Tell me about your "late" walkers*Update in post #23

[treehugginhippie]

DD2 is 12 mo. She isn't walking yet (actually DD1 didn't walk until 15 mo). I'm not worried and know she will walk when she's ready. She pulls herself up for a couple months now but doesn't know how to get down. No crusing yet. She's very cautious. She does like to stand while nursing though

Also, she doesn't crawl like most babies do...she does a bunny hop where her legs and arms move at the same time. Her hips are fine and ped is not worried. (Although, I know she's not getting the right brain/left brain connection.)

So, tell me about your "late" walkers...and did any of them display these traits?

[pear-shaped]

My dd was a late walker (14.5 mos.) though she did cruise for about six months before that. I guess she was just very cautious. Funny thing, she isn't anymore! She only did the cross-crawl for a couple of months, maybe from 7-9 mos., then she started doing what I would call a modified butt-scoot, with one knee up and the other on the ground. I don't know how else to describe it. She was very good at cruising, but seemed to prefer the scoot as her main means of locomotion.

[prancie]

ds walked somewhere around 14 months, I can't remember exactly. He didn't cross crawl until a month or 2 before he walked, he just pulled himself along. with his arms.

[srs]

Mine walked at 13, almost 14 months, but I didn't consider that late at all. Is it late?

[4Marmalade]

My twins will be 15 months this week and only yesterday did dd start walking. He started crawling at 11 months. Twin dd crawled at 10 months and still has no real interest in walking. She does cruise though. My older ds adn dd were also "later" walkers at about 14 months. I don't really consider it late but it is amazing how many people start asking when they hit 12 months.

[limabean]

DS started walking at 13 months and DD started walking at 14 months. DS liked to walk around while holding onto our fingers for about 2 months before he started walking, but DD never wanted to do that and would pull her hands away. Both of them started crawling at about 9 months.

[JorgieGirl]

I have a friend who's toddler didn't start toddling til near 18 months, just this past week. He crawled as normal, and at all check ups he was physically capable, just didn't want to. He's now a pro after about 4 days of it.

[purplepaperclip]

My dd started cruising about 10 months but didn't let go and walk by herself until 15 months. She was a pro though when she finally did it. None of the "drunk" walking lots of early walkers do. She is overall just a cautious child and likes to practice stuff until she knows she can do it unassisted.

I did think for a while though that she would be going off to college still crawling

[wami]

My DD didn't take her first unassisted steps until the day before her 15-month checkup. Still, she didn't really start walking until she was just a week shy of 16 months.

She is extremely verbal and extremely cautious. She's 19 months now and is speaking in two- and three-word phrases, but is so cautious that she will sometimes crawl over cracks in the sidewalk. Our ped was never worried (though I got plenty worried!); said she just seemed to be more focused on developing her communications skills than her gross motor skills.

[LemonPie]

Both my older two were 'later' walkers. They both crawled around 9 mos, started crusing about 10-11 months, took a couple of steps around 13 mos, but didn't actually start walking until about 15 mos. They were just cautious types who didn't feel the need to let go until they were sure they could manage it

My 3rd however. . . crawled at 6 months, cruised at 7 months, walked at 10.5 months. I often wonder if it's because I was 'bad' and let her sleep on her tummy, so she got that head/neck/upper back strength sooner.

[noobmom]

DS was a late walker--didn't take his first steps until 16 months. He was cruising from about 8-9 months, so I kept expecting him to start walking any day. I would say he was fairly cautious as a baby. Also, we had all hard surface (mostly hardwood) floors in our house. He took his first assisted steps a few hours after we arrived at his grandparents house for Christmas vacation...on their carpeted floor. I really think that made a difference. I think the carpet provided both more traction and more padding in case of falls, so he felt more comfortable. He's a very verbal child, so his physical development in general has lagged slightly (not walking until 16 months, but speaking in complete sentences at 21 months). The doctor was never worried and neither were we. Every child develops differently, that's for sure!

Oh, and DS didn't crawl that much as a baby either--again, I think because the floors hurt! He did a lot of butt scooting. Some army crawling and some cruising.

[corrieoseal]

My DD was 14 months when she took her first steps. She walked well from the first few steps and was walking exclusively after just a few days, rather than reverting to a crawl. She also mastered turning and running very quickly. She is a cautious child who sits and plays well and has a great attention span and good fine motor skills. Also, she had a lot of upheaval from 10-13 months as we were moving cross country (my husband is in the Air Force) so I think that contributed to her lack of confidence when it came to walking.

[Llyra]

Two of mine never crawled. DD2 hitched herself around on her bottom using one arm as a crutch, and DS scooted on his bottom with no hands, in a sort of hopping-thrusting motion (hilarious to watch!) DD2 walked at 15 months. DS walked much later-- 17 1/2 months. He was also late with his other gross motor milestones-- sat up steadily at 8 months, and didn't pull to stand until almost 13 months. Anyway, he's fine now. He's 2 1/2 and still a little slower than his twin with stuff like climbing and jumping, and not noticeably different from other kids his age. He always put his attention into being social and friendly, rather than into physical stuff.

I don't think it's even considered "late" walking until past 15 months, and I certainly wouldn't worry until 18 months, if a child seemed otherwise healthy and physically normal.

I was told by DD1's OT that at 12 months, a baby should have achieved some kind of independent locomotion, should sit steadily and be able to get to sitting independently from lying down, and should be able to bear weight on the legs.

[simplemama32]

DS starting walking around 14.5 or 15 months, and went pretty much straight into running. :-) He crawled (faster than he now walks!) since he was 7 or 8 months.

My understanding is that 14 months is the average age children learn to walk, so I don't consider it late at all.

[Rippette]

My son was barely 15 months when he started walking. He crawled around 8-9 months. He did a funny bounce a lot too. I don't know if that is the bunny hop But he would bounce on his knees and sometime cross the room like that. It looked painful to me, but he didn't seem to mind! He also loved to bounce like that to music. He's doing fine now (2.5 yrs) so I don't think it damaged his legs any. It will happen soon enough... and then you'll wish he'd crawl every once in a while!

OH, and like the PPs, he was a very cautious toddler... still is

[michelle123]

That sounds a lot like DD1 was, and she started walking around 14 months.

[frontstreetmama]

my first dd didn't walk until she was 18!!! months -- that's late!!! and she never crawled... I think it was because she was the first -- first grandchild, first baby, etc... carried everywhere all the time! it was great thought because by the time she was mobile her comprehension was such that baby-proofing was unnecessary!

my second was walking at 8 months -- too early!!!

I thought around 10 - 12 months was average??

[kristen1978]

DS didn't walk at all until 15.5 months, and only cruised for a week or so beforehand. He had a silly crawl, too -- kind of crab-like, but only on one side. Looked funny but he got around!

He is now a very coordinated 2 yo with great balance.

[ShadowMoon]

Ds started walking at 16 months. He went from crawling to walking in about a week's time. He's been a late crawler and is a late talker as well. He seems to not want to move to the next step unless he has a definite need to.

[Limabean1975]

DS took his first steps at 16 months. I didn't think of it as "late". I myself took my first steps at 18 months.