Need Advice - Oakland Gardens,NY

You should have her evaluated through early intervention and if they find that there is a problem with her the will pay for the services that she needs my daughter is 7 and gets physical therapy. It has worked wonders for her.

First of all, BREATHE....don't jump the gun about anything at the moment. Just because a child isn't walking yet doesn't necessarily mean there's something major going on. My husband didn't walk til he was 18 months and he's a PhD! The next thing is to check her to see if you see any other deficiencies. Is she not meeting her developmental milestones in any other area? The next thing is to talk it over with the pediatrician. The Dr. would be the one to initiate an investigation if he sees a concern. I hope he gave you a reasonable explanation for throwing out those words to you. Has he set up an appointment? Given you a time frame, like if she's not walking by such-and-such a time? Your daughter may just feel a little scared to let go and walk by herself. Spend some time coaxing her to walk to you, taking her by the hands and walking with her, encouraging her to try it on her own. I would say that unless you see delays in other areas I wouldn't worry that much. Children do things on their own time and in their own way. Just be watchful and if you see something that's obviously strange, talk with your doctor. Hopefully he is someone you can discuss things with.
Good luck and don't worry too much. (I know that's hard advice to follow!) :)

Your daughter is walking. Holding on to things is the way it starts. Give her time, I am sure she will get there. Relax and work with her. Hold her hands and walk around the house, practice standing alone. Her legs/balance/confidence may not be ready for the solo journey just yet.

This happened to one of my friend's daughters. She took her to get evaluated and they found she just needed a little physical therapy. She had some weak muscles that were preventing her from being able to walk (but she wasn't even standing at all) and it was no one's fault. Don't be scared. Maybe you should ask your doctor where you can take your daughter to be evaluated. Good luck!

I want to make sure you know that the county you live in will have your child evaluates for free. So if they need physical therapy and qualify for it you will not have to pay anything. Not even a copay. If you live in New York City contact 311 and they will help you get where you need to go. Outside of the city contact your local health department and the will help you. Just tell them you need to have your child tested for physical delays and by law they are required to help.
Please remember they are there to help you and by all means this does not mean there is anything wrong with your child's intelligence. My daughter suffered from ear infections that delayed her speech. She now receives services twice a week. She seems to be a very bright child (of course I am her mom and therefor biased).
Also please note you are going to have to be your child's number one advocate. No one will fight for what they need the way you will!

My son started walking at 20 months. He is now 21 years old and not as sure in his body as his brother who walked at 9 Months (!!) but is doing just fine. My doctor said, at 20 months, we should have him evaluated if he doesn't start walking in another month. He started walking about a week later. The window of "normal" is up to about 22 months, and even if he does need intervention, it is likely to be physical therapy (exercises).
Good luck.

Hi D.,

Like some other responders, my son too walked very late (18 months). He had a neuro exam. Don't worry about the exam. It is simple. The Dr. will check reflexes and ask your child to do a few simple tasks. Most likely it will just be used to rule out certain things. If all is well there, and it most likely is given that your child is "cruising", your child may benefit from some physical and or occupational therapy. I did not have an Early Intervention evaluation (when I called they kind of talked me out of it because it takes a few weeks to get services in place, and the delay was considered minor). The pediatrician gave me a prescription for physical therapy. My son went for about 2.5 months and learned to walk during that time. Like your daughter, he was "poised to walk", he had been cruising for quite a while.

I now regret that I did not get an Early Intervention evaluation because a year and a half later, turns out my son has some minor sensory issues related to body awareness (proprioception), and is still kind of week and clumsy and has just qualfied for both OT and PT through CPSE (like Early Intervention but for over 3s). My point is that you won't regret the Early Evention evalution, and I would urge you to request an Occuptational Therapist (OT) evaluation as well as physical therapy. The OT is more knowlegable about the sensory part of it. Ask questions! The evaluators come to your home with a big bag of toys, my son loved it. Don't be afraid of all this. It is basically an ounce of prevention because if over time your childs body lags behind her cognitive develpoment, she could start to show signs of frustration as my son did.

It's a balance between letting your child develop at her own pace and helping her through some rough spots in order to prevent difficulties down the line.

Try not to be alarmed. If she is walking while holding on things, she's most likely just fine!

All the best,
C.

Don't worry too much. The normal range of waling is up to 18 months old. My daughter did not walk until one week before she turned 20 months and she is fine now at 23 months. My daughter is also very small and looks like a 12 month old. If there are other concerns, maybe you should have an evaluation by early intervention- this is a free service that comes to your house to see if your child really has delays and they can reassure you about her development. You might also want to consider a developmental pediatrician for a consultation. This type of sdoctor specializes in both neurology and assessment of babies and young children for developmental delays. Dont worry too much. My therapists would say to me when I was worried about my daughter not walking that she definitely would walk down the aisle when she got married and noone will care at that point what age she started. Good luck.

my son started walking 2 days before he was 17 months old. He is now 18 months and walks fine.

I got scared, read everything, got even more scared and now... he is doing so well.

Our trick - we bought the little tykes basketball set and played in the house. He would stand there and when the ball would get away - we would walk to get it (I held his hands). After hours and days of this, I started to tell him that I was going to let go of his hands - wanted to give him warning.

This is what did the trick. He is walking and so will your daughter.

Girl be brave and stay strong. It's better to find out now if there is something wrong with the baby. The sooner you find out the earlyer you can do something about it.

My daughter starting walking at 15.5 months and I have friends whose children started walking at 17 months. Chances are your daughter is just a late walker.
My doctor at the time said that they would contact NYC to set up a physical therapist to come to my house to see if they could help my daughters leg muscles if they were not strong enough to allow her to walk.
NYC apparently does this as a free service. I was told about this on a Friday and that following Monday my daughter started walking.
My question is why a neurologist? If it were me I would get a second opinion or see the neurologist to be on the safe side.
Good luck,
C., Mom to 2year old daughter

My advice is to relax. NORMAL range for walking is 10 - 18 months. I was very nervous about my second daughter who was neither walking nor talking at 15 months (my first talked at 10 months and walked at 12). After testing and a great deal of unnecessary anxiety she walked 1 week before she turned 18 months. My doctor calmed me (rather than egged me on). If she is cruising and everything else seems normal, I suggest you hold out for a few more months. And then have her evaluated NOT by a neurologist but by a physical therapist which you should get paid for through Early Intervention. If everything else is normal, you might consider a more relaxed pediatrician! Good luck -- it sounds like you're fine.

My son walked at just before 18 months. Don't assume anything is wrong. Everyone has their own timing. If there are other neurological problems that's different. It may just be that she is cautious and will let go when she is totally ready not to fall.

Good luck.

First of all, don't panic. Get your facts first. Take her to the neurologist but keep in mind....is she always in someone's arms? I had a friend that carried her daughter everywhere as did her father, her grandparents, brothers and didn't give her the chance to walk on her own. She was the only girl in a group of boys and they pampered her and just always picked her up, so by the time they expected her to walk on her own and she wasn't, everyone paniced. Take a deep breath and do what you need to do and get your facts! Remember, mommies are the ones that can handle everything. Good luck!

Dear D.,

My first instinct is to tell you not to worry. I have an almost 1 year old daughter who has been going to physical therapy on a semi-weekly basis since she was 6 weeks old due to a condition called torticollis (shortening of the neck muscles on one side). I cannot tell you how incredibly reassuring it has been to have an expert's insight regarding milestones that need to be hit. One thing she has made clear to us is that parents often seek milestones as an indicator of success, but the reality is, many skills need to be developed to hit these milestones and as long as they are developing these skills, it really is not a major concern when children do not hit the "typical" time frame of a milestone.

Many, many things can contribute to a motor skill delay i.e. size of baby, flexibility, muscle tone, etc. Not knowing what your daughter may or may not be experiencing, I would highly suggest getting an appointment with a physical therapist. They are trained to look for areas that need improvement or problems that may be preventing your daughter from walking on her own. They can give you exercises to help problem areas. A neurologist seems like an absolute last resort and I am surprised the doctor would suggest something like that at this stage. Physical therapists have very specific training that pediatricians do not. Working in combination with both is extremely helpful!

All babies develop at their own pace. I have numerous friends and relatives with children who crawled or walked either early or very late. None of these children have any neurological issues and are all thriving and delightful.

Best of luck to you!

M.

If that is the only concern, your doctor can also refer you to the Early Intervention program in your town/city. They can have a Physical Therapist evaluate your daughter and she may be entitled to services which would be delivered in your home. IN some states its free, in others they determine the cost based on your income. Ask your doctor about this. A neurologist would do an evaluation to test how your child moves, reflexes, etc, nothing invasive or harmful. Also, it sounds like your daughter is on her way to walking, she may just be a little behind. If you want to be on the safe side, get a PT evaluation though. Can't hurt. I work in E.I. so this advice is coming from experience.

I've been through this with both my boys. My 15 months old is currently getting physical therapy because he has low muscle tone. He only moves around holding furniture at this point but he's getting there. The pediatricians always start with a nuerological eval, mostly to rule out the possibility of nuero problems. (b/c if there is a nuero issue the earlier you start intervention the better, time is important) Your next step will be a physical therapist evaluation. If she's already walking holding furniture, she'll walk. I'm like you, I totally freak and it winds up being something completely managable. I hope this helps.

Hey D.,

My daughter is 17 months, and she's just started walking around by herself. She still prefers to hold onto us or the furniture, when I spoke to the dr. at her 15th month check up he said as long as she was crawling really well & getting around good, there really wasn't much to worry about. All babies develop differently, I've met a few moms whose kids didn't really start walking til around 18 months.

Good luck!

R.