17 Month Old Not Walking by Himself

My daughter didn't start walking until she was 17 months. Now she is three and totally fine. She got good at walking fast. It is really normal to start walking anywhere from 10-18 months. So please don't stress. He will get it. My daughter wouldn't even cruise around. Everytime I would try to put her on her feet, she would pull them up.

My little girl didn't walk until 14 months old. She didn't crawl until 11 months old. Mostly because she was cautious about everything. Even now, at 2 years old next week she is still a very cautious child, especially in running and walking. She finally started walking because we took her to a kiddie swimming pool. She loved the buoyancy that the water provided and before the afternoon was over, she was running through the water. By the end of the week, she was walking everywhere on her own. Just a little suggestion. All in all, don't worry. They all do their own thing in their own time! Good luck.

Buy him one of those little plastic golf sets and demonstrate how to use it. They are so excited to hit the ball with the club that they forget to hold on to anything.

My neighbor's son didn't walk until 18mos.....then a few years later became a star on the high school basketball team.
kids are funny sometimes.....but if your still worried, talk to your dr. after all you know your kid better than anyone so trust your instincts.

Don't worry at all. I have 3 friends in my cirlce of friends and all of them had/have babies that didn't walk until past 17 months. I know it seems as though your son should be walking but all kids do things at their own pace. I have 4 kids, of which my youngest are 11 month old twins. They have been crawling since 8 months old but only learned to sit up on their own a few weeks ago. They all do what they are supposed to do in good time.

T.

Hi C.,
It might be worth asking the Dr. about the possibility of low muscle tone. It may not be anything but personality,etc. But my daughter had low tone (slight) and it was the fact that she was delayed in all of her gross motor skills that led the Dr. to look into it. That may be what the one Dr. that mentioned physical therapy had in mind. A P.T. can evaluate and they would work very specific areas that were weaker to help get them up to snuff. We also were given exercises to work on at home with her, which she HATED, but they helped! In her case, she was weaker through the hips and torso. She took her her first 'real' step the day she turned 18 months. My youngest didn't walk until she was 16 months, but was not evaluated or treated for this. Ironically, she had to see a P.T. for something unrelated when she was 7. The P.T. commented that she saw some signs of low tone! But the bottom line is, both of them did walk just fine, and are both active, healthy kids. So it might be worth asking the question, but either way things will probably work out fine. Good luck!

My third child was the same way...he just wasn't that interested...you've already talked to his doctor, and are doing everything to help him develop the muscles, now just take a deep breath and remember that every child develops at their own pace. He is probably just a cautious child who wants to do the walking thing when he is sure he can do it without falling. One thing that helped my son finally start walking (at 18 months!) was to give him a toy lawn mower. He really wanted to push it, but it wasn't like other push toys that he could just lean on. Maybe you can find a motivating toy for your child too. Or if not, remember that when he does start walking, suddenly he will have free hands that can reach, grab, and destroy on a whole new level! Good luck! Oh, and by the way, my little late-walking boy is now 6 and walks, runs, kicks, reads, and rides a two-wheeler.

Hi C.-I am a therapist of early intervention. The comments so far seem fair to say-some kids just learn later. BUT-if you are concerned, what would it hurt to go see a PT or an occupational therapist and see what they have to say. Get a second opinion too if you need. They could also give you some tricks, ideas, whatever that may help your little guy out. Everyone can tell you not to worry that they know of a child who was the same way and is fine-but if you will continue to be concerned-you need to ease that. And-you would not have to regret in the future a delay somewhere else by chance because of this. I hope you find your answers and best of luck!

Ok here is a trick that you can try. When he is cruising instead of having him grab your finger have him grip a toy. Then as he is cruising along simply (slowly) let go of the toy and walk along with him as if he is holding your hand. The toy may just give him the assurance that he is being helped by you but really he is walking on his own. Good luck!

Hi C.,

I just want to give you some reassurance about your 17 month old not walking yet. I have a daughter and 2 sons. My daughter crawled at about 8 months and started walking around 13 months. When my first son was born, I expected the same timeline for him. But that wasn't the case. He didn't crawl until 10 1/2 months and was just shy of 18 months when he finally took his few first steps. At his 1 year check up, he wouldn't even put his feet on the table while the pediatrician was holding him. He didn't want to put any weight on his legs. Our doctor said the range for walking goes until 18 months so she wasn't too worried. She said at 18 months if he wasn't walking, she'd suggest physical therapy. Well, fortunately he was walking at 18 months. He is now 5 and is the most sturdy kid I know. He walks and runs with great posture and he doesn't fall as much as my other two. Although I was concerned in those months that I thought he should be walking, it has served him well to have walked late. If he's walking with walking toys and holding hands, don't worry. He'll take off on his own soon. And I hope he's as strong and sturdy as my little boy. Enjoy your little guy! God bless. C. M

I had to respond when reading your post. My twins (now 5 years old) didn't walk until they were 20.5 months. The irony is that I was the director of a large pediatric physical therapy clinic and kept bringing in my kids for screening. Nothing wrong with them...they just wouldn't walk. I was a bit frustrated, like you, but alas, they did finally get up and it was a relief. I didn't want to be carrying them to their senior prom! Don't worry about anything, especially because he can cruise and walk while holding hands. He's going to take off any day now.

Hi C.,

When my sister was a baby, she didn't walk until she was 18 months old. Now she's a doctor!!!

Hope that helps you feel better :)

love, P.

He will walk in his own time - my daughter was 17 months before she started walking, and she never crawled. She scooted around on her butt to get around. Relatives would worry about her not walking, but I knew she would walk when she was ready, and she did. Don't worry and don't pressure him, when he's ready he'll do it - and then you won't be able to keep up with him! Annie W was right, too, about how they develop faster in other ways - my daughter is extremely smart and I believe it is because she was a late walker and had time to absorb things she otherwise wouldn't have if she had walked sooner.

Don't worry. He'll walk. The average age is 18 months. Every baby has its own developmental speed. My son didn't walk until 17 months old. When he wants to walk he will. Keep encouraging him. This is normal.

My son is 18 1/2 months old and just started walking in the last 2 weeks. Don't fret! It's probably no big deal, especially if he's walking with walker toys and along furniture. It's probably more of a personality issue than a physical one. But if you're worried, when you take him in for his 18 month check up, ask the doctor. HTH!

C.,
I am a PT. I used to work with kids. I recommend going to see a PT. As the one reply said, what could it hurt and it could make you feel much better. They can give you ideas on how to encourage him and let you know his movement is normal. When I worked with kids I was shocked at how many doctors did not recognize abnormal movement, sometimes subtle and sometiems extremeely obvious (when you work with kids). If this were the case early intervention is very helpful to prevent problems in the future. More than likely all of these moms are right and he is just a slow starter, but, what does it hurt to check it out....if he could qualify for services, let him get those services.(If you have decent insurance and a referral, don't hesitate). 18 mo is not the average but, as you see can be within the normal range.

Normal for walking is a huge range of ages, check with your mom and mother in law to see when you and your hubbie walked; there seems to be some genetic link to this skill. You can try to walk like a new baby for him to see that you are unsure too; walk with you feet wide, take a few unstable steps add a few stumbles and fall onto the furniture and wall; that seemed to help our little one to get the confidence to leave the furniture and walk on his own. Crawling has been shown to improve reading and writting skills so let him crawl, he will be more intellegent because of it. Also, I have reciently read that walking your child and allowing the use of walkers will not speed up the time to walking. Hang in there, he will soon be walking!

I have a few friends whose child didn't start fully walking until they were about 19 months old. The children are perfectly happy. They have there own schedule they will do things. I hope this helps and gl.

My son (now 2-1/2) didn't walk on his own until 18 months....then it was like the energizer bunny was switched on....he now RUNS EVERYWHERE!! Every child is unique....if a trusted doctor thinks there is a real problem then I would go to the next step, but if other mile stones have come later for him than I wouldn't worry too much about it. You can't judge your son's developement based on other children, because he is NOT other children. One tip I do have though is this.....try putting clothespins in his hands.....he will feel like he is still holding on to something but will still be doing it on his own (sort of like training wheels on a bicycle)....it might help. Good Luck!!

P.S.
My son had a rather large head that took some time to grow into as well! ;-)

This is a trick you can try that my grandma swears by- give him 2 round wooden clothespins or wooden dowels to hold, one in each hand)- these feel similar to holding on to mom's fingers- then just walk behind him. The clothespins and your presence make him feel safe, so he'll feel like your helping him, and he'll just take off! LOL I know it sounds crazy, but it's what she said she did with my dad and aunts, and that it worked- who knows! At least it's something to try! ;-)

Your son is just not typical... so what!!! My now 21 year old son didn't crawl until he was 1 year old and didn't walk until he was 19 months old. Dr's had us scared that something was wrong and did all sorts of tests. I thought it was so stupid at the time and was convinced that he would walk when he was good and ready. You know what... he did and is still walking and doing fine. He still does things on his time table. But he was a great kid and is turning out to be a very nice young man. We did what you are doing; worked with him and encouraged him. He'll do it! And be sure to let us know when he does. :)

I didn't read all the other responses, but if the doctor recommends therapy and insurance will pay for it, or you can afford it, go for it. It did wonders for our late walker. For one thing, they can make him work much harder than you can as a parent without damaging your relationship. Also, they have a lot of fun excersizes that really are very hard work and difficult to accomplish without the special equipment. We wished we had had the opportunity for more help once we saw the results of the little bit we did.

Don't worry about it! He will walk soon enough on his own schedule. The longer your baby crawls, he is developing his left and right brain... you will have a smarter baby :)

Don't worry too much about it, my son didn't start walking til he was about 15 1/2 months old. He also didn't crawl until he was almost 10 months old. It drove me nuts because all the other kids his age were ahead of him. I have a good freind whose daughter didn't walk until she was 18 months, so she brought in a therapist and she started walking that day. If he's around other kids and seems to be more interested let him try on his own for a little longer. Once he starts walking you're going to look back at this and it's not going to seem like a big deal at all.

My daughter is 17 months and doing about the same. I did get her into physical therapy even though her doctor didn't think it was necessary. I was told she was just not ready to walk. Well turns out she has low muscle tone that needs some work and am so glad I got her into physical therapy where they can help out. Good luck, I know how many comments and opinions you get from others about kids not walking.

C., Don't fret. My daughter was born with a HUGE head, lol. Bless her little heart. She had to go to Primary childrens every couple of months for a CAT scan to make sure everything was alright. They called it Bengin Extra-axial fluid of infancy. ( I know I misspelled that) She was 8 months old before she rolled over on her own and then it was just he once. When she was 14 months old she still couldn't really get around on her own. To look at her you wouldn't know her head was all that big either. Her mobile development was just slower than others. The thing that did more good for her than anything else was the trampoline we bought when she was around 14 months old. That baby wanted on it so bad!! She wanted to play with her sisters. It started with us just laying her on there and then siting her up. By he end of the summer she could stand and jump (when she was on it alone). Her neck and back mucles strengthened and she could support herself. She is 4 yrs old now and is steadier on her feet than my other three older girls.

Your son will do great. It sounds like he already has a motiating factor and it can only improve with time. Besided my Dr. told me that children that take longer to walk are far more balanced later on than kids that walk early. Having one that walked at 8 months and one that was 1 1/2 before she walked, I can vouch for that. My oldest is a clutz. Ha ha
Good luck.

My little guy just started walking at 18 months (3 weeks ago) I was so frustrated, but the day he started walking, that was it. Now he's running. Something I noticed during the time when all the other babies his age were already walking and he wasn't was that he was developing in other ways. He was talking "baby talk" much more than the others and was very interactive, while other babies seemed disconnected to me. My little guy also has a charlie brown head ... eventually his body will catch up. I guess all-in-all babies really do develop in different ways. Don't worry, he'll walk!

My son didn't start walking until 18 months. Now we wish we could get him to sit down for more than 5 minutes! He'll get there, especially being around other children running around.

I could have written your post verbatim 3 years ago! My DD ended up walking at 17mo on the nose. She decided that day that she wanted to walk, and that was it. She never crawled again.

She's very much a perfectionist and has treated every milestone in the same way. She won't do it until its perfect. HTH!

C.,

I have not read the other responses, but just wanted to tell you that our son did the same thing. He had a HUGE head and did everything late (crawling, sitting, pulling up, etc.) Well, I too at 17 months thought he would never walk on his own.....and since I was pregnant again at that time I was a little scared! Well, he finally started walking on his own a couple days before he was 18 months old. I think your son is probably fine and just has some balance issues because of his head. It just takes a little more time. Be patient and pretty soon you will be chasing him everywhere!