When should she walk?

[nova22]

My youngest was born at 33wks and spent a month in the NICU. She is now 16mo. She is not walking, standing independently, or even pulling herself up to stand. Just wondering if this is normal. I know she CAN pull herself up because once I tried to bathe her after a diaper explosion when she was already cranky, and as soon as she touched the water she practically leapt to her feet while holding on to the side of the tub. That was probably over a month ago and she has showed no other progress since then.

[Bokonon]

If you have concerns, I would highly recommend getting a developmental evaluation, especially since your DD was a preemie.

I don't know what the "normal" time frame is for those milestones - DS (32-weeker) was very delayed on just about all gross motor skills, and didn't walk until he was almost 2, after 13 months in physical therapy. DD (34-weeker) has been fairly on target for milestones according to her adjusted age, but we had a developmental evaluation at around 10 months anyway.

How is she doing verbally? Sometimes babies work on one skill at a time, for example, my DD just started walking, and as soon as that was mastered, she started saying a bunch of new words. My DS was very verbal, but delayed physically. When he was working really hard on walking, his speech started lagging a little.

[mommy2maya]

My 34wk preemie was in therapy from 6m on for PT. She walked at 16.5m, which is still inside the 'normal' range. She went from nothing to walking fairly quickly tho- I think she cruised for only a few short weeks, and then took a few unassisted steps. She didn't walk as her primary mode of transportation for a few months after that tho.

[Pookietooth]

I would ask about the early intervention program in your area if I were you. At least in the USA, they can help with a lot of developmental issues.

[nova22]

Originally Posted by Bokonon

How is she doing verbally?

Well...she's not. She used to say bye ("baaaaaaaaaaaaaah") and once she requested a bottle ("baba!") but she has yet to say mama, dada, etc. She started waving hi and bye within the past week.

She had an early intervention team over when she was a teeny little baby, maybe 3 months old (?). They didn't see any problems and I don't know if I'm eligible to have them out again without spending a lot of money. Naturally I just threw away their folder and info last week when I cleaned before I started worrying about this.

Originally Posted by mommy2maya

My 34wk preemie was in therapy from 6m on for PT. She walked at 16.5m, which is still inside the 'normal' range. She went from nothing to walking fairly quickly tho- I think she cruised for only a few short weeks, and then took a few unassisted steps. She didn't walk as her primary mode of transportation for a few months after that tho.

That's good to know, thanks. Since she's done it before maybe she'll relearn quickly. I just hate worrying...plus I'm 4mo pregnant and especially emotional, which means I'm especially anxious about things like this.

[GreenTeaGinger61]

My son was born at 36.5 weeks very tiny and weak. He took his first step at about 15 months but it took him at least another 6 months to walk confidently. Same with talking. He didn't really talk much until he was three.

I found it reassuring to get him evaluated though. If you can, I think it will ease your mind.

[BathrobeGoddess]

My 42.5 weeker walked at 17 months. The normal range for walking on a non-premmie is 10-18 months so UNLESS there are other indicators like low tone, turned feet, rigidity, etc. sounds normal.

This is what I did for many years, EI assesments...