late walkers. Of course, by the time the twins were ready, I wasn't exactly "making" them walk much. I knew that they would eventually and that after that, things were gonna get pretty crazy around here. LOL

Take care,

L.

i have twins. they walked at 14 and 14 1/2 months respectively.

Well I have 2 boys. He walked at 10 mo. My Second boy will be one in 2 days and still has not walked!! I all depends on the babies. Some walk early and some later!

My now 2 1/2-year-old started crawling at 7 months, pulling up at 10 months, and walking at 11 months. My now 7-month-old is getting close to crawling but no where near pulling up. I'm an advocate of encouraging as much crawling as possible (lots of belly time, etc.) since there's a strong correlation between crawling and later success at reading. Something about the neural pathways being developed by the cross-body motion of crawling that helps with reading development. Anecdotally, as a first grade teacher, I've noticed that a majority of my students who have early difficulties with reading often did not crawl but went straight to walking. Coincidence? Who knows, but I think crawling is a good thing!

Hi
Mom of a very late walker here! my daughter just turned 18 months and is still not walking. we have had her in PT for about 3 months (she was referred WAY too late) and we have had her seen by the Ped neurologist and had an MRI of her spine and she is totally normal! just a late walker. the cut off for typical is actually 18 months. she is cruising great, never crawled (but can now)-she is a butt scooter. it was scary though and i know it is hard not to compare! but you really cant. we have friends with 10 month olds that are more advanced in this area than our daughter!
hope this helps!

I have three kids. My oldest daughter was 14 months before she was walking, and she hardly crawled at all. Her very limited crawling also started "late," around ten months. My next two were ten and eleven months old when they started walking. All three are well developed, now 5 1/2, 4 and 1 1/2, with no disabilities. I don't think you have to worry about it until they're at least 18 months old. Personality plays a huge role. My oldest is way more laid back, and my other two are much more energetic go-getters.

Aiden (now 26 months) started walking when he was 11 months old. Mason (now 13 months) started walking when he was 9 months old. I think my youngest was simply trying to keep up with my oldest! I would consider both of my boys early walkers.

I think a nine month old walking is very early. I do lots of moms who have had babies that walked that early but my son did not start walking until two weeks before his 1st birthday and it is 100% normal to not walk until 15 months or maybe even later. All babies are different and lots of them hit milestones and differents ages and this is totally normal. If you really suspect your baby is really late on a milestone or something else is wrong, just call the ped to express your concern. My local adult school also does free speech testing so there might be other local resources to help you understand normal child developement.

I have 5 children and they were all so different, My oldest daughter walked at 12 months, My second oldest daughter walked at 10 months, My son walked at 9 months, My second to youngest daughter spider walked till 2, and my youngest didn't walk until almost 14 months, each child does it when they can!

My first ...a girl walked one week after her first birthday....crawled by 9 mo
My second...a boy walked at 10 1/2 months...crawled by 5 month...
My third....a girl walked at 10 1/2 months....crawled by 8 mo.

Wow, 9 months sounds early to me for walking. My older boy (now 3.5 yrs) started walking just before 14 months, and my 14.5 month old just started walking a couple weeks ago. They both took steps closer to their first birthdays, but when I say walking I mean walking more than crawling, which turns into walking full time in a matter of days. Most of my sons' playmates have not walked that much earlier, and some have walked later. HTH
-B