16 month old not standing alone or walking

[Lola_0106]

My 16 month old didn't crawl on his hands and knees until he was 10 months, before that he commando crawled. He cruises around the furniture and very occasionally leaves go for a second but then sits down. He can walk holding both of my hands but if I ever let go he sits down. When I try and stand him in front of me, he buckles his legs.

Otherwise, he is perfectly fine with his development and is a great speaker! He has quite a few words and tries to put them together - "hiya dada". Is it true that babies will either excel at one or the other? I'm not too worried because he does try and walk, cruises and occasionally lets go...but should I be doing any more to help him? Thanks!

 

[mummytobe_93]

My 16 month old didn't crawl on his hands and knees until he was 10 months, before that he commando crawled. He cruises around the furniture and very occasionally leaves go for a second but then sits down. He can walk holding both of my hands but if I ever let go he sits down. When I try and stand him in front of me, he buckles his legs.

Otherwise, he is perfectly fine with his development and is a great speaker! He has quite a few words and tries to put them together - "hiya dada". Is it true that babies will either excel at one or the other? I'm not too worried because he does try and walk, cruises and occasionally lets go...but should I be doing any more to help him? Thanks!

I think it's true that they excel in different things. My daughter is nearly 18 months. She was sitting at 4 months. Crawling at 5 months. Walking unaided by 10 months confidently but she doesn't talk apart from the odd word.

I wouldnt worry he will probably just start walking in the next month or so. If he isn't walking by 18 months I would mention it to a health visitor for peace of mind but it's nothing out of the ordinary x

 

[mayacat]

My cousin's oldest was slow with walking but it's not because she couldn't! We went to visit when she was around 18 mos and I walked down their hallway in their house holding her hand with her, but if I let go, she panicked, cried and sat down. She was only holding my hand to make herself feel confident, she wasn't using me for balance at all. It could be a confidence thing with your guy, maybe he's just not ready to try on his own yet. He'll get there

 

[MrsPear]

I think you could mention it to a hv for your reassurance because it's 'fairly late' not to be standing alone.

BUT it's definitely not beyond the realms of 'normal' development- my daughter didn't weight bear at all until 14 months, stand unaided until 18 months or take her first steps until 21 months, but it feels entirely inconsequential now she is a running, jumping almost 3 year old. And at the time I was part of a thread on here & there were plenty of us on that thread with our late walkers.

Xx

 

[MindUtopia]

Nope, nothing you need to do. That sounds perfectly normal to me. 15 months is the average age for walking, so he's still very well within what would be considered normal from a medical perspective as well. Generally most kids are standing, as in holding on to things by then, but not necessarily standing without holding on to something, and it sounds like he's been doing that just fine for awhile. My daughter started to crawl and cruise at 8 months, but she didn't take her first steps til 15 months and she didn't walk confidently or stand up on her own (like pushing up to standing not holding on to something) til about 16.5 months. After that she was pretty much running everywhere. Kids are usually walkers or talkers. It sounds like your LO is just a talker. Mine wasn't stringing together two word phrases til probably more like 20 months. I wouldn't worry. Just keep his shoes off as much as possible (if he even has shoes) as they need their toes free to practice balancing to walk and just be laid back about it. He'll go when he's ready.

 

[HoneyBee144]

Agree with everyone else, seems normal but if you're worried mention it to your health visitor. I think some children (like my son) want to walk or be on the go pretty much from when they are born whereas some children are more methodical and wont do it until they are 100% sure, so they may do it 'later' but are probably more likely to just get up and walk one day rather than try too soon and fall all over the place like my son

Sounds like he is doing great with his speech so probably does excel at that more, I think its to do with how the brain develops but I'm not 100% sure. My son started walking a week before his first birthday but has only just started putting words together at 2 years old. They all develop differently and in 5 years time you'll wonder what you were worrying about!

 

[Cattia]

My DD1 was like this. She was quite an early talker but it felt as though all my friends' kids had been walking forever and she was still crawling. She was almost 17 months when she took her first steps. She is still not the most physical of children now at the age of 5, and she still likes to talk!

 

[Lola_0106]

Thank you everyone! I don't normally look at milestones and don't like to compare but sometimes you get a comment that is hard to stop thinking about... like "shouldn't he be walking!" You've all reassured me though

 

[MrsPear]

Just wanted too add I don't think there's much you can 'do' about it either. Like I said, my daughter was a late walker, she also didn't crawl until 2 days before her first birthday, and to be honest she never really rolled. She could sit from 5.5 months if I sat her up but but she couldn't sit herself up until after she could crawl. So she was 'late' with pretty much all her physical milestones.

My son has been able to roll since 3 months (or before, not sure) and could get around the room quite well shuffling etc from 5.5 months. Now at 6 months and 1 week he can commando crawl everywhere. I've not done anything different with him. I think it's just one of those things, some are earlier and some are later and most are somewhere inbetween. In the vast majority of cases it just happens spontaneously eventually.

x

 

[StranjeGirl]

I'd be worried if you are seeing a bunch of issues, but if it's just walking, which it sounds like, I wouldn't worry at all! I don't know if I believe the whole "excels at one, late at the other thing" It wasn't the case for me...dd didn't excel at anything lol. She walked at a normal age of 14 months, but certainly not "early" but was super late with talking...only had a few words at 2 years old. But it's possible she was just concentrating on something else at the time, and it could be that your LO also has other priorities right now! Dh didn't crawl til 11+ months and started walking at 17+ months. He is actually really coordinated and athletic, so I don't think it means anything at all if they start a bit early or a bit late!

 

[SarahBear]

Sounds like he's doing great! Slow to walk, but great nonetheless.

 

[Snufflepop]

My dd is like this. She is just turning 14 months and although she has been standing for ages she is only just starting to show any interest in walking. I think it will be another 2-3 months at least before she walks independently. Some of my friends babies the same age have been walking since 10/11 months and are now running around non stop.

However out of the group of 7 babies she is light years ahead with her speech and has loads of words and will put words together so I am sure she has just been focusing on that skill instead.

They will get there in their own time so I wouldn't worry about it!

 

[Bunanie]

My lo was exactly like that, I think I even had a similar post at that time lol.

She was really good in speech and understood danger, even now, she's the most cautious kid in the playgroup. so she was afraid of hurting herself. She walked when she was nearly 17months. Before that, she was rarely standing alone and wouldn't even walk with the push along walker.
When she started walking, she never fell, wasn't even wobbly. She started running a week later and walking backwards the week after that.
Sooo, he will get there! Every child is different.

 

[ButterCup17]

Mine just started taking more than 3 steps at a time, but still doesn't choose to walk around independently and he is 15.5 months. At his 15 month apt the dr said they get concerned if they aren't walking by 16 months, but he meant walking at all. He said bc my son would walk holding hand and would cruise, that he wasn't worried about it and it was just a confidence thing with my son. So I wouldn't worry since your son is doing those things. As cliche as it sounds, they will do it when they are ready I guess!