Not Walking Yet & Beach Time

A

Aava.Wong

Registered User
my bub turned 14 months old recently and we're a bit worried (ok, hubby's more worried) that he's not walking yet. he weighs 12 kilos and is taller for his age. he stood up by himself twice and after that, we haven't seen him standing up unassisted. he grabs the sofa, furnitures, beds, etc. and walks around the rooms though. think he's not confident enough to stand/walk unassisted. i know that many kids walk later or earlier than other kids so i told my hubby NOT to force him to walk. we bought him a walker and also a musical activity walker but he shows no interest......i want to wait and see how he does in 2-3 months but hubby thinks we have to see a specialist asap. what do you mummies think? any input very much appreciated!

regarding beach time, how do you handle a crawler on the beach? i think it's too hot to take him out to the beach so i want to wait till next summer when he turns 2 BUT if you do take your crawling babies to the beach, what are the essential tips?

cheers!
 
I always heard that it's no cause for concern unless they're not walking by 18 months or something like that. Plenty of babies aren't walking at 14 months. Just wait and see. You can keep encouraging him by letting him hold onto your fingers and walking with him and things like that, or letting him play with other kids who are walking already etc... but don't worry about it unless it's a few more months.

I took my daughter to the beach before she was walking (about 7 months old) and just let her sit/crawl. The main thing is just be careful to not let them get sand in their eyes. Their hands will get sandy, just don't let them rub their eyes with the sand. Sand everywhere else is fine though. And naturally, watch them near the water too :)
 
my daughter didn't start crawling till 16mths and walking till 21mths. we took her to the OT at 18mts and learnt some tricks to help her - for her, her feet were on the small side and she was also quite heavy (22-25lbs) with a BIG head, physically it was hard for her to balance. to make matters worse she didn't have any confidence....believe it or not but since she's been walking / crawling she's never once fallen and caused any sort of injury - scratch, bruise, etc. my daughter is very stiff and doesn't bend her knees (just started bending them more at 23mths) but she is also very flexible...so that is why the diagnosis was her lack in confidence. i also bought her a walker, she would sit in it for a whole hour without moving / crying or anything, then i bought her this toy that you can sit on and play like a car or have the seat pulled up so that you can walk around with it...at least practice walking around with it (I bought one that had music when you touched the nose cause my daughter likes music and so she REALLY like the toy - got it at bumps to babes). she basically played that more a whole 2 months we took it to the playground, to the playrooms, to our relatives place so she would play with it ALL THE TIME - luckily it was her favorite toy, and so she got to practice walking as she developed confidence she let go of one hand and then two. she didn't start cruising along furniture till 19mths - she loves food, so we used alot of that to get her to walk...what does your son like? do baby steps and be patient...I wouldn't worry too much for now it will happen - is your son bow legged? that could make walking more challenging. if you do end up going to the OT, you'd probably only need a couple sessions and then after you learn the tricks you just need to practice at home with him daily to get him confident. try not to show too much anxiety too - it's hard, I was there and I REALLY REALLY wanted my daughter to walk...21mts is WAY TOO LATE! But now, she's walking non-stop so no need to worry too much.

as for the beach, i'd agree with nicolejoy it's fun for them to experience different surfaces just becareful the sand doesn't get into the eyes!

Good luck with your son!
 
My son started to walk when he was 18 months old. He was a premature baby but that would have made his age 15months (corrected). I would not stress too much about it. Just encourage a lot of floor play time and make sure that if you have a helper (if you are working) that she is not carrying him around during the day too much. Once he starts he will quickly get the hang of it and wont be long before he is running away from you!
 
I have seen quite a number of children who didn't walk until 17-18 months. It is not normal, and only on the late side. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to be taking a 14 month old to a specialist, it would just be a waste of $.
 
My daughter sees a physiotherapist on a regular basis (for other reasons) and she was telling me that many local parents take their childern to see her if their kids aren't walking by 10 months! He'll walk when he's ready, he's showing all the right signs, one day he'll just get up and go nd there'll be no stopping him.
 
thanks mummys! that's what i've told my hubby 100000 times - "he'll walk when he's ready!" but he cant stop complaining about it and keeps on comparing how his cousin's baby walked when she was 10 months old and his nephew walked by his first birthday blah blah blah.

he's worried that there might be something wrong with him but i don't think so as he's a happy and healthy baby and all other areas are showing progress. hubby kind of forces him into walking even when bub puts his feet up from the ground and i tell him to stop forcing him and he tells me that he needs to be forced.......anyway, i'm going to stop moaning on here. there's a culture clash so i have to deal with it on my own.

thanks for reading!
 
Poor you, if it helps I don't think your DH can be doing any harm - bottom line is that you can't make babies make developmental leaps they aren't ready to make.

I think early walking runs in families, he either has those genes or he doesn't. And at the end of the day what benefit do early walkers have, they all walk eventually, it's not like it'll be on his CV "walked at 10 months" ;-)

Would it help to remind your DH of the things your bub can do that other babies can't at that age, that way he has something else to be proud of/talk about. Talking, empathy, emotions, behaviour, playing in certain way... I'm sure there's something that he's doing that his relatives babies didn't do. It's not good to encourage this sort of competitiveness but if it's there anyway and it helps to take the focus off the walking...
 
I wouldn't worry about it at all - your bub will walk when he wants to walk! Let your husband know that every baby is different and reaches developmental milestones at different times! For example, though my son started walking when he was one - he only has a three word vocabulary up to today and he is already 17 months old! And the three words all start with "b" and kind of all sound the same.....so my bub happened to be quicker in walking and slower in talking. We're not concerned yet - I would give it another few months before you take him to any specialists.
 
agree with that has been said above in terms of physical development. My son walked right at 12 months and is now just speaking at 32 months which is on the late side. I was worried about him speaking verbally, but as many have said, they will do it when they are ready. There's not need to panic about it.

We took our son to the beach a bunch of times as a crawler and yes, the most important thing is that they don't eat the sand or get it in their eyes. I used to also put him down towards the wetter/harder sand to crawl on since there was less of a chance of him picking up the sand, then rubbing his eyes or tasting it. It was also easier for him to crawl about since the sand is packed tighter.
 
thanks! i am ok with it but my hubby isn't and i've told him lots of times that he will walk when he's ready but still....time to buy some ear plugs! :tongue:
 
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