non-mobile 11.5 month old

[birthing_new_life]

my lil sweetpea is not at all interested in crawling or walking. her legs work (very well), and she is rolling all over the place, but any time she gets put on her tummy she flips over, and if we prop her up standing, eventually she just sits down.

she was 5.5 wks early, but has caught up in every other way - she's quite verbal, she's hit most of her other milestones, and is very healthy. i didn't have any issues with her mobility until everyone else started commenting on it - 'oh wow, she's not even crawling?' or 'is she walking yet?' or 'my kids were walking at 9 months!' or (my favourite) 'ah, so you've got a lazy one!'

most of me is happy not to have to chase her yet, but now i'm starting to worry that there's something wrong. and i hate that family members and strangers are making me doubt my beautiful baby!! help!

[colsxjack]

You say she is rolling around all over the place. Then I would consider her mobile. If she is trying to get places and is interested in getting herself around and curious about getting places...then I wouldn't worry. Some babies never crawl, and many babies do not walk until well after 12months.

Don't you just cherish other people's comments and questions about your baby and their abilities?!?

[belltree]

Don't worry. Some kids don't crawl, some crawl later. Your child is totally normal. Have you checked the WHO milestone charts?

http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/mm_windows_graph.pdf

Some kids don't crawl before they are 13 months old. There is nothing wrong with that.

I sometimes feel there is a lot of pressure from people so milestones are hit early, but the truth is, some kids are early, some are later and most are just in the middle. In the end it does not really matter.

[Bebe's Mom]

I get that, oh, my daughter/son/granddaughter etc..was walking at 5 months or whatever. People grossly exaggerate. They think it is a competition...I know people whose children didn't walk until 18 months, and my own DH was a late walker, so I wouldn't worry too much. Sounds like you are giving her plenty of opportunities to get down on the floor and exercise. Some kids never crawl, they just roll and then one day they get up and start walking.

[mamamillet]

I'll be the voice of dissent.  It does sound like there might be a bit of delay.  Is she rolling from from back to front or just front to back?  If not I would start there.  Can she she sit unassisted yet?  Does she get down to her belly if in a sitting position.  Can she get back up to a sit on her own?  You can help teach her that.  Are  there any early interevntion services where you are cause it sounds like she could use a little help...

Honestly babies DO NOT go from rolling around to walking one day. 

[lifeguard]

A friend's little girl did move AT ALL until she was 13 months & within weeks she was running. I think personality plays a lot into it.

[beatgenxer]

my DS is 13 months, but he only started cruising a little over a month ago and NEVER crawled. this is how he's developing and it's totally normal. every child is different and i still get the "oh, he's not walking by himself yet?" WHATEVS!

you didn't have doubts before people started asking - don't doubt yourself now mama!!

[Peony]

11.5 months and not crawling is a tad late, but not extremely so yet especially with being early. I had to recently plot out all of DS's gross motor accomplishments, he crawled earlier then that, but not by much and it was considered behind. He has speech and some mobility issues at 19 months so we had to go through and see exactly where the delays have been. If you aren't concerned then just be watchful, if you are then another poster mentioned EI, or your pedi might be of some help as well. I've been watching DS since 12 months, eh he was behind but I wasn't concerned and eventually I knew it was time to seek help a couple months ago. 

[omamasmama]

you can always check in with your ped if that would clear your mind. Our dd was behind on most of the milestones and is totally happy and healthy. That's just her personality, she'll do things in her own time.

[aet.tea]

Late bloomer here too - my now 18mo was still at an early stage of commando crawling at 12 mo, and is still not walking independently (we think she's close). In our case we did get a referral for EI from our pediatrician - he said it was our choice, and we felt that if she qualified for services and the services are there, why not use them?  We have a physical therapist come to the house to work with her twice a month and a speech/feeding therapist who comes once per month. Both therapists are great and she responds to them really well. Neither therapist nor our pediatrician think that she has a serious problem that needs diagnosis, she's just taking her time and can use a little extra encouragement.  BTW she was born 3.5 weeks early and is also quite small for her age.

[tzs]

i can see both sides. on one hand, EI can never hurt and most kids even love doing it.

on the other hand, i have a kid in my toddler class now who was the most immobile kid in the baby-room ever. he just didn't move. he walked really really late, even in comparison to the late walkers. but now at 23 months or so you wouldn't know it. he's also the most verbal in the whole class (as in not just saying words but listening and appropriately responding....making two or 3 word sentences) and has an amazing recall for books and stories.

[dakotablue]

DS was an early walker (Cruising around 8 months walking 10 m 2 days mastered by 11m) but my niece didn't walk until 14 1/2 months (start cruising 14 months mastered walking after first step). Developmentally they are both doing great.

I do know of one women at my old church whose three kids only rolled around then walked, but they would roll in circles to get where they wanted to go. Is this what your DD is doing? If it works it works.

So her adjusted age is 10 months? at 10 months most kids are not walking, some are cruising. I wouldn't worry unless you see muscle tone issues other wise in terms of grabbing and stuff.

I hate the my kid did this at this age bull. DS was 'early' but that doesn't mean anything when it comes to his SATs years from now (not that I think those really matter either. ) I also get the comparing all the time from people whose sons are bigger or smaller than DS, come on he's 1 just because he's big (or small) doesn't mean he's a football player and why do I care anyway?

[birthing_new_life]

thanks mamas. i appreciate hearing your stories and reassurances. in a couple weeks, she is having her one year well-baby checkup, where we'll ask our GP whether we need to be worried or not. if there are things we can do, we are more than willing - but worse than the worries about whether things are okay are the quick judgments of people who either don't know us well, or who don't think before they open their mouths. i should know better than to take that on - but hey, some lessons just keep needing to be learned!!

[Owen'nZoe]

Another one with a child who did not crawl, and didn't start walking until almost 15 months. He did kind of scootch around on his bum sometime after 12 months and could get around well enough that way. As a PP mentioned, he also seemed so focused on working on his language skills that he just did not have time for the big motor stuff. ;) Now he is 6 and is on par with his peers.

[missnoodlesmom]

It's definitely later than is typical - I would probably be wondering about her muscle tone, personally.  Weight bearing can be hard if a child has low-tone, and if she's not bearing weight by crawling or standing at that point, I'd want her checked out.  Everything could be - and probably is - normal, but I would rather know for sure, personally.

[Spring Lily]

Originally Posted by mamamillet 

I'll be the voice of dissent.  It does sound like there might be a bit of delay.  Is she rolling from from back to front or just front to back?  If not I would start there.  Can she she sit unassisted yet?  Does she get down to her belly if in a sitting position.  Can she get back up to a sit on her own?  You can help teach her that.  Are  there any early interevntion services where you are cause it sounds like she could use a little help...

Honestly babies DO NOT go from rolling around to walking one day. 

Just wanted to second this.  Transitioning from one position to another is a really big part of figuring out if she needs help or will likely do it in her own time.  My DD has low muscle tone and wasn't able to transition until she went into physical therapy.  If I put her on her belly, she was stuck lying down until I helped her sit.  She could stand, but wasn't really pulling herself up to that position.  When we were starting to get her help, one of the questions they really focused on was her inability to smoothly transition on her own. 

I'd keep an eye on that and see if you see any patterns like that or unusual things she does, and when you go to your doctor appt you'll be more prepared.

[Girlprof]

Originally Posted by birthing_new_life 

thanks mamas. i appreciate hearing your stories and reassurances. in a couple weeks, she is having her one year well-baby checkup, where we'll ask our GP whether we need to be worried or not. if there are things we can do, we are more than willing - but worse than the worries about whether things are okay are the quick judgments of people who either don't know us well, or who don't think before they open their mouths. i should know better than to take that on - but hey, some lessons just keep needing to be learned!!

I know. I have such sympathy for this because I am quick to feel bad about what other people have to say. But there are really two separate issues here. Should other people mind their own business? You bet they should. On the other hand, our DD was not crawling or pulling up or even commando crawling at 11 months and yes, I was worried. We did qualify for physical therapy. She nearly always enjoyed it and I really think it helped her. She is officially caught up now, though there are things that will probably always take her longer to learn. Jumping has come slowly to her. I expect her to struggle with riding a bike. It's taking her awhile to get her balance in the water. Even though we are done with physical therapy, I'm so glad we did it because it taught me a lot about how to help her learn new physical skills.

So, people should butt out, one way or another. But let that be separate from your own clear-eyed vision of what your beautiful baby needs.

[cdmommie]

My oldest DD didn't crawl until about 11 months and didn't walk until 14 months.  She's just really tall and she was a pretty heavy baby so it wasn't easy for her, and I didn't push it.  It happened when it happened and there was nothing wrong with her.  She's 3 now and she is one of the best ballerinas in her ballet class and she is a super smarty-pants, so she's totally fine and no one cares now when she started crawling/walking ;)