Looking for Someone Whose Child Didn't Walk by Age of 2

You are doing a great job getting her evaluated by ECI and Scottish Rite. My son did not walk either, patience is key. Once she has been tested it will be less of a stress factor, because you will know what is going on. My son (DJ) is treated at Scottish Rite, they are wonderful. Since she is developing normally it may be just a matter of confidence and a little bit of physical therapy to strengthen the muscles of her ankle. I am in Lewisville, email me if you have more questions, I have been through it. Blessings

Have you tried using Angel Wings? I have a 19 month old and its not really working for him but that doesn't mean it won't work for you. Let me know if you are not familiar and I will go into detail.

I don't know if this will help but my friends daughter didnt' walk until she was 2 and friend pointed out she might have a Sensory Processing Disorder. I thought kids went at their own pace and come to find out her friend was right. She has been getting therapy and it's made a world of difference.

Our son was 23 months old when he decided to walk now at 44 months you would have no idea there was ever a problem. Sam is a 28 week preemie with a twin sister, but developmental caught up in all areas except walking by 12 months. He was in therapy at Our Children's House and ECI. Our final approach was to ignore that he wasn't walking and just encourage him that he would get places faster if he walked. We wouldn't hold his hands and we wouldn't make his sisters wait on him. He finally figured out that it was too his advantage to walk. Within a month of his first real steps he was running all over the place and in gymnastics. I'm not sure where you live, but another thing that helped with Sam was we enrolled him in a pre gymnastics class for 18 months to 3 year old. It wasn't a Mommy and Me class, but a drop off class. He wanted to go and play with the other kids and had to fend for himself (so to speak). He loved it and gained alot more confidence from this than from either therapy program. I hope I don't sound mean, but with him it was more a power struggle and we just had to ignore it almost and move on to see any progress. If you have any other questions you can email me.

I have totally been there and its kind of frustrating and scary!!!! I had my daughter evaluated by everyone and they said just wait, give her time, but something still didn;t seem right to me (which is where I think you are or you wouldnt be looking for more answers here) I pushed and pushed and had her looked at by a ear doctor, and turns out that she had wax build up ( possibly since birth, or at least could have started there) and under the wax was some fluid. sounds way worse than it is! She got 10 days of benydryl and mineral oil drops in her ears 3 times a day for 2 weeks and she was up and moving like it was no ones business in less than 2 weeks! The mineral oil is over the counter and wont hurt them! just cleans out their ears..... (is also a laxative so if they do end up with some in their mouth than watch for a bad diaper, but still harmless) It is something to try or at least look into! Good Luck and remember, if you think that its not right! it probably isnt! You know whats best for your kids in the end.....

My older son did not walk until 24 months--he has low muscle tone. You can tell if your child has this if they sit in a 'w' when they are on the floor--they put their butt straight on the floor an their legs make a 'w'. We did eci too but I have to say it did not help much :( we just had to wait til his muscles were ready.
Good luck--she will walk!

My 1st daughter didn't walk until she was almost two. It wasn't because she couldn't, she just didn't want to. She took her first steps on Mother's day and everyone got so excited, I think it scared her. We asked the doctor and he said there was nothing wrong with her physically and that she would walk when she was ready. We didn't push her and when the pressure was off, she got up and walked. I wouldn't worry, if the doctors say there is nothing wrong physically, then just be patient. She may be scared from hurting her ankle, my advice is to just give her time.

I am a pediatric nurse and wanted to say that... remember that a child develops from head to tail....meaning that they will not walk until the area that controls the legs is developed. My son did the same thing...walking as long as he held a finger and one day he let go. He was 17 months. Not every child walks at 12 months (like some may think). Each child is different.

Using ECI and Scottish Rite is good...what have they said? They are the ones that make a diagnosis and may be able to help you with therapy. Good luck.

My son, Jason, did not walk independently until two weeks after his second birthday. He didn't walk dependently until he was 22 months - and to say I was FREAKING out was not the half of it. Cole had been walking all alone by 15 months.. between 18 months and when he finally started walking DEPENDENTLY we saw a neurologist, an ent, an orthopedist - and of course we saw ECI. Everyone told me that they could find no reason he wasn't walking - so we just stuck with ECI.

Long story short - he turned two in January and, although he's still kind of weak on his feet - he falls easily - he runs everywhere now, and he's getting steadier all of the time.

FWIW, I was like your daughter - I didn't walk independently until I was 3. My family started using clothes pins for me to hold in place of their fingers.. they started out holding it in their hand and once I grabbed it and went a few steps, they let go and just kept walking by me.

S.

ETA - I forgot, I took him to a chiropractor too.. that we still do regularly.

Just a thought. Maybe she needs the security of something in her hand. I have seen young ones that wouldn't walk if they couldn't hold onto a hand, but then we tried just putting something in the hand that was used to hold, and the child walked fine.

My daughter has a very low pain threshold. In other words, she hurts more than most kids hurt with the same injury. It showed up as a toddler when she tried to walk and would land on her rearend. She would cry and cry. At 16 months, she would not walk. I was pregnant with my 3rd, and had one 10 mos. older than she was. I had to make her walk. Once she became more accomplished and didn't land on her rearend, she quit crying to have me carry her everywhere. Years later she tried to learn to ski. You can guess the outcome. She didn't like landing on that royal rear anymore then than she did as a toddler! She doesn't ski.

My 4 1/2 y-o D didn't walk until about 26 months. She has hypotonia, also known as low muscle tone. After almost a year of therapy, her ECI therapist (who was otherwise horrible) brought a walker to her on the day before her 2nd birthday. Serena pulled up and immediately started walking loops around my kitchen/den. She had never walked independently before, and the look on her face was beautiful. I cried. Ask your therapist about a walker (looks just like an old-lady walker, just much smaller). It gave my Serena so much confidence, which allowed her to build the muscle tone she needed to walk unassisted. She ditched the walker 2 months later.

Her hypotonia also affected her speech, since her cheek muscles were weak. Her ECI speech therapist was great with her, and, when she aged out, she didn't qualify for any special services in the school district!

Serena's neurologist advised us to keep her in sports and anything active, to keep her muscles challenged. Now, the only sign of this disability is an adorable crooked gait when she runs!

Here's something for you: no one expects you to do this alone. I was blessed to meet another ECI mom just after we started. Our children had very different problems, but we were able to cheer each others' successes and cry together on the harder days. I would be happy to listen to you. God challenges us so that we can understand the challenges of others. You are not alone. I'm glad you reached out.

Also, I went through a strange type of withdrawal when Serena started walking without the walker. Suddenly, after 2 years of health problems and sympathy and attention from total strangers, my daughter looked "normal," and I felt like a part of me wasn't needed anymore. It was very strange and quite selfish of me, but I'm guessing rather normal. I think that most moms go through this when their kids leave home, and they aren't needed as much anymore. I felt like that on a smaller scale.

Okay, I'm now just baring my soul to a complete stranger! :) I hope at least some of my true confessions helped you out.

N.

Have you tried a chiropractor? She may have some misalignment that is throwing her off balance or causing her to be more careful by holding your hand.

My daughter was raised in a Russian orphanage until age 7. She laid in a crib with 3 other babies with no stimulation and didn't walk until she was 3 1/2. She is now 12 and doing great! My point is this, as long as your child is walking with your help and is getting lots of stimulation from you - she will ultimately be fine. Enjoy the opportunity you have to interact with her in this way while she is little. Kids develop at different rates. Don't let this anxiety take away your joy. Consult your doctor and make sure there is no physical issue, but after that, thank God for this precious gift of a daughter and hold her little hands as long as she needs you to. Too soon she won't need you as much and you will long for these days again. Blessings to you and yours!

Well I haven't been there yet but I'm fairly sure I will be there. My son is 16 months old and just started crawling 2 weeks ago. He does have Down's Syndrome so that explains it for a lot of people but he's not delayed in anything else really. He has a few words, feeds himself we are still working on a spoon, understands simple directions, claps, waves, blows kisses. So other than not walking even though he does have down's he is basically typically developing.

Also if it helps at all I didn't walk until I was 23 mos old and I never crawled either. My family says I would roll form room to room, they took me to all sorts of drs and in the end I walked and I'm fairly normal now lol college degree, married and a beautiful baby boy,
hth

My daughter did not walk until 20 months. I didn't worry too much, but did have that 'what if' thought in the back of my mind. If you have seen doctors, then I would not worry. My baby started walking 2 days after we took her to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, who said she was fine in all areas of her expertise. The office is called Varsity, and it is in the H.E.B. area, and the wonderful doctors name is Christina Quatro.

G.,

Have you ever taken her to a chiropractor? If there is something going on with her pelvis or spine it could delay walking. Also, if the top vertebrae is out in her neck it could cause some issues with balance. Some kids do take a little longer to start walking, but it's worth getting it checked out. If you have any questions, you can give me a call at ###-###-####. Thanks! Dr. Sandra S.

I had a class of 3-year olds ... one child was walking awkwardly by herself at 3. She had just turned 3 in August, just started school, and was a preemie at birth. She still crawled up steps and often wanted to "holdon" to walk. I made no real fuss about it. She was a bright, happy child. After a few weeks, one of the girls from the class went to her when we were going up steps. "You can do this," she said, and hold her hand. "Just stand up and walk with me." And she did! Every new physical challenge was an adventure ... the climbing tower, etc. When she climbed up, I helped her climb down ... but I didn't take her down ... I stood behind her and helped her move her feet one at a time and climb down by herself. Took at least 10 minutes to get her down! "I want to climb now," she would say, and I would go to the tower with her and stay close. And then one day she tackled it on her own. All of us cheered when she had learned to pedal the tricycle!

Your daughter may have ear problems that affect balance. The student in my class needed to learn how to do physical things one move at a time ... working with her was almost like programming or choreographing. But she learned, and by the end of the year, she was sailing along on her own and had an occasional skinned knee to prove it!

Good luck and Blessings from Grandma Gigi

My child doesn't have this problem, but I go to an incredible chiropractor/accupunturist/alternative doctor in Arlington. I also take my four year old and new baby. I have a very long story, but the end result was she recognized and fixed my problems when all the medical doctors and other chiropractors told me there was nothing wrong with me and tried to shove drugs at me even though I had all the blood and lab test to prove what was wrong.

I realize most people are unwilling to accept alternative medical treatment. I like them because alternative doctors look at the whole body instead of one particular issue. Most important, no drugs or invasive procedures which is very important to me when someone is treating my children.

If you are interested and open to anything that might help, her name is Dr. Kathleen Maher. Her phone number is ###-###-#### and her website is http://healthbyhandswellness.com/

The number is not long distance and she will talk to you over the phone.

If you have any questions for me, you can call me at ###-###-####.

Good luck with your daughter,
S. W.

Does she like baby dolls? Why not get some type of sturdy stroller she could put her dolls in and push ?? Mine are 15 yrs... but Little Tykes had a heavy plastic one that wasn't too flimsy. Or maybe if you have an umbrella stroller..get her to put her dolls or toys when it's clean up time, to push them to another room. Moms have to constantly be inventive. What works this month, may not next week. Lots of reverse pyschology. Good Luck.

S.

Hi G., my name is Cynthia and my daughter was well over two when she began to walk and that was only after we took her to the Doctor and found out that she was very very very near sighted. When she walked or atempted to walk, the ground seemed too far away from her feet, so she was afraid of the ground, grass, stairs and climbing up on anything. Maybe you should get your daughters eyes checked, there may be a problem with her sight causing her not to trust the ground she should walk on.

My son is only 14 months, but he has had some physical delays- he didn't start crawling until recently, and didn't sit up on his own at all unitl he was 10 months old.

I have heard some bad things about ECI (not being helpful, not meeting regularly with the child, missing lots of appointments- which doesn't help- they need consistency). Our pedi recommended Therapy 2000. If your insurance accepts them (and they accept a lot of insurances, including Medicade)- I would recomend them. As soon as my son started, he improved immediately- he started at 9 months, was sitting my 10, started army crawling by 11, and now both crawling and "crusing- walking on the side of the sofa and with us holding his hands".

I hope this helps.

Hello G.,
I had a foster child that did not walk well or talk. He was 2 1/2. We worked with ECI 3 days a week. Nothing seemed to really help. James would try to tell us what he wanted without using words. So his speech thearaipest started teaching him sign language. This helped him so much. He started saying the words along with the sign. All in a matter of a few weeks. It was wonderful. The ECI workers have books and DVDs that will help you learn the signs with her. It really helped us. Good luck to you and God Bless.

Dear G.,
my son is very careful and only started walking when he was 18 months old. He only walked if somebody would take his hand.
Several weeks later he was confident enough and took off by himself in a store for the first time ! I personally think it just takes time.
Don't worry too much. After all she is walking, she probably just needs more confidence. If you don't make a big deal out of it, she won't either and things will go their way...

My son did the same thing (he is now 15). He would walk if he could hold on to something a finger or a toy. We ended up giving him a shopping cart that if any weight was put on it for support would tip and have him walk behind it (he would walk all the way around the block with it). With the shopping cart I then knew he was able to balance and walk with out it because other wise it would have tipped over.That was all that he needed for the longest time just to hold on to something. I am not sure what finally got him to walk with out it other than his younger sister started walking he walked one day later with out the cart.

I have not been there, but know someone who has. She was only confident in holding someones hands, but they soon relised that as long as they gave her something to hold she would walk. It was a balance issue. She was using there hands to keep balanced, so they gave her a toy to hold, and she started walking. Many children develop differently, she just might be scared to hurt herself and is using you no offence as a safty net. (sometimes we just have to let go). I had a friend whose son fell off the second floor balcony, and landed on his feet. (they took him to the hospital, and he was uninjured, except for soreness. There son was 2years old. Well he quit walking for two weeks, because he was afraid of hurting himself again, and plus the parents bless their hearts carried him everywhere. Soon they had to relise that in order for him to walk again, they had to let go, and not stop babying him, but to stop taking the opportunity away from him. He started walking within the third week.

Good luck, and just remember, your child is an individual and every child will develop at their own pace, so it just could be that she is just not ready to walk.

T.

Dear G.,

My husband and I had a foster baby (we have adopted her) who was born with a club foot and a lot of other genetic problems. Her ECI physical therapist said she probably wouldn't walk until she was 3 or 4 years old. When she was a little over 2 years old, he got a "J Walker" (I think that's the name) for her. It looks like an "old person's" walker - metal frame with three sides, but the child backs into the walker, so the walker is not in front of them, but actually behind and beside them. She immediately began walking everywhere (grass, carpet, concrete, wood floors, etc.) with confidence in that thing! She had never taken a step by herself before this. She used the J Walker less than 3 months before she began walking all by herself (I start to cry everytime I remember this!). Ask your doctor or ECI therapist about one of these little walkers. My daughter's came up to her waist - it was so tiny. God bless you for advocating for your daughter and good luck. I will keep you in my prayers. --M. G

Is she otherwise developing normally, including babbling or using words? Does she follow you when you walk past, and does she engage with you and others? Does she imitate? I would say to just give her some time and stick with what you're doing if she's okay in these other areas.

My son was a very early walker/runner - He was tearing through the house at 10.5 months, bruised from head-to-toe from crashing into things. However, he wasn't very verbal and had a lot of problems (following his MMR at 12 months, but that's another story...) that led us to ECI by the time he was 15 months old. We eventually wound up at Easter Seals when he aged out of ECI at age 3, and they were WONDERFUL. They had him back on track with his speech in 6 months.

Our daughters talked very early, but they were much slower to get moving. My oldest daughter didn't bother pulling up and cruising until 17 months, and she was right around 2 when she began letting go of my hand and walking on her own. I think both of them were so focused on speech that they were slower in walking.