breech babies late walkers?

[sunbaby]

i was just a midwifery conference where a speaker mentioned that babies who were breech can be a little slower to use feet to locomote in crawling, becuase they didnt use their feet to push during birth. i am wondering if anyone knows if this relates to walking too. my son was breech and he was mobile by 6 months, but only pulling with his arms- he started using his legs for crawling by 8mo. so here he is, 13 months old, and not walking. he furniture walks, and took one step a month ago, but nothing else. its kind of surprising because he is such an active guy, and i thouhgt hed be an early walker.

and i have to admit here, too, that i am anxious about each milestone for him, because due to certain circumstances surrounding his birth, he is at an increased risk for developmental problems.

[AnnesMoM]

Hmm, dd was breech and she didn't walk until 12.5 months. She was always very active with her feet, though. She wouldn't reach for things with her hands when she was little, but she would reach for things with her feet. I always wondered if that was because she had more room to move her feet, but less ability to move her arms since she was frank breech for the last month and a half. Interesting idea.

[NaomiLorelie]

Breech babies are more likely to have hip dislocation aren't they? Maybe something about being breech affects the hips in general?

[ccohenou]

My anecdote would agree - breech ds walked 15 months. But if not pushing with feet during birth is the issue, then shouldn't all cesarean-born babes be late walkers also?

[VaMountainMomma]

DD is still not walking at 14m and she came out head first.

Ditto that on the C-section babies... unless it does have something to do with the hips. Very interesting though!

[bradleybirth2mom]

As far as the walking, sounds like all of your babies were right on track. Babies should be crawling profusely, which encourages good brain development. Your pediatrician should rotate baby's legs at the hip and listen for clicking, which would indicate a displacement. For knees, clicking is normal in young infants since their joints are looser following birth---the hormones that make your body 'loosey goosey' for birth also make baby's body loose as well. As long as baby starts some form of walking, even if it is holding onto a table edge, by 18 months, there is no need for concern. Babies all develop at slightly different rates and even out as they age over the years.
Also, giving your baby a lot of skin to skin contact is crucial to healthy growth and nervous system development. Give your baby massages and hold him against your skin often. It is directly related to his growth (from The Baby Book by Sears and Sears).

[danav]

I've never heard that before, but my breech baby didn't walk until 18 mos! Since DD had walked at 11 mos, and breech DS had some birth trauma, I was a bit concerned about it. Until my MIL casually mentioned that DH also didn't walk until he was 18 mos - DH and DS have the same build, with a large head, very long torso, and relatively short legs, so I figured it was just a matter of physics and they just didn't have the leg strength and balance to support their top-heavy little bodies until they were older!

My third baby, also a boy, has a similar build to DS and DH except not such a large head. He came shooting out head first, too. So we'll see when he starts walking (he's only 4 mos right now).

[Rockies5]

My baby never really used his legs for crawling. We called it "army low-man crawl". He did nothing until 7 months then sat, crawled and rolled in the same few weeks.

He flipped to vertex 2 days before birth, does that still count as breech?

He was walking by 9months. He's done everything developmenally WEIRD, but they tell me he's very, very gifted.

Didn't talk until nearly 3.5 hasn't taken a breath between words in the 5years since

[wende]

Originally Posted by Rockies5

My baby never really used his legs for crawling. We called it "army low-man crawl". He did nothing until 7 months then sat, crawled and rolled in the same few weeks.

He flipped to vertex 2 days before birth, does that still count as breech?

He was walking by 9months. He's done everything developmenally WEIRD, but they tell me he's very, very gifted.

Didn't talk until nearly 3.5 hasn't taken a breath between words in the 5years since

LOL, that sounds EXACTLY like my 11yo. I've been known to say, with big exagerated eyes, "SHH, my brain needs a break!"

My breech baby is 14 months old and she's just started to stand alone on occassion but she's a cruiser. My almost 3yo didn't walk until the day before he turned 18 months old, but he wasn't breech. Both were 2 months early, though, so I guess that's gotta account for the late walking.

[mnnice]

I was born breech and walked at 9 months.

I think walking also has to do with personality too. DS1 hated to be on his tummy and always wanted up. He was (and is) very uncautious. He walked at the earliest possilbe second.

DS2 hasn't started walking yet, but I really think he could if he wanted to. He is just a more comtemplative little person.

[maxmama]

My breech never crawled and walked at 14 months. Then again, we carried him everywhere and maybe he didn't feel compelled to walk to things. He was very verbal very early, so he told us what was up.

[chumani]

My frank breech born baby didn't walk until 17 months, she didn't crawl until 10 months. She had low fluid/compression issues and both feet had positional club feet. I think it is mainly babies that are frank breech that this would be a problem in as their legs are in a pike position with legs straight, whereas complete/kneeling/footling breeches are positioned with their legs folded, knees bent.

Sarah

[CrazyCatLady]

My husband was my mil's first child. He was a 9 pound breech and walked at 9 months old. He never crawled though.

[~Megan~]

um, that just sounds weird to be honest. Because for a few hours they didn' push during labor it takes them longer to walk? I don't see the connection.

dd was frank breech and walked at 11 months btw

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by mamao'two

um, that just sounds weird to be honest. Because for a few hours they didn' push during labor it takes them longer to walk? I don't see the connection.

dd was frank breech and walked at 11 months btw

I agree, that short pushing phase having such a big impact on walking? I can't see the connection. what about swaddled tighter babies who had more to push on with their legs then the first days out of utero? Wouldn't that make a difference then? Nah, I don't buy it, but who knows.

[gabeyho]

early walking breech

my son was a c-section breech and walked around 10 months. my daughter was a vbac and walked right before her first birthday. they walk when they are ready, and never sooner.

[Storm Bride]

DS1 was a c-section for frank breech. When the doctors pulled his legs down to measure him, they popped back up as soon as the doctors let go (or so I'm told - I didn't actually see it). He crawled at...about 5.5/6 months, I think (was a long time ago), and was walking before a year.

DD was a c-section for footling breech. She got around by pulling herself with her arms (very cute, actually), from about 6 months, then she started to crawl for about a week at...oh, a year. She started walking a week after she started crawling. She was also getting up and standing in place for extended periods then sitting back down for months before she started crawling or walking.

DS2 was also a section, but was vertex. He's 10 months, and cruises furniture but isn't fully walking yet.

I think all babies are just very different in the way they do things, and generalizations about breech/non-breech are going to miss the mark with a lot of children.