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Not yet standing alone at 18 months

(46 Posts)
faye17 Sun 16-Feb-20 11:58:29

Is it normal for a baby to be not standing / pulling himself up at 18 months?
My beautiful only grandchild has been happy to sit playing with his toys until about 2 months ago when he started 'bumming' around. While this has opened up a whole new world to him I am concerned that he makes no effort to pull himself upright. He has well- informed parents who are always encouraging him. I have him 3 days a week & have everything in place for him to move from sitting to standing. I am very inter-active with him - playing, singing, dancing, reading & take him swimming at least once a week. When the weather is dry we bring him to the park/ playground each morning. He is a very happy little boy who eats well, is very outgoing and has no health issues. I also bring him on a play date with a friend's granddaughter similar age. He goes to creche 2 days a week so is mixing with other children.
I am a firm believer that all children develop at their own pace & I can see that he has quite a laid-back personality however I have 3 friends who have grandbabies the same age & all have been walking for months already so it does make me concerned. Any advice please

Cold Wed 19-Feb-20 14:31:41

Bottom shufflers seem to be notoriously late walkers.

I had a relative that wasn't walking at 22 months - everyone was very concerned - until one day she just stood up and walked across the room.

I had a demon crawler who delayed walking by a few months - because it was too slow! She would stand up and play with toys but then whizz across the room crawling because it was faster

SueDonim Mon 17-Feb-20 12:14:23

Grandma2213 one of my GC was late with her teeth. At 21 months she had a mere six teeth. It didn’t stop her eating. grin Then she developed eight more in just a few weeks and had the full set by the time she was just over two years old! They caused her almost no problems, either.

Callistemon Mon 17-Feb-20 10:41:15

I was a bum shuffler too but I don't know how old I was when I started walking.
Apparently there is a theory that bum shufflers find difficulty later on in learning to read, disproved in my case as I could read before I went to school. Apparently crawling develops bilateral co-ordination and binocular vision.

However, it could explain why I was never good at tap dancing as I found difficulty in co-ordinating legs and arms! Not one of life's essential skills.

Grammaretto Mon 17-Feb-20 08:38:26

My DB was a bum shuffler and developed one strong leg and one weak one and went through many pairs of navyblue girl's pants His big sisters (me) had the job of walking him around which he loved. He must have been over 2 before he walked alone but, like his gt niece, he was mad keen on sport and he played cricket for his university.

NfkDumpling Mon 17-Feb-20 07:50:58

Summer’s coming. Bum shuffling on grass is a lot harder so he’ll have reason to walk. At the moment with bad weather, he’s indoors a lot and doesn’t have any need to get up.

travelsafar Mon 17-Feb-20 07:44:45

Make the most of it, once he is walking the trouble will begin!!! lol. smile

Grammaretto Mon 17-Feb-20 07:32:36

DGD was taken to a paediatrician at 2 as her feet turned in and she wasnt attempting to walk. She was crawling.
The feet turn was because she wasn't standing on them but would develop normally as soon as she was ready. She now plays football competitively.

Grandma2213 Mon 17-Feb-20 01:01:40

It is so true that all babies develop at different rates. It is also true that we worry about them all the time! We had a laugh today when my family were all together. Every temperature, dribble, sniffle etc that my youngest DGS has had since he was 2 months old has been put down to teething. He is 1 year old next week and there is still not a tooth in sight! We decided he would probably wake up one morning with a full set!!

By the way he has been pulling himself up onto his feet since he was 10 months old and still shows no sign of wanting to let go and walk. My oldest DGD didn't walk till about 16 months and then not much. She had no teeth till 13 months either. Some of the others had teeth by 5 months and were walking by 10 months so it's clearly not in the genes!! Every one different!!

Esspee Mon 17-Feb-20 00:41:27

I remember someone asking me if my PFB was a climber. I hadn’t a clue what she meant.
No 2 didn’t much care for walking but my goodness could he climb!
You may have that to look forward to OP. ?

faye17 Sun 16-Feb-20 21:33:32

All very reassuring comments - great bunch of girls all of you, Thankyou for taking the time XX

Treebee Sun 16-Feb-20 21:29:27

Both my DDs sang and chattered early, but DD1 walked at 18 months having sat for 6 months and DD2 was a bottom shuffler, walking at 17 months.
As long as he is developing OK he’ll walk when he’s ready I’m sure.

Rainwashed Sun 16-Feb-20 19:31:03

My daughter, crawled initially but at about 14 months changed to bottom shuffling, and didn’t walk until 23 months !

Purpledaffodil Sun 16-Feb-20 19:11:46

DS 1 was not moving much at all at 10 months. At a social event we went to, another child the same age was running round the room. I felt embarrassed for my “backward” child. Fast forward to adulthood and the running child was a drug dealer. We thought perhaps he needed to practise fast running early on.?
PS DS 1 walked when he was ready, about 17 months. Don’t worry OP.

Missfoodlove Sun 16-Feb-20 18:56:54

Our GD was 22 months before she walked.
Nursery we’re suggesting paediatric intervention as they felt she had a medical condition.
We were all worried sick.
She came to stay with us for a few days, we took her to soft play every day and on day 3 she stood up and walked!!

bikergran Sun 16-Feb-20 18:32:56

Long time ago (hes 50 now) but my brother was almost 3 half 4 before he walked, nothing wrong with him at all..he "bummed" around as you say, he wore all his pants out, mum had to keep patching them up, he could move like speed of lightening.!

We used to try and encourage him by standing him against the wall hands on wall etc but he was like spiderman and just stood there fixated, wouldn't move, he was also late getting out of the pushchair, hated walking but grew up quite normal lol.

Grannyben Sun 16-Feb-20 18:20:21

My grandson, aged nearly 2, was an early walker and he is as bright as a little button. He just can't say a single word. Makes plenty of noises but not one word you can actually understand. They will all get there eventually.

mumofmadboys Sun 16-Feb-20 17:00:30

Boys are lazy! Don't worry. I'm sure he'll walk soon.

Callistemon Sun 16-Feb-20 16:38:39

If he has had all the checks then I wouldn't worry.

My DS was much later than the DD but just got up and walked one day at about 19 months. I think he was just a very laid back and contented child.
However, he did grow up to be very competitive and sporty!

Chestnut Sun 16-Feb-20 15:49:10

I had exactly the same Calendargirl! Children of the same age at her 1st birthday party were walking but not my daughter. She was a crawler so I bought some tough waterproof dungarees so she could crawl around outside. She was 16 months before she walked, and her two boys were also late walkers.

Calendargirl Sun 16-Feb-20 15:35:29

My daughter didn’t walk till 19 months old. Shuffled at great speed on her bottom, wore out the seats of her little dungarees. I was concerned when her peers were running round at a year old, felt a bit ashamed, how idiotic of me!

She walked in her own good time, had forgotten all this until I read this thread.

SueDonim Sun 16-Feb-20 14:36:58

Regarding baby walker, I remember reading an article about babies learning to walk in our culture and in other cultures. In one African culture they dug small ditches in which they could stand the baby and encourage him/her to walk.

The conclusion of their research was that all babies walk within the same age range as every culture , no matter whether walkers are used or ditches dug or any other ‘aids’ used! grin

arthursfam Sun 16-Feb-20 14:30:59

As previous members commented son was walking at nine months, daughter was eighteen months before she decided to go. She was also very reluctant to give up her pushchair, I think she would have been quite happy to go to school on it!

faye17 Sun 16-Feb-20 14:30:39

I'm inclined to think that he will do it when he's ready which is just not now. I myself walked at 11 months & I doubt we had much in the way of aids to get me up & running - it was just my time. Similarly, while I have pull-along, push-along aids for him and I continue to encourage him to enjoy being up on his feet I still think he will quite rightly do it when HE is ready. He has had all his checks & he is a delightful little boy.
I appreciate all your advice & comments- sometimes you just need reassurance that all is well.

Sark Sun 16-Feb-20 14:28:41

Don't worry. Both of mine were late movers and my youngest didn't even move until she was 14 months (!) She then bum shuffled and walked at 23 months.
Both were talkers instead.
Will be fine

faye17 Sun 16-Feb-20 14:18:22

Esspee- yes he does & can support his weight but just seems to prefer not to & so sits back down. He is very strong riding his toy rocking horse with the gusto of a gaucho grin