L will be 16 months in two days, and she is still not walking on her own. Most of the time, I do not worry about this, but every so often I read here or there about what milestones kids are supposed to achieve when, and I get alarmed. Everywhere it’s something different. Some places say they should stand by 14 months and walk by 15 months. Others say they should walk by 18 months. Still others say they should walk by 16 months.
The thing is, I don’t need L to be a superstar athlete or to be the first baby on the block to meet a milestone. However, I can’t help but be alarmed when she is in danger of falling outside the “normal” range. I can’t help but ask whether something is wrong.
L rolled over at one week old and continued to roll occasionally from then on. She was never all that into it and never rolled as a means of transportation like some babies do. She was able to sit up on her own right at six months. This is average. At 8 months, she was started crawling. This is also right at average. She was rather late to pull herself to a stand; I’m not sure what average for this is, but she didn’t start doing that until she was older than 10 months, which I think is rather old. However, the walking is the first gross motor milestone that has just been very late. I think 11 or 12 months is normal for walking, but I’m not sure. Apparently 90% of babies walk by 15 months old.
I apparently did not walk until I was around 15 months old. B walked at 13 months, but his brother apparently didn’t walk until 17 months. His brother, however, had an eye problem which interfered with his ability to judge distance.
Not only is L not walking, she will also not stand unassisted. We have, of course, been talking to her pediatrician, and we’re supposed to bring her in in a few weeks for a “developmental evaluation.” *sigh* All of my relatives and my husband tell me not to worry, but it seems to me to be very rational to worry when your child is not progressing “normally.” It is very frustrating to be told repeatedly that my concern is completely unjustified.
L will walk these days holding our hand. She does rely on the hand but not heavily. This is a step from walking holding both our hands. One night I simply refused to hold both her hands. She threw a fit but eventually I won the battle of wills and she has been walking holding one hand ever since. However, she flat out refuses to even consider attempting to stand or walk on her own. In general, she’s more content than most babies to simply sit still and observe.
L is definitely not not walking due to lack of practice. She probably walks a mile or more holding our hand on an average day.
I don’t remember this, but I’m told that my sister started walking, then noticed that my brother (her twin) wasn’t walking yet, and stopped walking (for weeks) until he did it too. Point being that I’m sure she is fine, as frustrating as that may be to hear yet again from someone else. 🙂
If she can walk barely holding onto your hand, then there’s obviously no balance issue. She probably just hasn’t decided she’s ready yet!
My friend’s daughter pulled herself up and was ‘walking’ rather early…as long as she had a hand to hold, or something to balance along, like a chair or the wall or anything. She refused to walk without holding onto anything for a very, very long time, until she was very steady on her feet. When she did walk sans handhold, she hardly fell at all because she was so steady.
I’d probably also be worried, because I’m like that. You should do what my colleague did and start tempting her by putting a thing she wants just beyond her reach. This was with his second kid and it was a game he and his first kid played. Apparently it worked!