Will they EVER walk?

I am SO trying not to be worried about this, but as time goes on I can't help it. Neither of the girls can walk, or even pull up. We have ECI services and have been working with a coordinator until we can get a PT, doing exercises but so far no results that we can see. Keira army crawls like a champ, Maisy does a pull and drag type crawl, but no true crawling for either one. Any physical/mental problems have been ruled out, so they tell me it's just a matter of time, but I'm starting to wonder because they have never even tried to pull up on anything at all. I always imagined by this time (almost 15 months) that we would be chasing them all over the house.

If anyone had late walkers, when did they finally do it? What about not pulling up? TIA, I just need some reassurance.

 

I have a girlfriend who's daughter just started walking last week. She is 17 months old. She started pulling up about 2 months ago and wasn't really interested in walking until now.

 

My twins were born at 37 weeks. One walked at 14 months and the other can walk a little now at almost 18 months (she looks like Frankstein) but still crawls primarily. She has been in PT since she was about 13 months old. She crawled at 11 months and had *never* rolled over. I feel badly about it in retrospect, but I just didn't think much about it. She has low muscle tone and pronates so she has orthotics. They were ridiculously expensive, but well worth it. I don't think she'd be doing this well had she not had PT and the orthotics. She doesn't see the PT much anymore because now she just needs to practice walking. Luckily, the twins are my fourth and fifth children so I've been a little more laid back about the milestones. However, I should have known that not rolling was not good in the sense that it is a very important milestone.

Good luck - I'm sure once you get set up with the PT, you'll see a drastic improvement. Is there any way to see the PT sooner? This is such a crucial window of opportunity development-wise (in my unexpert opinion).

 

My DS started walking at 16mos and 3 days to be exact. . He did this weird army crawl up until he was 12-13 months old. We thought he would never do anything. One day at 16 mos, he pulled himself up and started cruising. Three days later, he was walking around like a champ. When it happens, it happens quick. My ped tried to make DH and I believe that there was something wrong with him. They had me scared, but DH said that he wanted to leave that ped practice. He thought they were way too presumptive in their thinking. I am glad that we did change. DS runs around like a champ. He talks, yells, shows an attitude, everything you would expect from a sassy 3 year old. .

Don't worry too much about it . It will happen. Just don't let those docs have you feeling like there is something wrong with them. Remember, YOU are the one that makes decisions in the best interest of your child.

 

Sounds to me like you have some stubborn ones.....I wouldn't be worried. My dd walked at 14 months and my ds with cp walked at 20. They'll probably do it all around the same time. And btw.....don't worry about the whole crawling thing..........its not even a milestone babies are required to meet......some never officially crawl.

 

Iris is a great walker and Nefeli is still doing an army crawl. She is diagnosed hypotonic and has been goind pt since 12 months. I'm sorry we delayed starting pt but her pedi was laid back about things and we wasted time. Anyway, she does pt twice a week and is just a little before crawling. Pt told us to have her sit in a chair where her feet just reach the ground and lift her from that position to standing so she can get a feeling for it. If you try this make sure the feet are firm on the ground and not on tip toes. Also, we were told to encourage her to crawl over us- like over our legs etc. We don't expect her to learn to do a proper crawl and pt doesn't mind that. many kids skip crawling altogether.
Hope this helps and I hope yours are up and walking soon. pt will definetly speed things along though.

 

My twins were born at 31 weeks. One of them walked at 11 months actual, the other one never took her first steps until 17 months actual. And she did not officially become a full-fledged walker until just before she turned 21 months (which was over Christmas). Prior to that, you had to beg, prod, cajole, whatever it took to get her to walk between DH and I, maybe 8 steps at the very most.

Now, just a week or two later from when she finally took off, you'd never know she was a late walker. She has it down.

She crawled late, pulled up late, all of it. We did start EI services when she was 19 months old, but I honestly don't think that's what got her walking. She was just not ready until she was ready. They all have their own timetable.

 

My DS walked at 16 months, and my DD walked at almost 17 months. It just sort of happened.

 

I had very late walkers, but normalish puller uppers.

I had 17 and 18 mos. walkers, but they both pulled up in their 9th month. (close to 10).

At one appt. the doc asked us if we had talked about EI for Ali to build her leg strength, but we hadn't and she did some stuff with her and determined she didn't think we needed it.

I think at 15 mos. with no pulling up, I would just talk to the pedi and tell her that I was concerned and could we have an appt. to talk about it? That's just me. (I'm not suggesting you worry, but also not suggesting you ignore this nagging feeling you seem to have!)

It's a fine line I think. Your gut might be your best guide, go with that!!

 

My 3 yr old started walking 2 days before she turned 15 months...I think they are still within the range of "normal" as far as the not walking - I think it actually goes to 18 months, but that is just what I am remembering reading somewhere...I don't know about the not pulling up. Can you talk to ECI services about a PT answering the question about the not pulling up before a schedule appointment? Have you talked to your pedi about it?

 

My 2 were later- they were 31 weekers, dx'd with mild CP and walked at 14 months and 17 months...they both had PT from 18 months- 25 months.

My hypertoned DD walked fairly normal time frame for preemie- but was stiff and uncontrolled, she stood at 9 months or so and pulled upo around 11. My hypotoned DD walked at 17 months, but was not a steady walker until close to 19/20. She did not pull up until 12+ months and did not 'stand' on her own until 14 months or so.

They both run and jump now!!!

 

I had one early walker and one just got around to actually doing so between 15 and 16 months. She took her first step 2 months ago, just didn't see the point in walking when her twin sister got everything she wanted for her. My pedi. said it was normal up until 18 months, but I'm not sure about the not pulling up part.

 

One of my girls started army crawling at 13.5 months, hands and knees crawling a few weeks later, then pulling up and cruising a few weeks after that. I had her evaulated by a PT right after her first birthday, and she started seeing the PT twice a month shortly after that. She took her first steps at about 18 months, and started walking everywhere by 19 months. She was 6 weeks early, so I guess you could subtract 6 weeks from each of the ages above for her adjusted age. My other daughter was born with clubbed feet and dislocated hips, so she's kind of a special case. She's still not walking yet, but she's close!

I would definitely see someone as soon as possible. The sooner someone starts working with them the sooner you will probably see some results! Good luck

 

Don't get too discouraged! My ds didn't walk until 14 mos, and my dd is now a little over 20 mos & still not walking. She is in PT - supposedly twice a month, but it doesn't always happen that often (seems like there's a lot of days with paperwork, off for holidays, etc.)

One of the things we did was to get some of those little bouncy balls - like the ones they have at Walmart in this giant cage. They're just the right size for them to sit on & we bounce.....works those leg muscles. We've been doing that & dd can now balance herself on her ball; that's good for balance, too.

The other thing she told me was when I hold her hand to walk, was to not hold her hand up over her head. It's hard to do, but she said to try to give her support while walking with her hands more at waist level. That way, she's not 100% relying on me for balance & support, but has to work more for it herself.

 

Oh, and something else I forgot. We also have these little stools (found them at Target) which are just the right height for her to sit on & her feet touch the floor. We do kind of a little game, having her sit on the stool & trying to get her to stand up on her own. At 1st she needed help to stand, but now she can do it by herself. Don't pull up on her arms; instead, give the support by holding your hands on her thighs & bottom & gently push up. It's hard to explain.

I agree with a pp....always trust your gut! I think you can call EI if you want, I don't think you need a doctor referral.

 

My girls were 31 weekers. Laney walked around 14-15 months and Lauren at 18 months. They never had EI services. For Lauren, it was just her laid back personality. She just got around to walking when she wanted to.

 

Jessy didn't walk till 16 months and it was practically overnight. They were 34 weeks and she weighted 2lbs 13oz

 

If it's any consolation, mine aren't walking either. They just recently started pulling up and climbing. Like as of a week ago. They suddenly got the climbing bug and I dismantled all the furniture in the living room so they can easily climb. I took the pillows off the couch and set up futons to make ramps and now they climb up and down everything, so I'm seeing progress. Before that I was very worried. I know the "normal" range for walking is very broad, anywhere from 9 months to 18 months, and I've heard some babies don't walk until 22 months! So... hang in there. Think of it as a blessing! I'm trying to!

 

My girls walked really, really late. Actually they do everything late. I was sooooo worried about it for along time. But they have been in therapy since they were about 4-5 months old. I think it is good they are being evaluated. It can't hurt. And my girls have shown so much improvement.

 

Thanks--you guys are invaluable!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the tips, I know they will get there, I just needed a little encouragement and to know that we aren't the only ones!

 

My girls are 27 weekers and were really really late walkers, 19 months (16 months adjusted). They learned how to walk on their knees and just saw no need to walk on their feet. They actually had been taking 4- 6 steps for months. I finally talked their doctor into refering them to PT (he didn't think they needed it) and one walked after the second session and the other after the fourth. One of the tricks that helped them was to take a large PT rubber band and put it under their underarms and hold it from behind and they would walk thru the house. Good Luck, I know how frustrating this is!

 

Mine were born at 30w 5d they began cruising and pulling-up at 11 months and both were walking before 14 months but weren't really that stable until about 14 1/2 months on their feet.

My friend's nephew who was born at 42 weeks didn't walk until he was 16 months...he was cruising forever began before 11 months and now he's running all over the place. He was early on everything else, just one day he started walking.

 

My girls were 34 weekers. Kara army crawled for a couple months & started crawling properly at 12months. She started pulling up around then too. She cruises pretty well, but isn't walking quite yet. Avery on the other hand, only started army crawling a few weeks ago. Just in the last couple days, she's finally started correct crawling & showing some interest in pulling up. I've been having ECI come out for a few months to work with the girls. The physical therapist has given me some helpful exercises to work with Avery that I think have helped. They don't think there's anything wrong with her. It's just her personality. She's very laid back about things. I guess she'll start walking on her own schedule!