Motor Skills, Small vs Large

My daughter walked at 15 months. Her two older brothers walked at 9 months. I eally thought that something was wrong. The pediatrition said that she would walk when she was ready and so she did. As children row older we often see one or the other of the physical skills more developed than the other. Development is never a straight line.

Hi S.,
I'm an OT with two boys 3 and 5 years old. I've also worked with kids for 7 years.

It is actually normal for children to develop either fine or gross motor skills, one better than the other. But when "experts" (tongue in cheek) talk about fine motor, it's really about tiny-tiny finger movements (my first son was picking up grains of rice at 6 mo). You describe really good upper-body gross motor skills in your son.

My hubby and I swore our kids would walk early, because my husband did. But no such luck, they both did it in their own, sweeeeeet time! (14 and 13 months).

Good luck!
T

He sounds like he is fine. His fine motor skills are extremely advance, as you know, and since he is crawling, his gross motor skills are fine. He hasn't found the need to walk yet.

I have had three children. My first never crawled but walked at 12 months. He is now ten and is above grade level in school. He also plays ice hockey.

My second never crawled and was way different from the first. Though he walked at 16 months we had him tested and he did qualify for speech and occcupational therapy at 2 1/2. Both his fine and gross motor skills were behind. My mother's gut told me something was up way before but I listened to my pediatrician who kept saying everything was fine. He is now seven and though he still needs therapy, he is above grade level and a cub scout.

My third? She is only 11 months but she is way beyond what either boy could do. She is crawling and her fine motor skills are amazing. She is not walking yet but pulling herself up. I know that she will be walking very soon.

As you can see there are a huge variety of ways a baby can develop. If anything, your child sounds advance in all areas.

every child is different.. my son didn't talk till he was 2.. and my daughter talked non stop at 10 mo. old... they both were trained by 2.. some kids aren't until they are 4 or 5!! does you son stand.. does he cruise around the furniture... does he pull himself up in the crib.... these are things that he should be doing.. my son walked at 13 months old..but found he could crawl faster so 90% of the time he would crawl.. he only wlaked a little until he was about 16 months old.. then all he did was run.. goo dluck

I'm not sure I'd worry about it. My sons, now 12 and 16, didn't walk until 15 months or later. My oldest son was five before he could catch a large ball but he was 3 when he could consistently hit a wiffle baseball over the backyard fence. Go figure on that one.

To this day, my oldest is very gangly and uncoordinated, a real Baloo-the-Bear type kid (Baloo was the bear in Disney's Jungle Book). My youngest has always been a much more physical kid (trying to keep up with his big bro). I think kids develop differently, with different strengths, and the "milestones" are more parameters than "musts." At least that's how it was with my sons.

Hope this helps!
Steph :)

Hi S.-

How chunky is he? I worked as a Nanny for may years. When I started with one family the 7 month old was 28 pounds!!! and had chunky thighs, so cute. He was unable to walk etc, because of his weight, (not fat just chunky). Around 18 months he started to walk, his muscle tone was much better and able to hold his body better.

He is now 10 years old and tall and lean.

If your son is chunky, he may not have the muscle tone to support the weight, so his body is learning other skills now, like small motor, because those are things he can do at this stage.

After working with parents & families for 16 years, I've learned not to rely completely on what's "normal" = )

R. Magby

Abbie, now 8, was the same way physically. We were concerned that she might have neurological issues. Grandma even offered to have her tested but her biological mother threw her out and refused. Prior to this, her mother had kept her in a pumpkin seat, high chair, etc. and there was very little physical stimulation of GROSS MOTOR skills.

At 10 months when I first saw her, she was no where near crawling. I tickled the bottom of her feet and knew IMMEDIATELY that it was due to lack of stimulation, NOT a neurological issue.

We began putting her on the floor, rather than keeping her in a pumpkin seat all the time, where her mother kept her "safe". I began working w/ her hip flexors (playing - pumping her legs while she was on her back, as well as opening and closing, utilizing hip stabilizers).

Within 2-3 weeks she was crawling. Those hip flexors are CRITICAL! They must be developed at a shorter lever (knees bent/crawling) BEFORE walking (longer levers). Otherwise, you may end up with other problems down the road.

Gross motor SHOULD come before fine motor. Figure out ways to use those muscles as you play with him.

Kids are different. Being completely "normal" isn't really normal. I've yet to meet any parent who says their kid hit EVERY milestone exactly on schedule. Even kids who hit every milestone early usually don't hit them all the same amount early.

My son (4) started off like yours. Better on the fine motor than the gross. He was signing at 6 months, feeding himself, etc but didn't do a hands and knees crawl until 10 months and took his first steps on his first birthday.

That said: A week later he was running, and going up stairs. By that summer he was swimming. He was climbing to the top of play structures at two. He rode a two-wheeled bike right after he turned 3 and has great balance in general. AND... his pencil control is not great. There are kids in his class to draw recognizable pictures, his all look like giant heated space creatures with long fingers.

I say all that to say, yes, it's normal, and no it doesn't mean that's always going to be the way his abilities shake out.

Enjoy your boy.

T.

there may be a number of reasons why he is more advance in fine motor vs gross motor. With gross motor he needs to find his new center of gravity in standing vs sitting, balance in a narrower base of support (e.g. on 2 small feet vs sitting on your bottom), needs a higher level of endurance (more energy to stand/walk vs sit), etc.

you should see him "separate" his legs during gross motor tasks in preparation to walk (e.g. crawling, pulling to stand). how is he pulling to stand? is he using one leg and then the other or both legs at once? can he stoop down to get a toy and return to standing?

Normal, normal, normal. All those milestone ages are just averages, so while some kids hit them "early," others are "late." At this age, it doesn't mean that your child is advanced or delayed as long as they're within the range of typical development (which is usually pretty big).

Children often focus on one skill at a time, so while some are working on gross motor skills like crawling and walking, others are working on language or fine motor skills.

My oldest didn't crawl until nearly 10 months and didn't walk until 13 1/2 months, but she sat early (4 1/2 months) and focused a lot on fine motor skills. She also had huge language comprehension at a year (could follow 2-step instructions and identify books by their title), but was only saying 1-3 words. By age 2, her speaking and language comprehension were above average along with her fine motor skills, and her gross motor skills were right on track. She's now 7 years old and is still advanced in academics and is still right on track with gross motor skills. She will likely never be an athlete and isn't the fastest runner, but she did learn to ride a 2-wheeler last summer (at age 6), she can swim well enough to go off the diving board, and she won a hula-hoop contest at her school, so she clearly isn't lagging behind.

My other two children hit their milestones slightly differently, and they have different skill sets as well. Remember that like adults, all kids are different, and they'll have different strengths and weaknesses. While being "early" or "late" on a particular milestone may be an indicator of those strengths/weaknesses, it's simply too early to know for sure.

Sounds like your son is doing great!

My son who is now 4 years old didn't start walking until he was 16 months. He didn't crawl normal either, he crawled around like a monkey with one leg tucked in and used his arms mainly. At the time I was so worried about it but now when I think back on it I just laugh picturing him crawling around like that. I say don't worry, my 4 year old is super smart and had no issues with development. He walks fine and is very active. I have four kids, ages 2- 14 Two of them walked at 2, one at 9 months and like I said the other one was 16 months. Hope this helps.

My kids walked at 14 and 15 months. They were chubby and lazy. I wouldn't worry this early.

He's a boy!!! I found my boys would do what they wanted to do because they liked it......if they didn't, it wasn't as easy! Just continue to praise him when he does things and when he tries new things, praise him even more.......

Is he a big boy? My oldest was big, and he was behind on crawling and walking because his little legs just weren't ready to hold all that weight.....and he crawled army style....on his tummy.........which now I know is why he doesn't to this day like to read!

Just help him with the other motor skills, find ways to help him try them and succeed......he'll figure it out......just keep working with him....

Take care and good luck.....sounds like he's a cutie.