18Mo Not Walking Yet but Close, Already Gets PT

Hey K., just letting you know that my niece did not walk till she was 18.5 months. My sister was a wreck!! She had her screened and everything -- just a late walker!! it happens sometimes. L. C.

My son was a preemie and also got EI from 6 months on and di dnot get on his knees until 14 months and did not walk until 19 months..it happens (you are safe right now from too much baby proofing! lol) BUT he also has flat turned in feet (he inherited them from me) and has need SMOS to help him walk stright when he did start wlaking..
Keep this inmind to see if she needs shoe inserts Once She Starts Walking, as if when she starts to run and she is never running a stright line, this will help her so much!
Flat feet cause balance problems..which we have been working on with SMOS and PT for 3 years now.
SMOS=supra-malleor orthosis

My daughter was 13 months when she took her first independent steps, and I learned at that time that that was average! which suprised me, since I knew so many wiry little guys running around at 9 months. So, figure in how many little ones are on their feet before one year of age, and somebody's got to take her time getting to that stage, right? It sounds like she's doing everything else appropriately, so try not to worry.
For the practical part of my advice, try some high-rise supportive shoes - I didn't have much money, but invested in Stride-Rites, I think they were called, because my girl had weak feet and ankles, too, and as soon as she had these shoes, she walked 26 steps on her first attempt.
Good luck with your daughter, and those tiny newcomers you take care of, too.
N. P.

Hey there - I was a late walker - 17 months according to my mom. Both of my DDs were late, at about 16 months each. None of us had any developmental issues along the way but just weren't particularly interested in walking. We're all doing fine (I've got a graduate degree - obviously there were no long term effects as far as intellect goes in my case!). My son is just learning to crawl at ten and a half months and I strongly doubt that he'll walk before the new year. I can't tell you what to do - all kids are different, but can tell you to remember that you know her better than anyone else does. She'll get there - probably sooner than you think! Then you'll really be pulling your hair out!!! LOL!!!

Dear K.,
My son was a very late walk and he had weak ankles and very flat feet too. When he first started walking they put Cookies (arch supports) in his shoes and then after a year SMO's (plastic ankle braces) because the cookies weren't enough but he has low tone and is loose jointed. I would recommend seeing a doctor of orthopedics. Dr. Melkonian from Childrens Hospital in Waltham is great. It's good to get her observed because when she does start walking independently they can monitor her ankles. You want to make sure she gets the right support if they feel she needs it at her ankles otherwise her knees, hips and spine can be affected trying to compensate for what her ankles are not doing correctly. If she's taking steps with her hand held she is well on her way to walking. Seeing eye doctor is a good idea as well. That helped my son tremendously as did the braces. She'll be fine with a few dr's eyes on her making sure she's ok. Good luck.

Hello K.,
I had a friend with a similar scenario. In their case they found out their daughter had a vision impairment. They figured that was why she never moved past cruising. Once they got her glasses she was off.
Good luck.

Hi K.,

This sounds very much like my daughter. She did everything late and didn't walk or really talk too much until she turned 2. She was also very bright though just like your daughter. She started early invention at 18 mos for PT, OT and speech. We actually did quite a bit of testing on her just to rule out any issues. Most of it was done around age 2 - 2 1/2. We had her vision tested, because the PT thought she saw a depth perception problem. She was seen by an orthopedic surgeon who looked for any muscular problems and she saw a neurologist who suggested an mri. The bottom line to everything was a diagnosis of motor dyspraxia which in simple terms means her mind knows what it wants to do, but he muscles don't always follow suit. She's in 3rd grade now and was just dismissed from PT. She is still pretty uncoordinated, but it doesn't impact her daily life at school. The neurologist basically said she'd probably never be that great at team sports, but to get her involved in something more individual, like dance, gymnastics, karate. The doctor also stated that her handwriting would probably never be real great, which turned out to be true. This all might not be the case with your daughter, but either way I wouldn't fear any testing. I know it made us feel better to be able to rule out any serious cause for her delays. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Your daughter seems rreally advanced if sheknows her letters, colors, and names of animals. My boss' daughter was like that and didn't walk until she was 18 months. They took her for testing(she started walking at the doctors) and everything was fine. You can always call the doctor and get a referal to give you peace of mind.

My middle son walked late and if i remember back then it was the month after he turned 2...He was serviced by the early connections program with dmr at the time

Do you have inserts in your daughters shoes?????..what was explained to me at the time was that the foot impairment affects the whole body.....

I can not say enough about early intervention..do not put anything off that might in the long run benefit your child.
The earlier the supports are put in place the better for the child and sometimes thats all what they need..is a little help to get them started

good luck to you

Oh dear K., it seems if we dont have things to worry about we think some up, yes? hehehe
Please dont worry about your little girl. That being said, if your ped feels she should have neuro eval, then perhaps you should consider it.
I have seven children. My latest walker was nearly 16 months old, the earliest could RUN across a room when he was four months old.( His ped is still astonished 34 years later) It was more from nerves than from ability to walk. He started walking properly at about seven and half months.
At church a doctor and his wife have three sons. Not one of the three walked until two and a half and one at three. He did not seem overly concerned. The boys are very bright and had many accomplishments prior to walking.
Tincture of time sweetie, if neuro is fine, then sigh and have a cup of tea. Your sweet girl will walk when she is ready to.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

Hi K.,
My youngest will be 20 months tomorrow and he only started walking at the end of July. He was also not reaching his milestones and had early intervention for 6 months. It sounds like your daughter is extremely intelligent for her age already knowing what she knows and talking 20 words. I guess it couldn't hurt to have her screened, if like you said you will worry either way. Let them put your mind at ease and tell you that she will be fine. My son caught up so quickly and started talking and walking non stop. It is better to know early on if something is wrong but my feeling is she will probably just do it on her own time table.
Good luck.
V. D.

Hi Kat,

As a nurse you know that a child can be intelligent and have other issues that may not be apparent. The docter is trained, as you are, has tools he can use to find out the source of any problem. This test is the first offered and probable the one that will help locate or illiminate the cause. I would go back to the docter and get that test done. You must know that the sooner a solution is found, the better it will be for your child. Early diagnosis avoids futur complications.

I must add that getting the test done will ease your mind and if there is nothing wrong you will know it for sure and just let her develope at her own pace.

From a Great-grandmother lol

K. D.

I work with lots of little ones and the latest I have seen is 22 months. He was screened for Early Intervention and he had no problems. If you or your husband were late walkers, then this may be a reason why your daughter is late.

I agree with Crystal. Both my kids walked at 15-1/2 months old. The first child, the doctor was concerned and we purchased her special shoes as her feet turned in just a little. With my son, I let it go and he too walked at 15-1/2 months also. I was also told by a doctor, the later they crawl the better readers they are and that seems to be true with both children.

Also I had a nephew who didn't talk until he was almost 2-years old. His hearing was checked and the doctor told mom, he will talk when he is ready and then you will want him to quiet down and low and behold the doctor was right. Once he started talking, you couldn't shut him up. :)

So the shoes may help, but one day, your little one is going to turn loose and surprise you.

LOL

K.,
I know how easy it is to worry. My daughter was a month premature, and was born with a med/lg VSD. She had failure to thrive after a dbl hernia surgery at 3 mos. She too was not walking at 18 months, sure cruising, just not letting go. She too loved to be read to, counting, abc's, etc. She had other things she was focusing her attention on at the time. Not long after she got up and walked across the room (before she was 20 mos) Each child gets to the same destination, they just do it in their own time schedule. If the PT isn't concerned I would give it a bit longer. If she's still not walking at 2 they I would look for other reasons. BTW my girl is now 16, healthy, strong and smart from all that reading.
Best of luck.
D. C
Mom of 4: G16, B14, B11 & B8

I would listen to the PT who is currently working with your daughter. Both my boys were late walkers, 23 and 21 months, and worked with EI. Now they never stay still. Be patient and provide lots of opportunities for her to try. With our oldest we worked on walking side by side with one hand and suddenly one day he just let go and kept walking. You probably will find that her fine motor are more advance than her gross motor for now. It will balance out during preschool. Have fun and enjoy your daughter's adventures in mobility.

Don't torture yourself. Being that I am a pediatric PT, I would tend to trust in your PT. As your daughter is making progress. We had several kids in our family, cousins, who did not walk until they were almost 2. Evaluations were done, services rendered and now all is well and they are in their 20's and 30's. I've seen lots of kids who walked later, if they can get around and get what they want, where is the purpose in starting to walk? I would suggest, as was mentioned above, since you say your daughter's ankles are weak and her feet are flat (which is pronation) that you ask your PT about orthotics if you don't already have them.. They can provide support as well as protection against twisted ankles. As far as a neuro visit, I would go with the flow until she's 2 and then rethink it if she's still not walking. Try not to worry too much, I know that's so hard as a Mom, but all our little ones are different and unique. Just follow up with programs your PT gives you and know you are doing your best for your daughter!

You know your child better than the doctor. If you want to give it more time, then do so. You don't have to wait until the 2yr mark if she doesn't progress to where you want her to soon. Maybe give it another month and see the progress. If it's not where you think it should be, then call your doctor. Try placing her favorite toy on the other side of the room and help her walk to it. Start by holding her hand then letting go to see if she figures it out on her own. This happened to my boss' son. He didn't walk until 18mos and the doctors began to worry. Come to find out, all the older kids at daycare would get his toys for him. Once my bos spoke to her daycare and asked them to let her son get it on his own, he began to walk and went from there. Good luck.

Please don't feel bad. I have three children and my youngest just started walking...at 22 months! He receives EI also. He was cruising, climbing, etc., but just wouldn't walk. He got around on his knees. We were sent to see an orthopedist, a neurologist and they all said that nothing is wrong with him...he'll just walk when he wants to. The more everyone pressured him to walk (some people just don't understand!) the more resistant he became. He just started walking last month and he is doing great. After 3 children I have learned that they are all so different and do things at their own pace. Good luck!

I think its strange that when a child doesn't talk before age 2 there is no concern, but if they aren't walking, its such a big deal. I say wait!!! Your daughter sounds like mine with her vocabulary. By my daughters 2nd birthday she knew all her shapes, could just about count to 20 could form 2 & 3 word sentences and identify all her shapes, including hard ones like crescent. she walked around 13 months. I have a friend who's daughter was full walking at 9 months but did nothing but babble until she was past her 2nd birthday. Your daughter is getting around and is mobile......it will be only a matter of time before she is walking, and if by her 2nd birthday, she still isn't walking, then seek out additional help....but I think let it go for now. Does she have toys that let her walk around the room while holding them?

My son was 17 months old and still not walking. However like your daughter was very close! He would walk with one of those little walker toys, holding your hands, cruise the furinture, crawling very fast, standing no problem without holding on from time to time & yet still would not walk alone. I was getting very nervous & called Early Intervention as well. But 9 days before he turned 18 months & 2 weeks before EI was to come out he started walking all by himself out of the blue. He took about 5 steps unassited before "crashing" into the couch. Got up again & took 3 more steps and since then he has not stopped! He had a great vocabulary & was actually ahead of most kids his age in every area too except for the walking. So I would suggest you relax & try not to worry if she is not walking on her own within the next few weeks then why not have EI come out & try to find out why. But I would not worry she will walk on her own when you least expect it!
Keep us posted, okay! Good luck.

I personally would not ignore a suggestion made by a NP or PCP to have your daughter screened or evaluated by a neurologist. The best thing that can happen is that you have confirmation that your daughter is on track, or on the flip side, that you discover something that you can assist with EARLY. I'm sure since you say she is bright and is learning, etc. that she's doing well, but why not take the advice? I personally know that when I give a "suggestion" it's for a reason - and I usually can't TELL the parent what to do... I think if anything, I'd do it for peace of mind. A neurologist can also give valuable information such as how a child learns best. Who wouldn't want to know that!? I'm sure she'll be walking soon!! Good luck! P.S. All kids are different, but many children have more like 50 words by the age of 18/19 months and increase those words by about 10 per day, and should be stringing 2 or more together at this point also. I wouldn't consider her a late talker by any means, but just so you know the developmental milestone average of speech/language.... I wanted you to know!

I would say go ahead and get her evaluated if that will ease your mind. She does seem to be very precocious intellectually, though, so I doubt anything is wrong. One of my nephews was at least 18 months when he learned to walk, probably older, but he could ride a bike without training wheels before his third birthday!

Hi there.
I was 18 months when I learned to walk.
Since then, I have earned a Masters degree in Music and mothered 2 kids.
If I were you, I would go for the neurological exam at her 2 year mark for peace of mind.
In the meantime, enjoy the EI specialists, whom I love and respect, and of course, your perfect daughter.

Hi K.,

My daughter had a traumatic birth and then seizures and a NICU stay here in Vermont. We visisted a neurologist when she was an infant and we basically left not knowing exactly what was in store for us and our girl. At a year she was not yet crawling, that happened two weeks later. Then at 18 mos she was still not walking and I became more concerened. Of course we had the birth history so we had some notion that something might come up for her. We took her to a pediatrician who specialized in development. That was offered to me by our doctor. He did a very thorough evaluation and we walked away with a diagnosis of mild cerebral palsy (Low muscle Tone). Like your daughter, our daughter was and is very bright. She is now a first grader and doing really well.

Anyway, all this by way of saying that a nuerologist is one way to look into this but there are also others. And I think you are right that your daughter will hit her walking milestone soon. My daughter started walking at 21 months. Also I want to share that looking into the delay further was scary but in the long run it really gave us the information and tools to really support her development.

Today my daughter still struggles with coordination and balance and she will never be a star althlete but she pushes through.

I hope this helps!

Hope this helps