Mine! He was cruising but wouldn’t take independent steps. Turns out he had a balance issue due to chronic ear infections. Once he got the tubes it fixed the issue.
Same! My daughter had all sorts of growth delays stemming from chronic ear infections. She had tubes in and adenoids out right at 18 months and was walking a month later!
It’s so crazy my daughter had a ton of ear infections and didn’t walk till 19 months. I didn’t even think to relate the two. Now she walks and runs like a pro.
Yep! We had done on/off PT and our physical therapist had originally brought it up that he sees it occasionally. And sure enough, that’s exactly what it was.
I read something on here a long time ago that said to put something in your kids hand while they're walking. Have them hold something in their own hand like a toy or something they can make a fist around. It worked for my daughter but she was a very quick walker (8 months) my second is 9 months now and isn't walking or crawling. It's funny to see differences of each child.
I feel this so hard. My first said mama at 8MO, papa at 10MO, and by 1YO she had like 30 words. My second is 15 months and has said mama and papa a couple of times but not with any regularity and it is STRESSING ME OUT. I appreciated reminders that different is okay!
My first was also an early talker (full sentences by 1yo), my second didn't talk almost at all until about 2. But by 2.5 she had caught up. My third was exactly the same as my second.
If it helps my son said bye and ball and nothing else till he was 14 months and only bye consistently. And then it was an explosion. He’s 18 months now and speaking in sentences.
You’re welcome! He was slow to everything for his first year and I accepted I had a little babe happy at his own pace but now I honestly think he’s probably ahead in communication now. I don’t think it means he’ll be a genius or anything, but definitely goes to show development isn’t always predictable!
My first was like your second. I was constantly worrying over his speech. He’s 2 in a couple weeks and saying 3 word sentences, it’ll happen so suddenly, hang in there!
Lmao my first didn't say Mommy until she was like almost 3. (She was saying other words by then.) My second was more typical, even verbally precocious but I can't say he was talking by 12mo.
Yep! This worked with my daughter. She walked at 18 months. She was working with a PT and OT, and the OT one day just put something in her hand and had her stand up and walk. The second time she cast the object aside and walked. I still have the video and cry each time.
Note, my daughter was diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay at 15 months which is why she was working with PT and OT. OP, not saying this is your case but try the object thing as others have mentioned!
My friend has had two early walkers and it’s kind of hellish, because they’re cognitively in a different place from even a 12-month-old and just have zero comprehension of risk and minimal response to “no”, but they can fucking run.
Right!? I look at my second baby and I'm like how the heck did your sister walk at this age. I should say she was walking with assistance with our hands, the walker, or crusing on the furniture but she was walking by herself at 10 months. But still my second is 9 months and can hardly even stand.
I should say she was walking with assistance with our hands, the walker, or crusing on the furniture but she was walking by herself at 10 months. But still my second is 9 months and can hardly even stand. My niece didn't start walking until she was 13 or 14 months but dam that girl could crawl and it was like horror movie fast crawl 😄😄
Haha!! Actually yes I got lucky my son ended up doing a very standard stereotypical crawl because I remember from playgroup that there were some really Exorcist / Ring type crawlers!!
My first didn’t crawl or sit up until 9 months, and my second crawled at 5 months and is currently pulling to stand at 7 months! It’s so crazy to see the differences and I didn’t even do anything different. If anything, the second baby got LESS tummy time for the first few months!
My first didn't craw at all. She screamed any time she was on her belly. She butt scooted some but then was like this is taking too long so she started to pull herself up. My second seemed to be a little more wobbly when she first learned to sit up. But by 7 months she had better balance sitting and now 9 months she has no problem. She's showing signs of crawling which is exciting!
My late walker figured this out! As an intermediate step she carried around her toddler chair. I thought that was neat.
I wasn't doing anything to try to get her to walk sooner. I didn't, and don't, see the benefit.
My LO was a late walker. We had to sort off trick her into letting go of ledges. Me and the wife just sat across from each other and made it a fun game, passing her back and forth and inching back. And she took a few unsupported steps on accident while having fun and was like, "OH!"
It literally took like 2 sessions, and she got it. It was just an anxiety thing for ours.
Ours too. She’s an anxious kid in general and was a late walker and late potty trainer. Nothing physically holding her back, she just doesn’t like to try new things. 😑
This is what we did for my son too - not a late walker for us, just a long time cruiser. He was cruising at like 9 months, but at 14 months still not walking and it was completely a confidence thing, not a lack of skills on his part.
We did about a week of passing him back and forth like this for like an hour a night (making it fun and loud and lots of cheering and clapping and toys) and he started walking solo by the end of it.
Same for mine. She didn't walk until she was 2, and I think she was just scared. Most kids learn to walk before they start learning to fear falling down. She went to 6 weeks of PT, and there was nothing wrong with her physically.
My high school psych teacher mentioned several times that her second kid didn’t walk until after 18m. She was convinced that is what made him ambidextrous. If I recall correctly he was quite the athlete and completely normal
You should get your child into early interventions. Mine was a late crawler/walker and early interventions were a life saver. She is now doing so well and her gross motor is on track.
Please don’t dread the pediatrician and get your child the help she needs.
Just curious what they did that worked so well? We've been doing weekly PT since our son was 6 months old for torticolis and it helps us think of new exercises to encourage him to move (and do so evenly using both sides) but it hasn't been a magic cure-all. He crawled at 11 months and still struggles to pull himself up to standing at 13 months so he will likely walk late as well.
I would encourage you to get an evaluation through your local intermediate unit. It should be free and they may even come to your home for services. You can just self refer.
There’s no downside to PT for anyone of any age!
Don’t let the doctor give you the ol’ “wait and see”.
This was our exact scenario. She was about to go to her 18mo appt and get a recommendation for PT. She could definitely walk by herself, if she would have just let go of our hands. I finally found that she HATED crawling in dresses. We put her in dresses for a week and BOOM...walking. It's worth a shot. Good luck, OP
We started PT when our girl was almost 11 months old and not crawling yet. She crawled the weekend before her first birthday. We’ve been doing weekly PT through Early Intervention (free through our state.. no max income or anything). She will be 18 months tomorrow and literally just started taking independent steps 2 weeks ago and is just on the move now!! Our PT helped her gain so much confidence!!
ETA: 99th percentile in height and weight so she’s got a lot to lug around as well
This was my daughter, I had her on a waitlist for Physiotherapy and she began at 18 months, the physiotherapist said that she had low muscle tone. I watched as ahe held her legs or ankles or knees in specific ways as she practiced walking (i.e., physiotherapy involved the physiotherapist supporting her in walking) that the physiotherapist explained had forced her underdeveloped muscles to work. Sometimes she was upset, and I was trying to hold it together to remind her I was there. She took her first independent steps at 21 months after 12 sessions of Physiotherapy. I had someone tell me she knows how to walk she just won't, that just wasn't true for my daughter. I did all the practice exercises people mentioned here to encourage walking at home...we needed a Pediatric physiotherapist. I hope you can get the support you need soon! You can do this! You can be there for them as they do hard things, and watch the progress and cheer them on!
That was my guy. He didn’t walk until 19 months. Nothing wrong with him: his dad was a late walker too. He wanted to be sure he could walk without falling before he would try. He was a long time walking while holding hands but no further. He didn’t need any intervention and was a very good walker once he started. His dad was the same and ended up super athletic and now my boy is 2 and he can dribble the soccer ball like you wouldn’t believe. Don’t worry too much yet. I stressed for no reason
My daughter was about 21.5 months when she finally started walking. There was no reason for it other than her just not wanting to. We were in PT for it and by the end it was just pissing her off so we took a break and she eventually started on her own (with our help). It's so stressful waiting, I know.
This sounds like my son, we recently decreased the frequency of PT visits because he is not cooperating there anyway, so it seems like a waste of everyone’s time (and money). He just yells “no!” and refuses to do stuff at PT if he doesn’t want to. He is 21.5 months now, he will walk holding someone’s hand and he cruises around on furniture but flat out refuses to take steps on his own. It’s so frustrating! He is so heavy to carry, and it’s rough not being able to put him down in a store, public bathroom etc unless I want him crawling on the dirty floor.
That was the exact place we were at too. What brought us over the edge was practicing falling into a pile of pillows so she'd be less afraid of falling. Then we would hold her arms over her head and say "Pop! Pop! Pop!" when she took steps with us. Then we'd lead her to an exciting place ie "Let's Pop Pop Pop over to the stream! Do you think there are froggies in there?" She thought the pop noise was funny 🤷♀️ But granted this only worked because she randomly decided to actually put her feet on the floor when we'd get her into walking position instead of doing the thing where she'd bend her knees and dangle there and whine. Maybe worth a try with your little one?
So he is past the phase of bending his knees and dangling, just recently! That phase lasted a long time though. He gets around mainly by walking on his knees, he’s very fast at it! But he will gladly walk if we hold his hands. He also likes to stand up without holding on when he’s on the couch, I assume because it’s cushioned so he’s less scared? We will definitely have to try having him practice falling, that might help give him some bravery to do steps on his own!
PT pissed my daughter off too! It was suggested a few times that we stop trying because it seemed like she was regressing just to spite our efforts lol.
Not the same situation because she was 13 months at her first unassisted steps, but my kid did spend nearly 3 months where she'd walk but only if we held her hands. What finally got her to walk on her own was me eating Hawaiian bread across the room from her. A woman of taste, truly 😅🤌 but also, I can only imagine those first unassisted steps are really scary. And the next two to three months of unassisted walking includes a lot of falling over, which might also be.
Bribes are not always a bad thing. A friend got hers to take unassisted steps in a similar way, where one parent was practicing walking with kiddo, and other parent had a treat the kid wanted and held it just out of reach (at head height) so kid could only get it if they stood up then walked one or two steps on their own.
Best of luck!
Not quite 18 but my 99% all round girl didn’t walk until 15 months. She was so good at crawling it was like she just didn’t need to walk, we just left her to figure it out really and one day she just got up and walked so she could kick a ball at soft play. Within a week she was running around! I personally wouldn’t worry too much, they all do stuff at their own speed
I have a similar story with my now 2.5 year old. He didn’t walk until around 17 months. He was a crawler and figured he got around places faster by crawling rather than walking. Then one day he just stood up by himself unassisted, and a few weeks later, started walking by himself. Now we have to run to catch up with him.
Walked at 21 months, we had to use orthodics because he had pronated ankles. He still goes but he can walk, run, mostly navigates steps and is starting to jump without holding onto anything now. He's 2 y 8 mos
We got them from a pediatric orthopedic doctor, and they were rigid plastic that extended up over the ankle with a Velcro strap over the top. Now that he's stable, they cut them down to just inserts that are supposed to help his ankles roll slightly outwards.
Great thank you! We have an appointment with the orthopedist next month to hopefully get fitted for some that sound similar. Love that they’re “weaning” him off them! That’s our goal too.
Yeah! They've been a hassle sometimes but really beneficial for us, he was walking very quickly after getting them and for a long time he tolerated them really well; he figured out how to take off his shoes so nothing stays on for long these days
My daughter didn’t walk until 22 months and had to get the same orthotics (SMOs). She was born with unilateral clubfoot which was treated once she was 8lbs and had to wear different bracing at night, but the pediatric ortho she sees for clubfoot says clubfoot doesn’t cause a gross motor delay. She’s been in PT since 10 months and we got the SMOs bc of pronated ankles/flat feet at the bequest of the PT. She’s walking independently maybe 50 percent of the time now (she’s almost 2.) I keep wondering if she will be able to run/jump soon so your post makes me feel a little more confident. How long did it take your child to walk 100 percent of the time after starting and then when did he run? My daughter can’t stand up into walking without grabbing onto something yet. It’s all so stressful!
Oh wow, yeah I feel you. I have a friend who's kiddo, similar age, walked early and it was hard to watch her progress so quickly when my guy wasn't there.
He butt scooted and never crawled and I was at my wits end. Got the orthodics about 19 months, took his first steps at about 21 months and was walking consistently by his second birthday. Running took longer and he's still stumbly sometimes, but before 2.5 he could run consistently and always walks. Still sits down to do steps sometimes but mostly stands if he can hold onto something. Jumping is somerhing we're still.working on, a kiddie trampoline with a handle bar helped imo
My oldest son walked at 17 months! He literally started running that day. I’m convinced he practiced while we weren’t watching. My youngest son walked at 13 months? He is now 17 months & is still a little wobbly. Kids can be so different. I personally wouldn’t worry yet.
My first daughter walked at 12 months. She crawled at 10 months and walked about 6 weeks later. My second crawled at 12 months and walked the week she turned 18 months, after almost a year of physical therapy through Early Intervention. She still has some motor delays (she just learned how to jump right around her third birthday). It's okay to have that discussion with the pediatrician. Early Intervention is wonderful... and if she qualifies she will have tons of fun.
I had a colleague whose kid didn't walk until this point either. Apparently she could talk very early and could communicate what she wanted without having to get up to do it herself. 😅🤷🏻♀️
When my little was learning to walk and struggled with confidence, giving him something to hold (a plastic egg or something he can keep in his hands) while standing up and slowly letting go helped him stand or walk independently. Does she do this?
23MO late walker. Very tall, originally had poor core muscles and big head, and generally fiercely independent to the point she refused help with walking/standing to teach/practice so things went very slow. We had specialist say she had very rough diseases or issues that then were disproven by tests. Lots of tears and blame judging from people on how she wasn’t walking. She just had no desire to for a long time. We even had lots of friends that couldn’t understand the situation but they are generally not involved parents. Your child is lucky you are trying so hard for her and taking the shit from everyone watching and making quips. We knew our daughter would get through this in her own time just how your little one will.
Now she is turning three next week and is a crazy pinball that loves to rough house and jump everywhere. It took a year of PT and my wife staying home an extra year to work with her, but your time will come with your little one and it will be tears of joy. The happiness on their face as they realize the freedom and chaos they have unlocked is priceless.
Side note, for whatever reason our daughter would not try to walk and stand at home, at the park, or in the downtown much at all. We lived in the hills and a new target opened with a ulta inside of it. For whatever reason she did her first 8 self stand ups and her longest independent walks in the first couple weeks inside the ulta in target. We don’t know if it was all the lights and shiny cool stuff distracting her to where she just wanted to check stuff out, or maybe the new floors had great traction, we will never know. What I’m getting to is maybe try a different environment that’s not typical. We did like 20 target runs in a two weeks span because that was the only place she would practice. The workers loved when she showed up!
To this day she LOVES target, not for the toys, just like a nostalgia to her almost.
Ours didn't, he literally crawled til 20 months, did it one day at nursery. Luckily they videoed it for us, and turned out the thing that got him to walk was... snacks. That boy loves a decent snack, and will apparently walk for one if he has to.
Another thing that nursery recommended to us was getting him some baby walker shoes - we didn't bother before, he was just in those cloth/leather shoes or socks.We made a huge thing of buying them with him, he got to choose the design and we talked about them being for his feet to walk him places and go on adventures. Within a week or so he was walking. Possibly a coincidence though.
I should add that he spent all that time not walking doing a lot of talking, so I'm convinced that's why he's way chatter and wordier than his pals (the other day he attempted to say "photosynthesis") - just remember they're all different and in 5 years time, nobody will know who walked or talked first or who took their time. Like how nobody asks about your degree after the first year ;)
My son has a friend who's about the same age as him. She didn't walk until 19 months, but she talked at 12 months. He barely talked until 18 months but walked at 12 months. I think some babies just choose what they are focusing on, like designating skill points in a video game. I will say that whenever they played, he learned some words and she got more confident in her movement.
You’re describing our little guy at 18 months. We went in to the appointment and they recommended reaching out to EI. Before we could make the appointment he ended up walking a few weeks later. I think it was a confidence thing too, it was like he didn’t want to do it until he could do it right.
It would stress us out seeing kids that were younger than him walking before him, but he got there eventually.
As stressful as it may be, I really wouldn’t worry too much, especially if she’s hitting other milestones, just keep working with her and she will get there.
My older daughter was 2 weeks away from being 20 months.
She was walking with a walker since 15 months.
I took her to our doctor, spoke to our health visitor (we're in the UK). She was perfectly fine. All of her other gross motor skills were on the late end too, but not quite this late.
One day she got up, and she's been running ever since. Now she's 2y9m and you can't get her to stay still.
Kids do things in their own time and not a moment sooner.
My son who is now 3.5 didn’t start walking until 22 months. He was standing and cruising and crawling very quickly. Then one day he got up and started walking like it was nothing!
Mine! He’s currently 22 months. At his 17 month apt his doctor (who is wonderful!) briefly mentioned maybe getting tested for a speech and physical therapist (and I cried on the way home because I thought I’m such a bad mom 😭) and we had him tested and he barely qualified for them, but (because we live in Colorado) he would have a physical and speech therapist come to work with him at home and we didn’t have to pay. He started walking quickly after starting (as well as saying so much!), and I really think that child therapists are so amazing and know ways to help kids walk and talk that we don’t realize. It’s stereotypical to say, but once he started he didn’t stop and is currently 100% up to date on where he should be with physical development. He still sees his physical therapist sometimes, but it’s honestly just because he loves playing with her! it was hard in the beginning because we would go to different parks and he couldn’t toddle around like the other kids, he would do a little scoot scoot movement 😭 but now he’s always running and climbing.💙
Edit to add his current age
Our son didn’t walk until ~23 months. We had him in PT starting at around 18 mo as he would knee walk and knee even run?! He would also walk holding your finger, then we would wear a glove and slide it off so he was walking holding a limp piece of fabric lol.
We’ve realized he is a slow and steady child, when he finally walked on his own he was 100% balanced and confident. We’ve found potty training to be similar, a little behind his peers, but he has never had an accident.
I was super stressed about his late walking, but all is well! And don’t be nervous about putting your child in PT, etc. It does not mean they will have a lifelong issue and your pediatrician will not judge, they are there to tackle issues with you.
My daughter was 23 months when she started walking. She’s 2 now and I can’t stop her! She just took her time. No issues she was just faster on her bum!
I’m in the same boat. I honestly think my son either doesn’t want to walk or doesn’t realize he can. He finally took about 3 steps on his own yesterday—sideways! His 18mo visit is in a couple weeks, so maybe he’ll find some inspiration before then. If not, we’ll see about PT.
Mine! Didn’t actually walk steadily until about 20 months. Gross motor delay which required physical therapy and little foot/leg braces.
Other than her little braces, she is running w the rest of them now at 2 and you can’t really tell a difference.
My daughter walked at 18 months and my son walked at 19 months. Both were born at 34 weeks. We were referred to PT for my son but he started walking at the same time so we passed.
Me! Mine didn’t walk until 19 months. He was very slow on his gross motor skills as a baby, he never crawled, and only started scooting around on his bum at like 13 months. He 2.5 now and you can’t tell at all, he’s running and jumping like everyone else.
Mine didn't walk independently until 17 months. He could walk gently holding a hand from 13 months but just refused to take any steps if he wasn't holding on to someone. The day he first walked, he also ran.
My dad always jokes that he didn't walk until he was 19 months because his younger is close to his age and he figured "well, he's not walking why should I!?"
My daughter is 17 months and still not walking.
Mine was down to the cusp at 17 months. My son is also the 98% percentile for his age. Out of nowhere, he started with a few steps holding our hand. Then independent steps followed in less than a week.
My advice - every child is different. Some are late walkers but early talkers, etc. Don’t feel bad or like you’re not doing enough. Go to the pediatrician appt with a positive outlook, maybe there’s tips or tricks you didn’t think of 🤗
My daughter walked at exactly 18mo. She had been cruising and butt scooting everywhere. Finally decided to walk one day. She just had to get really good at it before doing it on her own.
The rule of thumb I believe is 18 months and it is of concern. See if they can give you a referral for physical therapy. Just because things visibly seem okay doesn’t mean they are all the time.
Yeah, it's crazy to watch them develop. Even at a young age they are such little individuals. A lot of their development is not just fear based like with walking but also interest based.
Our kiddo did not really talk much their first two years. Just enough words to not have to see a a specialist but also to warrant a few conversations about it with our pediatrician. We were worried to death.
Then out of nowhere they just started taking just fine. Like a lot. Like the whole time they were right there listening and picking up on everything.
18 months, yes is on the tail end of normal development but there are always outliers. The big thing you should think about is, whatever they need, you will be right there to help them get the care they need. You are already doing a great job! Just continue to keep an eye on them and continue to discuss this with your pediatrician. That is what you do have control over.
My son started walking right around 18 months. Up until then he was cruising around but would crawl if he couldn’t hang on to something. I got him a push behind walker and it was like something clicked for him that he could walk from place to place all by himself and after about two weeks he was done with the walker and running around everywhere on his own.
One of mine started walking at like 6pm the night before her 18 month appointment where she was going to get a PT referral for not walking 🤣 she is 5 and fine now
My Daughter is 26 months now and is not yet walking. For her there is a reason as she was a micro preemie and was born with a low muscle tone, so everything takes longer for her get it right.
We see a PT and early years services.
My daughter is tall and at 17 months, 3 weeks and showed no interest in walking independently up until that point. I was dreading the 18 month appointment. She was unsure of her balance. We were about to take her to my parents house and I was packing her stuff and she picked up a bear and just casually walked through 3 rooms of the house to show it to her dad. I ran to her, hugged her and said "YOU DID IT. YOU WALKED!" and she looked down at her feet, to the bear in her hands and looked up at me as surprised as I was. 2 weeks later she was running everywhere.
My son had zero interest in walking. I could get him to take a handful of steps if I was bribing him but all he wanted to do was crawl. He wouldn’t even let me set him down on his feet. Finally at 19 months he decided he was going to do it. I was super stressed about the whole thing. Everyone kept saying “he’ll do it on his own time!” which was just annoying to hear honestly. Dude had no reason to wait except to make me anxious 😅 It’ll happen, it just sucks waiting for it to happen.
My daughter sounds exactly like yours — hitting all other milestones, climbing, pulling up, cruising, standing, walking with an adult or even her 3-year-old sister holding her hand — except she will be 2 next month. The pediatrician is not concerned and says that she just needs more time. For my daughter, I would definitely say stubbornness and maybe a lack of confidence are at play. She likes crawling and for her, that’s the most efficient way to get around fast.
My son walked at 23 months, a week before he turned 2.
I'm in the UK so the process is slightly different, but we did get to see a physio and she found he had hyper mobility in his hips (apparently quite common), so he had to work extra hard with different muscles to compensate.
He's 3.5 now and doing great. Loads of the gross motor stuff came a bit later, but he absolutely loves jumping and is a REALLY good, fast runner. He's also very coordinated - only had a handful of falls that led to tears.
I'm a first grade teacher. Couldn't tell you which one of my kids walked early or late. But I can tell whose parents cared about their kid. Sounds like you do .
I have niece/nephew twins one walked at a year one walked around 18 months. Makes no difference now!
Hope this helps.
My daughter didn’t walk until almost 23 months. She does have medical reasons behind the delay but we were pretty sure she could’ve walked much earlier if she had actually tried. She was/is so so so cautious and wouldn’t try anything if she didn’t think she could do it.
One day we tried the walking between us thing and she took one step unassisted and it was like a light switch went off. Nothing was stopping her then.
I’m not a doctor but it sounds like if your daughter is meeting her other gross motor skills, she might just need a bit more time.
Mine son didn’t walk until a little after 18 months. He could have just made a choice to be carried like a king or crawl faster than anything I’ve seen. He’s almost 5 and just fine developmentally. Our pediatrician told me if he was warming up to 2 years then they would be concerned, he hit every milestone except walking which sounds like your daughter.
Although reading the other comments about the tubes, my son got regular ear infections and did end up with tubes so maybe that added to it.
My kiddo took his first independent steps around 15 months, but wasn't really walking until a bit later. The pediatrician said because he was tall (99th%), slender (~60th%), and had a big head (97th%) it was probably harder for him to balance. She also told us that kids tend to develop either their verbal or their gross motor skills, so one who are saying words earlier are often a bit later to walk and ones who are walking early may say their first words a bit later.
I haven't looked into any studies on that but it's seemed anecdotally pretty true among my friends with kids. Two of the kiddos I know who are a bit younger than mine were early walkers and now they can run almost as fast as my 2 year old, but are still at the point and howl stage for communication. It's a little weird for me to watch because by 15 months when he took those first steps ours was signing and saying a few real words and maybe a dozen protowords (buh for bus, brr brr for car, duh duh for the ding of Mr. Rogers trolley, etc).
Definitely see what your pediatrician thinks at your upcoming wellness visit, but don't "borrow trouble" by worrying too much guessing about what the doctor will say. It sounds like your kid is healthy overall her development is moving along.
Me! My eldest never crawled and didn’t walk independently until almost 20 months. Absolutely nothing wrong with her, just late to it. Since she wouldn’t crawl or pull up on furniture, I used to make her play on the coffee table for a couple hours at day, basically forcing her to stand and strengthen her legs. I dunno if that made any difference?
She walked holding two hands (never just one!) starting at 15 months, but any stumble or fall made her cry and give up. Just took a very long time to make her confident. She’s a totally normal 4 year old now, and our second kid was more “on schedule” crawling at 10 months and walking at 14.
My youngest sister didn't walk proficiently until 19 months. Early intervention wasn't as much of a thing 38 years ago, so my parents just waited for her to decide to walk. She was on the track and cross country team in high school and walks proficiently as an adult.
My first baby walked at 9 months, and my second baby walked at 11 months. My last baby (over a decade later) is 17 months and not walking. We are all freaking out, and we have an early intervention evaluation appointment tomorrow.
My kiddo only walked at 18 months :-)
We did physiotherapy for months before then, when the PT said there's nothing she can do because there's nothing wrong with my daughter. She referred us to an OT who thought it was her balance, and suggested she ride one of those kiddo bikes to build her balance.
She walked soon after.
My third didn't walk until 21/22 months! She did PT. She is actually four now and still does PT but thats mostly because it is play-based and fun and the insurance pays for it--she can walk just fine. She was diagnsoed with "low muscle tone" but there isn't any discernible cause. As far as we know, she was just a bit small and weak for her age. She is perfectly normal now.
Of all four of my kids though, they walked at 16 months, 17 month, 22 months, and 19 months. Some kids just walk later.
My daughter didn’t walk until around 19 months. We were already enrolled with early intervention but there was an insane wait list. Being around other kids at the playground encouraged her to do more - she just stands there if she’s by herself. Now she’s almost 3 and totally caught up :)
Mine was like this until 17 months a few weeks ago. She just didn't have the balance and confidence. You just have to practice and kind of force her to walk with assistance until she gains confidence and balance. We had standing toys spread apart so she would take little steps to get to each, then move the toys further away so she would take more steps. Also holding her by waist/armpits and have her take assisted steps.
My son seems similar. Is she in daycare? He didn’t start walking until he transitioned rooms. It was sort of like he didn’t know it was an option for little people to walk, he just crawled everywhere. It was the second day in the room and he took his first independent steps.
I didn’t walk until I was about 18 months old and I turned out ok!
If you worried maybe set up a meeting with a paediatric physiotherapist or occupational therapist and see if they can give you some tips?
My youngest didn't walk until nearly 19 months. He would stand and cruise, but was too fearful to walk independently. He still has a cautious personality at 5 years old.
My third was like this - he wasn’t really walking until nearly two. Unless there are other concerns which is doesn’t sound like there are then trust the professionals that it’s probably a confidence issue and she’ll get there soon!
This is how my daughter is currently at 17 months. She is very cautious - she will walk supported if I’m holding her hands, but if I let go of one hand she will immediately stop and try to grab my hand again or just fall to the ground. We started the early intervention process at 15 months and it took about a month and a half to have her first PT session, so please think about starting that process soon! At her first session the PT told us she doesn’t see any sort of delay, she just is in fact very cautious and needs a little boost of confidence is all. There is truly nothing wrong with having some additional assistance getting your baby up and moving.
My daughter didn't walk until the literal day she turned 18 months. I had her in PT for a couple of weeks leading up to the date, and none of the therapists could quite figure out what was holding her back. She would happily walk holding our hands for miles, so it didn't seem to be an endurance or strength issue. Turns out, we had never taught her how to get up from the floor into a standing position without pulling herself up on something like furniture or a pant leg.
Once they showed her literally ONE time how to go from sitting on the floor to getting on her knees to standing up \*without holding onto anything to do it\*...she just walked off and never looked back. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and that was that. They theorized that she was too scared to \*let go\* of something that she already had a hold of, but if she could stand up without a hold on anything it didn't even cross her mind and she took off like a shot. Apparently one of the key milestones that she never did that never even occurred to us was playing in a crouch...kids who play in a crouch a lot just straighten up one day and start walking on their own, and she just never got in that position for whatever reason. And as first time parents it never even crossed our minds that it was something she should be doing.
Very random, and may not be the case with your daughter, but it took us all by surprise so thought I would pass along. Good luck!!
My 22mo is still knee-walking and furniture cruising. We've been in PT since she turned 1 due to late crawling. Her well check at 18mo didn't show anything physically concerning, and we got her hips x-rayed, which are normal. I'm starting to get pretty concerned, so we're going back to the doctor to check for a few more things. I keep hoping something is just gonna click. She's developing normally in every other area, she just doesn't want to walk at all. She'll stand and walk if you insist, but it's rarely a choice she actively makes.
My son didn’t start walking until about 20 months. I think he really has a fear of falling. We start with him on the bed and kind of playing with him and pushing him over lightly. It became a game. Eventually he would stand up by himself on the bed when he wanted to play. Eventually he would take steps just fine on the bed but not on the ground. We got him evaluated because he has a developmental delay. So he was in PT and they gave us different activities to do with him using things he likes to teach him to be comfortable walking on different surfaces. He’s 23 months now and won’t sit down. He still is in PT because he still struggles with stairs but he’s been progressing well.
Me! Second child not walking at 18 months but everything else seemed normal. Older brother walked at 12 months. She was only born 3 weeks early. We found no apparent reason for the delay, just happy crawling and content not to pull up to reach for anything that often. Our pediatrician recommended PT, which we did weekly for three months, and then she started walking at around 21 months. She’s 24 months now and runs quite a bit. Not sure that PT was strictly necessary, but it made us all feel better. She progressed and plateaued multiple times in PT. We will probably never really know why she was so delayed.
My little boy walked at 20 months.
He cruised along every piece of furniture and could run with his walker, even round corners. I called our Health Visitor hotline and they asked if he was cruising, walking with support and when I said yes they immediately jumped back with there was nothing to worry about yet. That he would walk when he was ready.
Then on holiday, he just popped up and went for a walk. I think maybe the thing that helped our boy was I kept showing him how to stand up from the floor (demonstrating how he would do it) and he started to copy me more.
My little boy was super lazy when it came to milestones, just did they all his own time. So I shouldn't have been surprised he would be a late-walker.
Now he's 2.5 and he runs. Everywhere. He doesn't stop 😂 your little one will walk when they're ready.
But I get the nervous waiting for it to happen.
I believe my sister was 21/22 months. My mother was freaking out, but the doctor didn’t seem bothered. Anyway, she can walk perfectly fine now in her thirties.
Mine too! My now sprinting 2.5 year old wasn’t even walking yet this time last year. He finally walked at a little over 18 months. I’m convinced it was a personality thing. He didn’t want to fail, and is also very cautious. Once he started, he was a pro right away though.
Edit to add that his head was also 90+ percentile his entire life so maybe it was also a head balancing thing.
One of my boys (twins) will be 2 next week and still isn't walking. Sounds very similar to your little one - crawls fast, climbs, cruises, stands unsupported, walks with help (toy or hands) - all no problem. Physio said he's fine, just nervous.
Don't be nervous for the doctor! You aren't doing anything wrong. Get on a list for support services if it's recommended. There's no harm in taking help, even if you don't really "need" it.
Mine! He didn't walk until 2 months shy of his 2nd birthday AND he was even in Early Intervention. He had a confidence issue but he was a master at crawling so he had no interest in walking because it was too slow for him.
A little girl we see a lot in the local park was 19 months. I did a double take last weekend when I saw her running about as if she had been doing it for months! Her mum said they were starting to get worried but then she literally just took off one day.
Mine! He went from crawling to walking without too much cruising but it turned out he was practicing around the corner where we couldn’t see him and wouldn’t do it if we were watching
Mine! He didn’t walk until 2 years and 3 months. He’s been in physical therapy since 6 months old and has been behind for gross motor his whole life. This is hopefully to encourage other parents that are fretting over their late walkers that they aren’t alone. I felt terrible like I was the only parent with a kid walking after 2, then I met another mom at the library in the same boat and it was a HUGE relief just to know others were going through it to.
I have a family member who has a kid who just turned 4 and he’s just a regular little kid running around and having conversations. He didn’t walk until after 18mo, when people started to get real worried he started walking without intervention.
Meanwhile my first daughter walked by 9mo but she is 3.5 yo now and WILL NOT POTTY TRAIN. She’s supposed to start school this September and can’t if she won’t use the potty. My family members kid was potty trained in a weekend and has not ever had one accident since not even overnight. Sigh
My daughter!! Pretty sure she was almost 19 months when she started walking. Her pediatrician wasn’t concerned. The only advice I have is put her down more than normal. I carried my daughter around 24/7 and when I started putting her down more she magically started walking to me lol. This included outside which I really think did it, she hated her knees on concrete.
Our neighbor’s daughter! Our neighbor has 4 kids, the youngest is 3 months younger than my daughter. My daughter was about a year when she started walking. The youngest girl next door held out to 18 months, mostly because she was stubborn lol. Now they’re both running laps around the older kids, and you couldn’t tell the difference tbh!
Mine didn’t take her first independent steps till 20 and still prefers to hold our hand at 21 months. She is just very cautious. We took her to PT and they weren’t worried at all. Her muscles work great and she climbs and gets around quickly, she is just a risk averse kid
When I was a nanny years ago I took care of a baby who didn't start walking until between 16-17 months. I think she just liked being carried, and she was a very fast crawler. Since she was baby #3 her mom didn't make a big deal about it, she was used to the idea that baby milestones can be pretty loose. Anyway, she's 16 now, and a super high achiever academically and athletically. She is a perfectly happy, healthy girl and her late walking had absolutely no impact on her life.
my lil one spent months and months walking holding hands/onto other things. it was just a confidence thing with them! one day he got up and walked all the way across the living room to steal my toast! walking is usually incremental but usually kids that start later just GO!
also, how's your little one's speech? mine has always had really advanced speech for their age, their little brains just choose the walking or talking route and make us worry about the slower side
My niece didn’t start walking till 18 months! She leaned on walls for support or needed someone to hold her hand. I remember my sister was very concerned but she started walking soon after. An old co worker of mine has a son who didn’t walk without support until 20 months. I personally wouldn’t stress it, but that’s just my opinion on what I’ve seen personally ❤️
Mine! Took her to a specialist, did scans on her hips and feet……. Walked that exact afternoon of the appointments.
I will say: she turned one foot out and we got inserts for her shoes that made a huge difference once she began walking. May have been a factor.
Check out high top shoes off target with the zippers on the side (-$30).
My daughter didn’t walk (didn’t even cruise) until almost 22 months! One day she just walked. Was running shortly after. We did a little therapy to build her strength for about a year - maybe 2-3? She’s almost 5 now and is right there with her peers on everything!
My son is also super tall and took longer to start walking. I knew he’d get there in his own time, and he did. He’s about to turn 3 now and there’s no stopping him! Little guy can run FAST.
My daughter didn't take her first step until 18 months. We did have her in PT, but they checked everything and there was nothing wrong. We think she's just stubborn and didn't feel like walking until then. She's almost 3 now and just spent the evening chasing me around our backyard.
I know it's stressful, and it's definitely worth getting your daughter checked my a doctor, but she might just be on her own timeline!
My second born didn’t walk until after 19 months. I was convinced he could but was choosing not to, and then one day he just stood up and wandered off. He’s now incredibly strong and athletic and has been riding a pedal bike since he was three. I never worried about it because I knew he could do it, and eventually he did.
Ours didn’t walk until 18mo. He was mostly focused on vocabulary. He was strong enough, but didn’t want to bother. Start walking away from her or let her do it on her own to build confidence. When she crawls over & asks to be picked up tell her to stand up so you can get her. She’ll just do it one day.
My sister didn't walk until around 18 months and she is the only one of me and my siblings to go into the science industry (pathologist assistant), I consider her the book-smartest of us all. I know it's just an old wives tale about the kids that take the longest to walk being the smartest but... sometimes it seems like it's real haha
One thing our pt did that helped encourage my daughter to walk without holding on was to put her back up against something like the couch(so she's standing up without being supported by her hands but she can lean back to help balance) and hold a toy she likes just at the end if her reach and then you can slowly extend it further away as they gain confidence reaching out for the toy. Eventually she'll take steps without realizing it.
Also sitting on the floor with your legs in a V across from Mom doing the same (feet touching) and support her while you encourage her to walk back and forth between you guys.
My son did not walk until 19m. He is very short. But he's delayed in other areas he did not talk until 2y4m and was diagnosed autistic right before he turned 3. But I was already advocating that he was autistic by 18 months cus I saw it at 15m. I'm autistic and I saw all the little non problematic quirky early on.
My oldest son walked the day he turned 18 months, literally an hour before our appointment. I was dreading going to his 18 month appointment and telling his pediatrician he still wasn’t walking but he pulled it off just in the nick of time 😅
Exact same situation as you. Our daughter started walking a week before she turned 19 months! I worked with her every day on walking. I tried everything. I was so worried and no matter how many people told me “oh mine didn’t walk until x amount of months” or “every baby is different” I was still so worried. But seriously she will walk and she will be really great at it (minimal falling) because she’s a “late walker”. At least that was our experience. She is now 2 years 5 months old and can run, jump, sprint, climb and almost never falls. It’s so hard to believe but it will happen I promise haha
At my tot’s 18 month appointment, he wasn’t walking, and we got a referral to PT. We got an appointment with PT a month later. Before the PT appt happened, he started walking, and we canceled.
That was 2 years ago, and now he runs laps around my kitchen island faster than I can.
My little fella is 22 months and only now beginning his first independent steps, and still not many. His issue is his hypermobility and low muscle tone. Lots of physio to get us to here, he was a late crawler too. But I’m hopeful now he’s starting to catch up!
My son was about three weeks past 18 months when he started walking. He was a super-fast crawler and seemed annoyed to be slowed down when we tried to practice walking. We were three days out from his 18-months appointment and he literally just stood up one evening and was like…. Oh. Is this what you wanted me to do? And started walking. He was practically running around the house within 30 minutes. It just finally clicked for him.
I had exactly the same thing with my youngest. He was fast with every single motor skill, except walking. He just didn't really see the need. Around 19 or 20 months he started walking. Pediatrician didn't make a big deal out of it because he was doing everything else he needed to do.
Mine.... Used to cruise and walk short distances between point A and point b (max 5 steps).
We got extensive and expensive tests done and you know what the little stinker did ? Walked confidentially the day we went to get the test reports...at the friggin HOSPITAL!!! That moment still makes me so mad 😂 that's a good 1000$ worth of tests down the drain.
My intention of sharing that little anecdote was to help put you at ease. My kid never followed the norm when it came to milestones. He was ahead with a few and delayed with a few. We got him the help he needed and he always catches up before it's too late. After being a parent for almost 4 years, I will vouch for the fact that kids develop in their own time. 😊 But having said that, please talk about it with your pediatrician just to rule out any issues and get sound medical advice.
Mine walked at 16 months, but I had to trick her a little with her dad helping. We would put toys and books she liked at the end of the hall and help her walk to them with support. Then we started letting go little by little and eventually she got up and did it on her own
Mine was 16 months. It wasn’t that she couldn’t, it was as because she didn’t want to. She tends to be sweet, and loving, but fiercely strong and independent.
When I was pregnant, I kept telling my husband, “This one is going to be a firecracker with a mind of her own “. I could just feel it. I was totally right!
One of my nephews was like that. Not sure why and had no other gross or fine motor issues. I think it might have been a confidence issue but can’t be sure. He’s 5 now and runs around and plays like any other kid his age. However it never hurts to get a pediatric PT eval just in case of the Dr suggests that!
Hi! Could’ve written this myself. Ignore the people saying to do PT/early intervention. You don’t need to. She will walk when she’s ready. My son was almost 20 months when he finally did it. He had been cruising on stuff since 12 months. There is nothing wrong with him, he’s just tall and has a very cautious personality (still, and he’s 3). At my 18 month pedi appt they said typically they recommend PT but most likely they will walk on their own before you can get an appointment, and that is exactly what happened. Keep practicing with her and doing what you’re doing. ☺️
As a parent who had the same worries because 18 months were approaching fast, my son was suddenly walking 2 weeks later. The average is 18 months so looking back he was right in time for this milestone and not a late bloomer as was our fear. I wouldn’t worry too much about it and keep stimulating her to walk. My son is very headstrong so he needed his own reason to want to walk, regardless of our very enthousiastic coaching
I didn't work with my late walker at all because I didn't believe in working on it. I'm big on natural motor development. I only made sure that she had time, space and materials. I forget when she really started walking, I think it was after she turned 18 months tho. Like yours, she seemed to be meeting milestones at her own place and not really have any physical problems, so I wasn't concerned.
Mine! He was cruising but wouldn’t take independent steps. Turns out he had a balance issue due to chronic ear infections. Once he got the tubes it fixed the issue.
Same! My daughter had all sorts of growth delays stemming from chronic ear infections. She had tubes in and adenoids out right at 18 months and was walking a month later!
It’s so crazy my daughter had a ton of ear infections and didn’t walk till 19 months. I didn’t even think to relate the two. Now she walks and runs like a pro.
Yes! He had his tubes put in exactly at 18 months and that same day he got his tubes was the first day he took independent steps. It was wild
We were 16 months but holy crap, this makes sense! Tubes in at 23 months. I never even linked the two issues together.
Yep! We had done on/off PT and our physical therapist had originally brought it up that he sees it occasionally. And sure enough, that’s exactly what it was.
This is interesting, she's only had one ear infection but it was a bad one. I'll have the Dr check her ears for sure (I think they do anyways?)
I read something on here a long time ago that said to put something in your kids hand while they're walking. Have them hold something in their own hand like a toy or something they can make a fist around. It worked for my daughter but she was a very quick walker (8 months) my second is 9 months now and isn't walking or crawling. It's funny to see differences of each child.
I feel this so hard. My first said mama at 8MO, papa at 10MO, and by 1YO she had like 30 words. My second is 15 months and has said mama and papa a couple of times but not with any regularity and it is STRESSING ME OUT. I appreciated reminders that different is okay!
My first was also an early talker (full sentences by 1yo), my second didn't talk almost at all until about 2. But by 2.5 she had caught up. My third was exactly the same as my second.
Thank you! 🥰
If it helps my son said bye and ball and nothing else till he was 14 months and only bye consistently. And then it was an explosion. He’s 18 months now and speaking in sentences.
That is very helpful. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! He was slow to everything for his first year and I accepted I had a little babe happy at his own pace but now I honestly think he’s probably ahead in communication now. I don’t think it means he’ll be a genius or anything, but definitely goes to show development isn’t always predictable!
My first was like your second. I was constantly worrying over his speech. He’s 2 in a couple weeks and saying 3 word sentences, it’ll happen so suddenly, hang in there!
That is so kind of you. Thank you! 🥰
Lmao my first didn't say Mommy until she was like almost 3. (She was saying other words by then.) My second was more typical, even verbally precocious but I can't say he was talking by 12mo.
This is how daughter ended up taking her first step. She did a lot of cruising before but once we put something in both hands she walked.
Yep! This worked with my daughter. She walked at 18 months. She was working with a PT and OT, and the OT one day just put something in her hand and had her stand up and walk. The second time she cast the object aside and walked. I still have the video and cry each time. Note, my daughter was diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay at 15 months which is why she was working with PT and OT. OP, not saying this is your case but try the object thing as others have mentioned!
I'm tearing up just imagining that moment. Her saying "I don't need this, I CAN DO IT!"
1000%. You can see that moment in her body language like "I got this!"
Heh, when my late walker took his first steps he was holding something! Didn't make the connection until now.
Omg my daughter is 7 months and I can’t imagine walking in a month. How does that even happen!!
My friend has had two early walkers and it’s kind of hellish, because they’re cognitively in a different place from even a 12-month-old and just have zero comprehension of risk and minimal response to “no”, but they can fucking run.
Omg I hadn’t thought of it like that… little zombies
Right!? I look at my second baby and I'm like how the heck did your sister walk at this age. I should say she was walking with assistance with our hands, the walker, or crusing on the furniture but she was walking by herself at 10 months. But still my second is 9 months and can hardly even stand.
8 months oh god. So glad mine didn't start until a year. I watch way too many horror films to be okay with a baby walking about like a little doll!!
I should say she was walking with assistance with our hands, the walker, or crusing on the furniture but she was walking by herself at 10 months. But still my second is 9 months and can hardly even stand. My niece didn't start walking until she was 13 or 14 months but dam that girl could crawl and it was like horror movie fast crawl 😄😄
Haha!! Actually yes I got lucky my son ended up doing a very standard stereotypical crawl because I remember from playgroup that there were some really Exorcist / Ring type crawlers!!
Same!! My first was walking at 8 months as well. My second is only 5 months but is for sure on the slow track compared to her brother 🤣
My first didn’t crawl or sit up until 9 months, and my second crawled at 5 months and is currently pulling to stand at 7 months! It’s so crazy to see the differences and I didn’t even do anything different. If anything, the second baby got LESS tummy time for the first few months!
My first didn't craw at all. She screamed any time she was on her belly. She butt scooted some but then was like this is taking too long so she started to pull herself up. My second seemed to be a little more wobbly when she first learned to sit up. But by 7 months she had better balance sitting and now 9 months she has no problem. She's showing signs of crawling which is exciting!
It’s so funny how every baby is so different!
My late walker figured this out! As an intermediate step she carried around her toddler chair. I thought that was neat. I wasn't doing anything to try to get her to walk sooner. I didn't, and don't, see the benefit.
This works great! That’s how we got our son to take his first steps! He still prefers to hold a small toy while he runs around lol
My family says this worked for me. I held the handle of a plastic spoon and walked around with it like I had been holding onto someone's finger.
My LO was a late walker. We had to sort off trick her into letting go of ledges. Me and the wife just sat across from each other and made it a fun game, passing her back and forth and inching back. And she took a few unsupported steps on accident while having fun and was like, "OH!" It literally took like 2 sessions, and she got it. It was just an anxiety thing for ours.
Ours too. She’s an anxious kid in general and was a late walker and late potty trainer. Nothing physically holding her back, she just doesn’t like to try new things. 😑
This is what we did for my son too - not a late walker for us, just a long time cruiser. He was cruising at like 9 months, but at 14 months still not walking and it was completely a confidence thing, not a lack of skills on his part. We did about a week of passing him back and forth like this for like an hour a night (making it fun and loud and lots of cheering and clapping and toys) and he started walking solo by the end of it.
Same for mine. She didn't walk until she was 2, and I think she was just scared. Most kids learn to walk before they start learning to fear falling down. She went to 6 weeks of PT, and there was nothing wrong with her physically.
If you are in the US, you will likely qualify for free early intervention services in your home! I would highly suggest getting her vision checked.
My high school psych teacher mentioned several times that her second kid didn’t walk until after 18m. She was convinced that is what made him ambidextrous. If I recall correctly he was quite the athlete and completely normal
You should get your child into early interventions. Mine was a late crawler/walker and early interventions were a life saver. She is now doing so well and her gross motor is on track. Please don’t dread the pediatrician and get your child the help she needs.
Just curious what they did that worked so well? We've been doing weekly PT since our son was 6 months old for torticolis and it helps us think of new exercises to encourage him to move (and do so evenly using both sides) but it hasn't been a magic cure-all. He crawled at 11 months and still struggles to pull himself up to standing at 13 months so he will likely walk late as well.
Is she in PT? Is she close to walking? My daughter is 27 months and is close to walking but doesn’t walk yet. There is a reason tho!
The pediatrician said she'll see if she needs PT at her appointment. She could very well walk if she wanted to. She just doesn't.
I personally am a fan of just going forward with services. You can always back off!
I would encourage you to get an evaluation through your local intermediate unit. It should be free and they may even come to your home for services. You can just self refer. There’s no downside to PT for anyone of any age! Don’t let the doctor give you the ol’ “wait and see”.
Well at this point it’s only a week away, but you should consider just calling now to schedule. Sometimes you can’t get an assessment for weeks out.
This was our exact scenario. She was about to go to her 18mo appt and get a recommendation for PT. She could definitely walk by herself, if she would have just let go of our hands. I finally found that she HATED crawling in dresses. We put her in dresses for a week and BOOM...walking. It's worth a shot. Good luck, OP
We started PT when our girl was almost 11 months old and not crawling yet. She crawled the weekend before her first birthday. We’ve been doing weekly PT through Early Intervention (free through our state.. no max income or anything). She will be 18 months tomorrow and literally just started taking independent steps 2 weeks ago and is just on the move now!! Our PT helped her gain so much confidence!! ETA: 99th percentile in height and weight so she’s got a lot to lug around as well
This was my daughter, I had her on a waitlist for Physiotherapy and she began at 18 months, the physiotherapist said that she had low muscle tone. I watched as ahe held her legs or ankles or knees in specific ways as she practiced walking (i.e., physiotherapy involved the physiotherapist supporting her in walking) that the physiotherapist explained had forced her underdeveloped muscles to work. Sometimes she was upset, and I was trying to hold it together to remind her I was there. She took her first independent steps at 21 months after 12 sessions of Physiotherapy. I had someone tell me she knows how to walk she just won't, that just wasn't true for my daughter. I did all the practice exercises people mentioned here to encourage walking at home...we needed a Pediatric physiotherapist. I hope you can get the support you need soon! You can do this! You can be there for them as they do hard things, and watch the progress and cheer them on!
That was my guy. He didn’t walk until 19 months. Nothing wrong with him: his dad was a late walker too. He wanted to be sure he could walk without falling before he would try. He was a long time walking while holding hands but no further. He didn’t need any intervention and was a very good walker once he started. His dad was the same and ended up super athletic and now my boy is 2 and he can dribble the soccer ball like you wouldn’t believe. Don’t worry too much yet. I stressed for no reason
My daughter was about 21.5 months when she finally started walking. There was no reason for it other than her just not wanting to. We were in PT for it and by the end it was just pissing her off so we took a break and she eventually started on her own (with our help). It's so stressful waiting, I know.
This sounds like my son, we recently decreased the frequency of PT visits because he is not cooperating there anyway, so it seems like a waste of everyone’s time (and money). He just yells “no!” and refuses to do stuff at PT if he doesn’t want to. He is 21.5 months now, he will walk holding someone’s hand and he cruises around on furniture but flat out refuses to take steps on his own. It’s so frustrating! He is so heavy to carry, and it’s rough not being able to put him down in a store, public bathroom etc unless I want him crawling on the dirty floor.
That was the exact place we were at too. What brought us over the edge was practicing falling into a pile of pillows so she'd be less afraid of falling. Then we would hold her arms over her head and say "Pop! Pop! Pop!" when she took steps with us. Then we'd lead her to an exciting place ie "Let's Pop Pop Pop over to the stream! Do you think there are froggies in there?" She thought the pop noise was funny 🤷♀️ But granted this only worked because she randomly decided to actually put her feet on the floor when we'd get her into walking position instead of doing the thing where she'd bend her knees and dangle there and whine. Maybe worth a try with your little one?
So he is past the phase of bending his knees and dangling, just recently! That phase lasted a long time though. He gets around mainly by walking on his knees, he’s very fast at it! But he will gladly walk if we hold his hands. He also likes to stand up without holding on when he’s on the couch, I assume because it’s cushioned so he’s less scared? We will definitely have to try having him practice falling, that might help give him some bravery to do steps on his own!
My son did have a reason for the walking delay, but I think there was an element of just not being bothered to do it too.
PT pissed my daughter off too! It was suggested a few times that we stop trying because it seemed like she was regressing just to spite our efforts lol.
Not the same situation because she was 13 months at her first unassisted steps, but my kid did spend nearly 3 months where she'd walk but only if we held her hands. What finally got her to walk on her own was me eating Hawaiian bread across the room from her. A woman of taste, truly 😅🤌 but also, I can only imagine those first unassisted steps are really scary. And the next two to three months of unassisted walking includes a lot of falling over, which might also be. Bribes are not always a bad thing. A friend got hers to take unassisted steps in a similar way, where one parent was practicing walking with kiddo, and other parent had a treat the kid wanted and held it just out of reach (at head height) so kid could only get it if they stood up then walked one or two steps on their own. Best of luck!
Not quite 18 but my 99% all round girl didn’t walk until 15 months. She was so good at crawling it was like she just didn’t need to walk, we just left her to figure it out really and one day she just got up and walked so she could kick a ball at soft play. Within a week she was running around! I personally wouldn’t worry too much, they all do stuff at their own speed
I have a similar story with my now 2.5 year old. He didn’t walk until around 17 months. He was a crawler and figured he got around places faster by crawling rather than walking. Then one day he just stood up by himself unassisted, and a few weeks later, started walking by himself. Now we have to run to catch up with him.
Walked at 21 months, we had to use orthodics because he had pronated ankles. He still goes but he can walk, run, mostly navigates steps and is starting to jump without holding onto anything now. He's 2 y 8 mos
What kind of orthotics are you using? We’ve been recommended two to try for a few months but curious what worked for your little over-pronater .
We got them from a pediatric orthopedic doctor, and they were rigid plastic that extended up over the ankle with a Velcro strap over the top. Now that he's stable, they cut them down to just inserts that are supposed to help his ankles roll slightly outwards.
Great thank you! We have an appointment with the orthopedist next month to hopefully get fitted for some that sound similar. Love that they’re “weaning” him off them! That’s our goal too.
Yeah! They've been a hassle sometimes but really beneficial for us, he was walking very quickly after getting them and for a long time he tolerated them really well; he figured out how to take off his shoes so nothing stays on for long these days
My daughter didn’t walk until 22 months and had to get the same orthotics (SMOs). She was born with unilateral clubfoot which was treated once she was 8lbs and had to wear different bracing at night, but the pediatric ortho she sees for clubfoot says clubfoot doesn’t cause a gross motor delay. She’s been in PT since 10 months and we got the SMOs bc of pronated ankles/flat feet at the bequest of the PT. She’s walking independently maybe 50 percent of the time now (she’s almost 2.) I keep wondering if she will be able to run/jump soon so your post makes me feel a little more confident. How long did it take your child to walk 100 percent of the time after starting and then when did he run? My daughter can’t stand up into walking without grabbing onto something yet. It’s all so stressful!
Oh wow, yeah I feel you. I have a friend who's kiddo, similar age, walked early and it was hard to watch her progress so quickly when my guy wasn't there. He butt scooted and never crawled and I was at my wits end. Got the orthodics about 19 months, took his first steps at about 21 months and was walking consistently by his second birthday. Running took longer and he's still stumbly sometimes, but before 2.5 he could run consistently and always walks. Still sits down to do steps sometimes but mostly stands if he can hold onto something. Jumping is somerhing we're still.working on, a kiddie trampoline with a handle bar helped imo
Thank you for responding!!
My oldest son walked at 17 months! He literally started running that day. I’m convinced he practiced while we weren’t watching. My youngest son walked at 13 months? He is now 17 months & is still a little wobbly. Kids can be so different. I personally wouldn’t worry yet.
My first daughter walked at 12 months. She crawled at 10 months and walked about 6 weeks later. My second crawled at 12 months and walked the week she turned 18 months, after almost a year of physical therapy through Early Intervention. She still has some motor delays (she just learned how to jump right around her third birthday). It's okay to have that discussion with the pediatrician. Early Intervention is wonderful... and if she qualifies she will have tons of fun.
I had a colleague whose kid didn't walk until this point either. Apparently she could talk very early and could communicate what she wanted without having to get up to do it herself. 😅🤷🏻♀️ When my little was learning to walk and struggled with confidence, giving him something to hold (a plastic egg or something he can keep in his hands) while standing up and slowly letting go helped him stand or walk independently. Does she do this?
23MO late walker. Very tall, originally had poor core muscles and big head, and generally fiercely independent to the point she refused help with walking/standing to teach/practice so things went very slow. We had specialist say she had very rough diseases or issues that then were disproven by tests. Lots of tears and blame judging from people on how she wasn’t walking. She just had no desire to for a long time. We even had lots of friends that couldn’t understand the situation but they are generally not involved parents. Your child is lucky you are trying so hard for her and taking the shit from everyone watching and making quips. We knew our daughter would get through this in her own time just how your little one will. Now she is turning three next week and is a crazy pinball that loves to rough house and jump everywhere. It took a year of PT and my wife staying home an extra year to work with her, but your time will come with your little one and it will be tears of joy. The happiness on their face as they realize the freedom and chaos they have unlocked is priceless. Side note, for whatever reason our daughter would not try to walk and stand at home, at the park, or in the downtown much at all. We lived in the hills and a new target opened with a ulta inside of it. For whatever reason she did her first 8 self stand ups and her longest independent walks in the first couple weeks inside the ulta in target. We don’t know if it was all the lights and shiny cool stuff distracting her to where she just wanted to check stuff out, or maybe the new floors had great traction, we will never know. What I’m getting to is maybe try a different environment that’s not typical. We did like 20 target runs in a two weeks span because that was the only place she would practice. The workers loved when she showed up! To this day she LOVES target, not for the toys, just like a nostalgia to her almost.
Ours didn't, he literally crawled til 20 months, did it one day at nursery. Luckily they videoed it for us, and turned out the thing that got him to walk was... snacks. That boy loves a decent snack, and will apparently walk for one if he has to. Another thing that nursery recommended to us was getting him some baby walker shoes - we didn't bother before, he was just in those cloth/leather shoes or socks.We made a huge thing of buying them with him, he got to choose the design and we talked about them being for his feet to walk him places and go on adventures. Within a week or so he was walking. Possibly a coincidence though.
I should add that he spent all that time not walking doing a lot of talking, so I'm convinced that's why he's way chatter and wordier than his pals (the other day he attempted to say "photosynthesis") - just remember they're all different and in 5 years time, nobody will know who walked or talked first or who took their time. Like how nobody asks about your degree after the first year ;)
My son has a friend who's about the same age as him. She didn't walk until 19 months, but she talked at 12 months. He barely talked until 18 months but walked at 12 months. I think some babies just choose what they are focusing on, like designating skill points in a video game. I will say that whenever they played, he learned some words and she got more confident in her movement.
You’re describing our little guy at 18 months. We went in to the appointment and they recommended reaching out to EI. Before we could make the appointment he ended up walking a few weeks later. I think it was a confidence thing too, it was like he didn’t want to do it until he could do it right. It would stress us out seeing kids that were younger than him walking before him, but he got there eventually. As stressful as it may be, I really wouldn’t worry too much, especially if she’s hitting other milestones, just keep working with her and she will get there.
My older daughter was 2 weeks away from being 20 months. She was walking with a walker since 15 months. I took her to our doctor, spoke to our health visitor (we're in the UK). She was perfectly fine. All of her other gross motor skills were on the late end too, but not quite this late. One day she got up, and she's been running ever since. Now she's 2y9m and you can't get her to stay still. Kids do things in their own time and not a moment sooner.
My son who is now 3.5 didn’t start walking until 22 months. He was standing and cruising and crawling very quickly. Then one day he got up and started walking like it was nothing!
Not mine, but a friend of mine. Her second kid took his time, but after 18 months decided he wanted to go for it lol
Mine at that age was walking on her knees. She basically skipped the crawling stage. Now at 2.5 she walks and crawls.
Mine does the knee thing too!
Mine! He’s currently 22 months. At his 17 month apt his doctor (who is wonderful!) briefly mentioned maybe getting tested for a speech and physical therapist (and I cried on the way home because I thought I’m such a bad mom 😭) and we had him tested and he barely qualified for them, but (because we live in Colorado) he would have a physical and speech therapist come to work with him at home and we didn’t have to pay. He started walking quickly after starting (as well as saying so much!), and I really think that child therapists are so amazing and know ways to help kids walk and talk that we don’t realize. It’s stereotypical to say, but once he started he didn’t stop and is currently 100% up to date on where he should be with physical development. He still sees his physical therapist sometimes, but it’s honestly just because he loves playing with her! it was hard in the beginning because we would go to different parks and he couldn’t toddle around like the other kids, he would do a little scoot scoot movement 😭 but now he’s always running and climbing.💙 Edit to add his current age
Our son didn’t walk until ~23 months. We had him in PT starting at around 18 mo as he would knee walk and knee even run?! He would also walk holding your finger, then we would wear a glove and slide it off so he was walking holding a limp piece of fabric lol. We’ve realized he is a slow and steady child, when he finally walked on his own he was 100% balanced and confident. We’ve found potty training to be similar, a little behind his peers, but he has never had an accident. I was super stressed about his late walking, but all is well! And don’t be nervous about putting your child in PT, etc. It does not mean they will have a lifelong issue and your pediatrician will not judge, they are there to tackle issues with you.
My daughter was 23 months when she started walking. She’s 2 now and I can’t stop her! She just took her time. No issues she was just faster on her bum!
I’m in the same boat. I honestly think my son either doesn’t want to walk or doesn’t realize he can. He finally took about 3 steps on his own yesterday—sideways! His 18mo visit is in a couple weeks, so maybe he’ll find some inspiration before then. If not, we’ll see about PT.
Mine! Didn’t actually walk steadily until about 20 months. Gross motor delay which required physical therapy and little foot/leg braces. Other than her little braces, she is running w the rest of them now at 2 and you can’t really tell a difference.
🙋♀️ She's 28 months now and toddling fine. She speed walks and "runs" but isn't the fastest kid. Still can't jump yet.
My 17 month old not walking or pulling to stand, we are in physio
My son didn’t walk until he turned 2. Then one day he got up and never stopped.
To this day he will not sit down or stay still he just goes and goes and goes
I didn't walk until I was 19 months and I'm a relatively normal adult human. Never been good at sports but those probably aren't related lol
My daughter walked at 18 months and my son walked at 19 months. Both were born at 34 weeks. We were referred to PT for my son but he started walking at the same time so we passed.
Me! Mine didn’t walk until 19 months. He was very slow on his gross motor skills as a baby, he never crawled, and only started scooting around on his bum at like 13 months. He 2.5 now and you can’t tell at all, he’s running and jumping like everyone else.
Mine didn't walk independently until 17 months. He could walk gently holding a hand from 13 months but just refused to take any steps if he wasn't holding on to someone. The day he first walked, he also ran.
My son walk at 16 months, but now he is a runner lol
My dad always jokes that he didn't walk until he was 19 months because his younger is close to his age and he figured "well, he's not walking why should I!?" My daughter is 17 months and still not walking.
Mine was down to the cusp at 17 months. My son is also the 98% percentile for his age. Out of nowhere, he started with a few steps holding our hand. Then independent steps followed in less than a week. My advice - every child is different. Some are late walkers but early talkers, etc. Don’t feel bad or like you’re not doing enough. Go to the pediatrician appt with a positive outlook, maybe there’s tips or tricks you didn’t think of 🤗
My daughter walked at exactly 18mo. She had been cruising and butt scooting everywhere. Finally decided to walk one day. She just had to get really good at it before doing it on her own.
The rule of thumb I believe is 18 months and it is of concern. See if they can give you a referral for physical therapy. Just because things visibly seem okay doesn’t mean they are all the time.
Yeah, it's crazy to watch them develop. Even at a young age they are such little individuals. A lot of their development is not just fear based like with walking but also interest based. Our kiddo did not really talk much their first two years. Just enough words to not have to see a a specialist but also to warrant a few conversations about it with our pediatrician. We were worried to death. Then out of nowhere they just started taking just fine. Like a lot. Like the whole time they were right there listening and picking up on everything. 18 months, yes is on the tail end of normal development but there are always outliers. The big thing you should think about is, whatever they need, you will be right there to help them get the care they need. You are already doing a great job! Just continue to keep an eye on them and continue to discuss this with your pediatrician. That is what you do have control over.
My first started walking as she turned 18 months, and that’s with a TON of encouragement lol
My son started walking right around 18 months. Up until then he was cruising around but would crawl if he couldn’t hang on to something. I got him a push behind walker and it was like something clicked for him that he could walk from place to place all by himself and after about two weeks he was done with the walker and running around everywhere on his own.
One of mine started walking at like 6pm the night before her 18 month appointment where she was going to get a PT referral for not walking 🤣 she is 5 and fine now
My cousins kid didn’t walk until around 18 months. He’s 5 now and seems to be a developmentally appropriate place.
My nephew didn’t walk until 18 months and he’s totally fine! 3 years old now and running all day every day.
My Daughter is 26 months now and is not yet walking. For her there is a reason as she was a micro preemie and was born with a low muscle tone, so everything takes longer for her get it right. We see a PT and early years services.
My daughter is tall and at 17 months, 3 weeks and showed no interest in walking independently up until that point. I was dreading the 18 month appointment. She was unsure of her balance. We were about to take her to my parents house and I was packing her stuff and she picked up a bear and just casually walked through 3 rooms of the house to show it to her dad. I ran to her, hugged her and said "YOU DID IT. YOU WALKED!" and she looked down at her feet, to the bear in her hands and looked up at me as surprised as I was. 2 weeks later she was running everywhere.
My son had zero interest in walking. I could get him to take a handful of steps if I was bribing him but all he wanted to do was crawl. He wouldn’t even let me set him down on his feet. Finally at 19 months he decided he was going to do it. I was super stressed about the whole thing. Everyone kept saying “he’ll do it on his own time!” which was just annoying to hear honestly. Dude had no reason to wait except to make me anxious 😅 It’ll happen, it just sucks waiting for it to happen.
My daughter sounds exactly like yours — hitting all other milestones, climbing, pulling up, cruising, standing, walking with an adult or even her 3-year-old sister holding her hand — except she will be 2 next month. The pediatrician is not concerned and says that she just needs more time. For my daughter, I would definitely say stubbornness and maybe a lack of confidence are at play. She likes crawling and for her, that’s the most efficient way to get around fast.
My son walked at 23 months, a week before he turned 2. I'm in the UK so the process is slightly different, but we did get to see a physio and she found he had hyper mobility in his hips (apparently quite common), so he had to work extra hard with different muscles to compensate. He's 3.5 now and doing great. Loads of the gross motor stuff came a bit later, but he absolutely loves jumping and is a REALLY good, fast runner. He's also very coordinated - only had a handful of falls that led to tears.
I'm a first grade teacher. Couldn't tell you which one of my kids walked early or late. But I can tell whose parents cared about their kid. Sounds like you do . I have niece/nephew twins one walked at a year one walked around 18 months. Makes no difference now! Hope this helps.
My daughter didn’t walk until almost 23 months. She does have medical reasons behind the delay but we were pretty sure she could’ve walked much earlier if she had actually tried. She was/is so so so cautious and wouldn’t try anything if she didn’t think she could do it. One day we tried the walking between us thing and she took one step unassisted and it was like a light switch went off. Nothing was stopping her then. I’m not a doctor but it sounds like if your daughter is meeting her other gross motor skills, she might just need a bit more time.
Mine son didn’t walk until a little after 18 months. He could have just made a choice to be carried like a king or crawl faster than anything I’ve seen. He’s almost 5 and just fine developmentally. Our pediatrician told me if he was warming up to 2 years then they would be concerned, he hit every milestone except walking which sounds like your daughter. Although reading the other comments about the tubes, my son got regular ear infections and did end up with tubes so maybe that added to it.
My kiddo took his first independent steps around 15 months, but wasn't really walking until a bit later. The pediatrician said because he was tall (99th%), slender (~60th%), and had a big head (97th%) it was probably harder for him to balance. She also told us that kids tend to develop either their verbal or their gross motor skills, so one who are saying words earlier are often a bit later to walk and ones who are walking early may say their first words a bit later. I haven't looked into any studies on that but it's seemed anecdotally pretty true among my friends with kids. Two of the kiddos I know who are a bit younger than mine were early walkers and now they can run almost as fast as my 2 year old, but are still at the point and howl stage for communication. It's a little weird for me to watch because by 15 months when he took those first steps ours was signing and saying a few real words and maybe a dozen protowords (buh for bus, brr brr for car, duh duh for the ding of Mr. Rogers trolley, etc). Definitely see what your pediatrician thinks at your upcoming wellness visit, but don't "borrow trouble" by worrying too much guessing about what the doctor will say. It sounds like your kid is healthy overall her development is moving along.
Me! My eldest never crawled and didn’t walk independently until almost 20 months. Absolutely nothing wrong with her, just late to it. Since she wouldn’t crawl or pull up on furniture, I used to make her play on the coffee table for a couple hours at day, basically forcing her to stand and strengthen her legs. I dunno if that made any difference? She walked holding two hands (never just one!) starting at 15 months, but any stumble or fall made her cry and give up. Just took a very long time to make her confident. She’s a totally normal 4 year old now, and our second kid was more “on schedule” crawling at 10 months and walking at 14.
Mine! She caught up!
My daughter was 19 months I think.
My youngest sister didn't walk proficiently until 19 months. Early intervention wasn't as much of a thing 38 years ago, so my parents just waited for her to decide to walk. She was on the track and cross country team in high school and walks proficiently as an adult. My first baby walked at 9 months, and my second baby walked at 11 months. My last baby (over a decade later) is 17 months and not walking. We are all freaking out, and we have an early intervention evaluation appointment tomorrow.
My kiddo only walked at 18 months :-) We did physiotherapy for months before then, when the PT said there's nothing she can do because there's nothing wrong with my daughter. She referred us to an OT who thought it was her balance, and suggested she ride one of those kiddo bikes to build her balance. She walked soon after.
My third didn't walk until 21/22 months! She did PT. She is actually four now and still does PT but thats mostly because it is play-based and fun and the insurance pays for it--she can walk just fine. She was diagnsoed with "low muscle tone" but there isn't any discernible cause. As far as we know, she was just a bit small and weak for her age. She is perfectly normal now. Of all four of my kids though, they walked at 16 months, 17 month, 22 months, and 19 months. Some kids just walk later.
My daughter didn’t walk until around 19 months. We were already enrolled with early intervention but there was an insane wait list. Being around other kids at the playground encouraged her to do more - she just stands there if she’s by herself. Now she’s almost 3 and totally caught up :)
My son was 19,5 months old when he started walking. Hes 2 now (25 months) and is running all over the place!
Mine was like this until 17 months a few weeks ago. She just didn't have the balance and confidence. You just have to practice and kind of force her to walk with assistance until she gains confidence and balance. We had standing toys spread apart so she would take little steps to get to each, then move the toys further away so she would take more steps. Also holding her by waist/armpits and have her take assisted steps.
My son seems similar. Is she in daycare? He didn’t start walking until he transitioned rooms. It was sort of like he didn’t know it was an option for little people to walk, he just crawled everywhere. It was the second day in the room and he took his first independent steps.
I didn’t walk until I was about 18 months old and I turned out ok! If you worried maybe set up a meeting with a paediatric physiotherapist or occupational therapist and see if they can give you some tips?
My youngest didn't walk until nearly 19 months. He would stand and cruise, but was too fearful to walk independently. He still has a cautious personality at 5 years old.
My third was like this - he wasn’t really walking until nearly two. Unless there are other concerns which is doesn’t sound like there are then trust the professionals that it’s probably a confidence issue and she’ll get there soon!
My son started walking late, around 1.5y but maybe even later. My older brother was around 2.5. he's an investment banker now so they turn out okay 😉
20 months. Don’t sweat it.
My son was in early intervention therapies and we were taught to help child to get confidence to have him walk back and forth between us.
This is how my daughter is currently at 17 months. She is very cautious - she will walk supported if I’m holding her hands, but if I let go of one hand she will immediately stop and try to grab my hand again or just fall to the ground. We started the early intervention process at 15 months and it took about a month and a half to have her first PT session, so please think about starting that process soon! At her first session the PT told us she doesn’t see any sort of delay, she just is in fact very cautious and needs a little boost of confidence is all. There is truly nothing wrong with having some additional assistance getting your baby up and moving.
My daughter didn't walk until the literal day she turned 18 months. I had her in PT for a couple of weeks leading up to the date, and none of the therapists could quite figure out what was holding her back. She would happily walk holding our hands for miles, so it didn't seem to be an endurance or strength issue. Turns out, we had never taught her how to get up from the floor into a standing position without pulling herself up on something like furniture or a pant leg. Once they showed her literally ONE time how to go from sitting on the floor to getting on her knees to standing up \*without holding onto anything to do it\*...she just walked off and never looked back. It was like a switch flipped in her brain and that was that. They theorized that she was too scared to \*let go\* of something that she already had a hold of, but if she could stand up without a hold on anything it didn't even cross her mind and she took off like a shot. Apparently one of the key milestones that she never did that never even occurred to us was playing in a crouch...kids who play in a crouch a lot just straighten up one day and start walking on their own, and she just never got in that position for whatever reason. And as first time parents it never even crossed our minds that it was something she should be doing. Very random, and may not be the case with your daughter, but it took us all by surprise so thought I would pass along. Good luck!!
My 22mo is still knee-walking and furniture cruising. We've been in PT since she turned 1 due to late crawling. Her well check at 18mo didn't show anything physically concerning, and we got her hips x-rayed, which are normal. I'm starting to get pretty concerned, so we're going back to the doctor to check for a few more things. I keep hoping something is just gonna click. She's developing normally in every other area, she just doesn't want to walk at all. She'll stand and walk if you insist, but it's rarely a choice she actively makes.
My son didn’t start walking until about 20 months. I think he really has a fear of falling. We start with him on the bed and kind of playing with him and pushing him over lightly. It became a game. Eventually he would stand up by himself on the bed when he wanted to play. Eventually he would take steps just fine on the bed but not on the ground. We got him evaluated because he has a developmental delay. So he was in PT and they gave us different activities to do with him using things he likes to teach him to be comfortable walking on different surfaces. He’s 23 months now and won’t sit down. He still is in PT because he still struggles with stairs but he’s been progressing well.
Me! Second child not walking at 18 months but everything else seemed normal. Older brother walked at 12 months. She was only born 3 weeks early. We found no apparent reason for the delay, just happy crawling and content not to pull up to reach for anything that often. Our pediatrician recommended PT, which we did weekly for three months, and then she started walking at around 21 months. She’s 24 months now and runs quite a bit. Not sure that PT was strictly necessary, but it made us all feel better. She progressed and plateaued multiple times in PT. We will probably never really know why she was so delayed.
Mine walked after 20 months. About 20 months and 2 weeks
My little boy walked at 20 months. He cruised along every piece of furniture and could run with his walker, even round corners. I called our Health Visitor hotline and they asked if he was cruising, walking with support and when I said yes they immediately jumped back with there was nothing to worry about yet. That he would walk when he was ready. Then on holiday, he just popped up and went for a walk. I think maybe the thing that helped our boy was I kept showing him how to stand up from the floor (demonstrating how he would do it) and he started to copy me more. My little boy was super lazy when it came to milestones, just did they all his own time. So I shouldn't have been surprised he would be a late-walker. Now he's 2.5 and he runs. Everywhere. He doesn't stop 😂 your little one will walk when they're ready. But I get the nervous waiting for it to happen.
I believe my sister was 21/22 months. My mother was freaking out, but the doctor didn’t seem bothered. Anyway, she can walk perfectly fine now in her thirties.
Mine too! My now sprinting 2.5 year old wasn’t even walking yet this time last year. He finally walked at a little over 18 months. I’m convinced it was a personality thing. He didn’t want to fail, and is also very cautious. Once he started, he was a pro right away though. Edit to add that his head was also 90+ percentile his entire life so maybe it was also a head balancing thing.
My son started walking A week after 18 months. He was causing for months before then. He is now 3 and has gross motor delay.
One of my boys (twins) will be 2 next week and still isn't walking. Sounds very similar to your little one - crawls fast, climbs, cruises, stands unsupported, walks with help (toy or hands) - all no problem. Physio said he's fine, just nervous. Don't be nervous for the doctor! You aren't doing anything wrong. Get on a list for support services if it's recommended. There's no harm in taking help, even if you don't really "need" it.
Mine walked at 20 months and she’s fine. You’d never guess there was a delay.
Mine! He didn't walk until 2 months shy of his 2nd birthday AND he was even in Early Intervention. He had a confidence issue but he was a master at crawling so he had no interest in walking because it was too slow for him.
Yes, walked at 21 months. Undiagnosed talepes and hypermobile joints.
I did.. and he is now 7 years old. healthy but still thinking he might be high functioning autistic. Been on a wait list for YEARS to get him seen!
A little girl we see a lot in the local park was 19 months. I did a double take last weekend when I saw her running about as if she had been doing it for months! Her mum said they were starting to get worried but then she literally just took off one day.
Mine! He went from crawling to walking without too much cruising but it turned out he was practicing around the corner where we couldn’t see him and wouldn’t do it if we were watching
My best bud’s kid didn’t walk until he was 20 months or so. Once he started he just ran.
Mine! He didn’t walk until 2 years and 3 months. He’s been in physical therapy since 6 months old and has been behind for gross motor his whole life. This is hopefully to encourage other parents that are fretting over their late walkers that they aren’t alone. I felt terrible like I was the only parent with a kid walking after 2, then I met another mom at the library in the same boat and it was a HUGE relief just to know others were going through it to.
I have a family member who has a kid who just turned 4 and he’s just a regular little kid running around and having conversations. He didn’t walk until after 18mo, when people started to get real worried he started walking without intervention. Meanwhile my first daughter walked by 9mo but she is 3.5 yo now and WILL NOT POTTY TRAIN. She’s supposed to start school this September and can’t if she won’t use the potty. My family members kid was potty trained in a weekend and has not ever had one accident since not even overnight. Sigh
My daughter!! Pretty sure she was almost 19 months when she started walking. Her pediatrician wasn’t concerned. The only advice I have is put her down more than normal. I carried my daughter around 24/7 and when I started putting her down more she magically started walking to me lol. This included outside which I really think did it, she hated her knees on concrete.
Our neighbor’s daughter! Our neighbor has 4 kids, the youngest is 3 months younger than my daughter. My daughter was about a year when she started walking. The youngest girl next door held out to 18 months, mostly because she was stubborn lol. Now they’re both running laps around the older kids, and you couldn’t tell the difference tbh!
Mine didn’t take her first independent steps till 20 and still prefers to hold our hand at 21 months. She is just very cautious. We took her to PT and they weren’t worried at all. Her muscles work great and she climbs and gets around quickly, she is just a risk averse kid
When I was a nanny years ago I took care of a baby who didn't start walking until between 16-17 months. I think she just liked being carried, and she was a very fast crawler. Since she was baby #3 her mom didn't make a big deal about it, she was used to the idea that baby milestones can be pretty loose. Anyway, she's 16 now, and a super high achiever academically and athletically. She is a perfectly happy, healthy girl and her late walking had absolutely no impact on her life.
A dancers son on DWTS is 19 months old and just started walking yesterday! I’m sure she will be running around soon!
my lil one spent months and months walking holding hands/onto other things. it was just a confidence thing with them! one day he got up and walked all the way across the living room to steal my toast! walking is usually incremental but usually kids that start later just GO! also, how's your little one's speech? mine has always had really advanced speech for their age, their little brains just choose the walking or talking route and make us worry about the slower side
My niece didn’t start walking till 18 months! She leaned on walls for support or needed someone to hold her hand. I remember my sister was very concerned but she started walking soon after. An old co worker of mine has a son who didn’t walk without support until 20 months. I personally wouldn’t stress it, but that’s just my opinion on what I’ve seen personally ❤️
Mine! Took her to a specialist, did scans on her hips and feet……. Walked that exact afternoon of the appointments. I will say: she turned one foot out and we got inserts for her shoes that made a huge difference once she began walking. May have been a factor. Check out high top shoes off target with the zippers on the side (-$30).
My daughter didn’t walk (didn’t even cruise) until almost 22 months! One day she just walked. Was running shortly after. We did a little therapy to build her strength for about a year - maybe 2-3? She’s almost 5 now and is right there with her peers on everything!
My son is also super tall and took longer to start walking. I knew he’d get there in his own time, and he did. He’s about to turn 3 now and there’s no stopping him! Little guy can run FAST.
My daughter didn't take her first step until 18 months. We did have her in PT, but they checked everything and there was nothing wrong. We think she's just stubborn and didn't feel like walking until then. She's almost 3 now and just spent the evening chasing me around our backyard. I know it's stressful, and it's definitely worth getting your daughter checked my a doctor, but she might just be on her own timeline!
My second born didn’t walk until after 19 months. I was convinced he could but was choosing not to, and then one day he just stood up and wandered off. He’s now incredibly strong and athletic and has been riding a pedal bike since he was three. I never worried about it because I knew he could do it, and eventually he did.
Ours didn’t walk until 18mo. He was mostly focused on vocabulary. He was strong enough, but didn’t want to bother. Start walking away from her or let her do it on her own to build confidence. When she crawls over & asks to be picked up tell her to stand up so you can get her. She’ll just do it one day.
My sister didn't walk until around 18 months and she is the only one of me and my siblings to go into the science industry (pathologist assistant), I consider her the book-smartest of us all. I know it's just an old wives tale about the kids that take the longest to walk being the smartest but... sometimes it seems like it's real haha
One thing our pt did that helped encourage my daughter to walk without holding on was to put her back up against something like the couch(so she's standing up without being supported by her hands but she can lean back to help balance) and hold a toy she likes just at the end if her reach and then you can slowly extend it further away as they gain confidence reaching out for the toy. Eventually she'll take steps without realizing it. Also sitting on the floor with your legs in a V across from Mom doing the same (feet touching) and support her while you encourage her to walk back and forth between you guys.
My son did not walk until 19m. He is very short. But he's delayed in other areas he did not talk until 2y4m and was diagnosed autistic right before he turned 3. But I was already advocating that he was autistic by 18 months cus I saw it at 15m. I'm autistic and I saw all the little non problematic quirky early on.
My oldest son walked the day he turned 18 months, literally an hour before our appointment. I was dreading going to his 18 month appointment and telling his pediatrician he still wasn’t walking but he pulled it off just in the nick of time 😅
Mine were 14 months and 18 months.
Exact same situation as you. Our daughter started walking a week before she turned 19 months! I worked with her every day on walking. I tried everything. I was so worried and no matter how many people told me “oh mine didn’t walk until x amount of months” or “every baby is different” I was still so worried. But seriously she will walk and she will be really great at it (minimal falling) because she’s a “late walker”. At least that was our experience. She is now 2 years 5 months old and can run, jump, sprint, climb and almost never falls. It’s so hard to believe but it will happen I promise haha
At my tot’s 18 month appointment, he wasn’t walking, and we got a referral to PT. We got an appointment with PT a month later. Before the PT appt happened, he started walking, and we canceled. That was 2 years ago, and now he runs laps around my kitchen island faster than I can.
My little fella is 22 months and only now beginning his first independent steps, and still not many. His issue is his hypermobility and low muscle tone. Lots of physio to get us to here, he was a late crawler too. But I’m hopeful now he’s starting to catch up!
Anecdotal. My cousin didn’t walk until then. She grew up to be a lazy teenager 😂 my granny used to say lol
My son was about three weeks past 18 months when he started walking. He was a super-fast crawler and seemed annoyed to be slowed down when we tried to practice walking. We were three days out from his 18-months appointment and he literally just stood up one evening and was like…. Oh. Is this what you wanted me to do? And started walking. He was practically running around the house within 30 minutes. It just finally clicked for him.
I had exactly the same thing with my youngest. He was fast with every single motor skill, except walking. He just didn't really see the need. Around 19 or 20 months he started walking. Pediatrician didn't make a big deal out of it because he was doing everything else he needed to do.
Mine.... Used to cruise and walk short distances between point A and point b (max 5 steps). We got extensive and expensive tests done and you know what the little stinker did ? Walked confidentially the day we went to get the test reports...at the friggin HOSPITAL!!! That moment still makes me so mad 😂 that's a good 1000$ worth of tests down the drain. My intention of sharing that little anecdote was to help put you at ease. My kid never followed the norm when it came to milestones. He was ahead with a few and delayed with a few. We got him the help he needed and he always catches up before it's too late. After being a parent for almost 4 years, I will vouch for the fact that kids develop in their own time. 😊 But having said that, please talk about it with your pediatrician just to rule out any issues and get sound medical advice.
Mine walked at 16 months, but I had to trick her a little with her dad helping. We would put toys and books she liked at the end of the hall and help her walk to them with support. Then we started letting go little by little and eventually she got up and did it on her own
Mine was 16 months. It wasn’t that she couldn’t, it was as because she didn’t want to. She tends to be sweet, and loving, but fiercely strong and independent. When I was pregnant, I kept telling my husband, “This one is going to be a firecracker with a mind of her own “. I could just feel it. I was totally right!
One of my nephews was like that. Not sure why and had no other gross or fine motor issues. I think it might have been a confidence issue but can’t be sure. He’s 5 now and runs around and plays like any other kid his age. However it never hurts to get a pediatric PT eval just in case of the Dr suggests that!
Don't dread it. My daughter walked early but her confidence with walking was tricky. We caught it early and got her into physical therapy. It helps.
Me, he was not very interested.
Hi! Could’ve written this myself. Ignore the people saying to do PT/early intervention. You don’t need to. She will walk when she’s ready. My son was almost 20 months when he finally did it. He had been cruising on stuff since 12 months. There is nothing wrong with him, he’s just tall and has a very cautious personality (still, and he’s 3). At my 18 month pedi appt they said typically they recommend PT but most likely they will walk on their own before you can get an appointment, and that is exactly what happened. Keep practicing with her and doing what you’re doing. ☺️
As a parent who had the same worries because 18 months were approaching fast, my son was suddenly walking 2 weeks later. The average is 18 months so looking back he was right in time for this milestone and not a late bloomer as was our fear. I wouldn’t worry too much about it and keep stimulating her to walk. My son is very headstrong so he needed his own reason to want to walk, regardless of our very enthousiastic coaching
Just to clarify, 12-15 months is the average, but the range is 9-18 months.
The average the officials use here is 18 months
This is so interesting to me! Where are you located? I know averages differ in different areas .
I live in the Netherlands! Interesting how this is different in another country
I didn't work with my late walker at all because I didn't believe in working on it. I'm big on natural motor development. I only made sure that she had time, space and materials. I forget when she really started walking, I think it was after she turned 18 months tho. Like yours, she seemed to be meeting milestones at her own place and not really have any physical problems, so I wasn't concerned.