Anyone's toddler still not toddling?

[hakeber]

So all the e-mail groups and baby-book categories classify my 13 month old as a toddler, but my little girl is just not interested in taking that first step.  Everytime I grab her hands and encourage her to try walking with me she gives me a look as if to say "What, are you nuts, lady?  I could get hurt doing that!"  She's not particularly timid or cautious, she gets into everything, and she does cruise and use her push cart walker thingy, but this baby has zero interest in taking any actual steps across open floor space.  She's FAST as all heck on all fours, too.

Her brother was walking at 10 months and she showed all the same signs as he did for being ready to run, but nope...no toddling yet.

Anyone else watching their LO like a HAWK with the suspicion they may be talking in full sentences before they ever get up the gumption to walk?

[Julybug]

At 13mo, especially since she's a fast crawler and cruising and pushing a push toy - I wouldn't worry about it.  That's still well within the normal range.  My mother was just telling me yesterday how while I turned over both ways at normal times, I was very, VERY slow to sit up unsupported and in starting to crawl.  As in I was 9-10mo before I did either one!  But then I was pulling up shortly thereafter, and cruised until I walked at 15mo.  My sister sat up, crawled and cruised earlier, but didn't walk any earlier than I did.  Then our brother walked a bit before a year.  My own son was slow in turning over (torticollis/plagiocephaly/chiropractic issues - once addressed, he caught right up).  But he was sitting unsupported by around 7mo, was crawling at 8 1/2 mo, pulling up/cruising shortly thereafter.  But, he didn't take his first "free" steps until just before his birthday, and wasn't really free-walking as is primary mode of getting around until he was about 14mo.

Odds are, your little one will be walking any minute now, and you will be RUNNING to keep up.  :)

[emm09]

My niece didn't start walking until she was almost 15 months old.  I also have a friend whose son is 16 months and not walking on his own yet.  He will walk if you hold his hands but he doesn't do it independently yet.  Most Dr's aren't too concerned until the child is closer to 18 months.

[onemommyonemama]

my daughter was so happy with crawling and her push-cart that she didn't let go and walk until 16 months. She spent 12-16 months travelling with her push-cart. She gradually would walk wiht us holding two hands, then one, then suddenly she just started walking.

She was really stable and confident when she let go. I think it was in her personality to make sure she had perfected it before trying it :) People watching her walk couldn't believe she had just started because she was definately caught up with her peers.

And she started running, skipping and dancing immediately :)

[Chloe'sMama]

DD1 started crawling early (6.5 months) and didn't walk till 14 months.  She is just as coordinated as her peers and could walk well as soon as she tried.

[ArtistMama28]

DD didn't walk until 16 months - every other baby/toddler we knew was walking before her! But I think she was just playing it a little bit safe. Plus, she was busy listening to vocabulary. The girl can talk!

[Llyra]

The normal range for walking is anywhere between 8 and 18 months. At 13 months, a good 50% of kids still aren't walking. So no worries!

My kids walked at:
DD1- 12 months
DD2- 15 months
DS-- 17 months

At 18 months, I think I would be looking for an evaluation if a child wasn't taking a few independent steps. And you have a long way until then! At this age, I would be worried about a child who hasn't achieved locomotion yet (not yours-- she's crawling AND cruising) or who couldn't bear weight on her legs (again, not your child!)

It sounds like she's fine!

[tzs]

i also thought dd would talk before she walked because at around 13 months she showed no interest in walking. she crawled fast and stood up but never really cruised. and we never really walked around with her holding hands, she just didn;t seem interested in the same way that her pal of the same age was. then one day she just took two steps, the next day 5, and that night she never stopped. 

so i do think that some kids practice and some just wait until they can do it right.

[pranava]

Yes, DS was speaking in sentences before he could walk! He had lots of 3 word sentences before he ever took a step. I think he just reversed the normal order of things. He took like 3 steps on two occasions at 14 months, but then didn't walk again for a month. By the end of the 15th month he was toddling, and falling down quite a bit. At 16 months he was much better at walking. He's been slow to gain most gross motor skill milestones but still within normal range.

[Peony]

DS was 17m, it is considered normal not to walk until 18m and then after that and eval might be in order. 

[toughcookie]

this thread is so comforting to find!  my son is 14 months and even when he leans on me or furniture, he's so wobbly, and plops down on his butt after only a few seconds.  he does to the quadraped thing (on hands and feet with legs extended), but it seems to me that he's very far from walking, since he's not even cruising.  he is a fast crawler (weird shuffle, not a cross-crawl), so he can get around, but i'm starting to worry about that milestone.  he was very behind to crawl (10 months), so gross motor is behind.  he's not talking yet, but he does have incredible fine motor skills (he feeds himself now with a spoon, and can dissect tiny things (like dead flies!).  i'll try to be patient and not worry.  but thanks for the posts.

[jillmamma]

Originally Posted by pranava 

Yes, DS was speaking in sentences before he could walk! He had lots of 3 word sentences before he ever took a step. I think he just reversed the normal order of things. He took like 3 steps on two occasions at 14 months, but then didn't walk again for a month. By the end of the 15th month he was toddling, and falling down quite a bit. At 16 months he was much better at walking. He's been slow to gain most gross motor skill milestones but still within normal range.

My mom said that was ME as a baby.  I did not walk till NINETEEN months however.  I walk around and get around just fine now at age 37. :)

My DD is the same age (:wave from January 2010 DDC!), and just started crawling right before Christmas at almost 11 months, sat up alone at about 6.5 months, and still is not pulling up past her knees or standing or cruising.  Because of the not pulling up, her ped recommended I have her evaluated by ECI, just to see if she needs a little extra help.  I also have one child on the autism spectrum, and one with SPD, so there is a history of developmental delays in my case.  She does have about 5-6 words, and is doing very well fine motor wise, so not quite sure what is going on.

[brennan]

Like other people have said, 18 months is where you would start to be concerned, but even then, that's just when you might want an eval.

Dd started walking at 13 months, and that's still considered early.  I think the average (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) is 15-16 months

[marinak1977]

Also waving from January DDC - DS isn't walking yet although he's cruising, walking with a pushcart and if holding onto my hands. Supposedly I walked late as a baby too.
I'm not worried. I see him learn new things every day (he helped put on a t-shirt this morning by finding both sleeves by himself - that was cool) so I know he's just taking his way there.

[Carrie1105]

My 14 1/2 month old isn't walking.  She's been cruising forever, will use push-toy, crawls like crazy and will stand on her own.  We've managed to encourage her into taking an independent step towards us, but as for having the courage to let go and walk, she's not too bothered.  I figure that she's doing all of this, that she's just decided she's not ready and will do it when she feels like it.

[hakeber]

Earlier today I was trying to write that I really appreciate this thread and all the repsonses.  It is so reassuring to see I am not the only one.

Then Emily toook three independant steps tonight.  And then she did four running steps down the hall before diving into a crawl.

She's doing it!

And she waited until her mommy was home from work, so I didn't even miss the first steps.  She's such a good baby!

[star*mora]

ds1 didn't start walking until 19mths 2wks - he's a cautious kid in general - never fell once when he started

i didn't worry about getting him checked out even though he was late

he was climbing and descending stairs before 12mths so i thought he'd walk earlier but didn't

i could see how you would see 13mths as late if you've had an early walker though