I have an 18 month child who only stand and walks when supported

Catherine - posted on 04/02/2011

I had a little girl who didn't walk until 22 months. Her hips were out. Take your kid to a good child chiropractor.

Erica - posted on 03/22/2011

DONT WORRY!! I know the feeling of having everyone one else asking and it just feeling weird and you want to do everything in your power...
My son is 17 months and is the same exact situation!
There is a state funded program in MD for infants and toddlers that help with this...you may want to check your state to see if there is the same.
I have a pt come 2x a month to work with my son and goes through exersises. Long story short, he is fine. when he is ready to walk, he will!

Stephanie - posted on 06/03/2010

I was told by my chiropractor that walkers and things like that aren't good for babies especially when learning to walk. Something about it confuses the brain with the left/right coordination. We had Rebecca (18mos) in a doorway bouncy and that's it. We just did alot of walking with her (hence the chiropractor..lol) and now she runs around like crazy.

Nayyara - posted on 06/03/2010

well I am in the same situation. my son 18 months old does not walk without support. he can stand with a minor support of sofa or table for quit long times and can use his push toy but does not take a single step without support. his physio therapist says we need to work on his balance management and encourage him to walk by different activities.

Sarah - posted on 06/03/2010

Hi
My son was quite a late walker - one of the things we tried with him was getting some balloons (helium ideally) and putting them in the lounge - the only way he could get them was to stand up - even when he did this using a walker we praised him lots but it helped with his balance and shortly after he started walking. Please don't worry though - I'm sure he'll be up and about before you know it x

Wendy - posted on 06/02/2010

My sister in law have a boy who will be three in August. He is small for his age. He only started walking by himself this year. They took him for tests and the doctor said he have some problems with his muscles. They had to do some excersices with him. It also affected his speech. He is a bit slower with development for his age. I think it is better to take her now for some tests than to wait.

Nicola - posted on 06/02/2010

My son was 5 weeks early and he is 18 going on 19 months and he isn't walking either... everything but!!!! Thanks for all the advice :)

Natalie - posted on 06/02/2010

hi my son is all so 18months n wont walk alone hewalks bout every where always on his feet but always av to av surport ofsome thing dont matter wot it is.

Jessica - posted on 06/02/2010

My son is 18 months, and was walking by 17 months. I was worried and stressed out about it too, mainly because I have another one due next month. It was literally one day to the next though. He stood on his own, for a week, and took two steps one day, and the next day it was 20, and now he walks all the time. The one thing I did that I felt helped him the most was stood him, back against the wall, and i gently let go took a couple steps back, got to his level, held out my hands and gave him HUGE encouragement to walk to mama, and he did, several times a day!!!

I won't tell you to not stress about it, because I know thats not going to help him walk, nor will it make you less anxious, all I will say is, he will walk, and when he does, you won't even remember what you were stressing out about :)

Kelly - posted on 06/02/2010

My son wasnt walking at that age either. I went n got a toddle riding bike that had a long handle on the back of it n w/ in a week he was running non stop.I picked the bike up at Walmart. I also used it w/ my 2nd son...

Mary - posted on 06/01/2010

I wouldnt worry too much yet, they will start when they are ready. If there is no sign of pain or anything then maybe encouragement is all you need. They just need to build up their confidence.
My son David although was commando crawling (dragging himself along the floor) from 10/11 months didnt start properly crawling till 13 months then by 15 months was walking all by himself!! after a couple of weeks of walking he was running and now dosent stop for anything!! good luck, just continue to encourage them till they get more confidence and they will get the hang of it ;)

Keira - posted on 05/31/2010

some children are not ready to walk right away. my daughter, sara, can stand on her own, and can take a few steps, her physical therapist says give her boxes to sit on to help her develop her leg muscles, and give her an empty laundry basket to push around on the floor, find a table that is chest-high to your toddler and put toys or a passy on the table to make him/her want to stand on their own. If we take sara's passy away and hold it out in front of her, she will take a few steps to get it. hope this helps, if you want to chat more you can email me kiki_nut@yahoo.com

Amanda - posted on 05/31/2010

my daughter wouldn't walk either and then we bought one of those foamies that you put on your mattress and unrolled it out to put on the bad and she wanted it and took her first steps on it i think her biggest problem was that she was afraid to fall and when giving something soft to land on she just took off

Vanessa - posted on 05/31/2010

My son will be 19months in 2days, and hes still not walking on his own, but he was born 5weeks early, he walks by holding on to one of someones hands, i might try the spoons, to see if that will help him, they have him walking with help at day care, he clims on the stuff that they put down for him to play with. He sees his two cousins running around and stuff, and wants to join them.

Jessica - posted on 05/31/2010

My little brother did that. But if i remember right he didn't walk till he was 21 months:) My baby walked on time so I may not be right, but to me it seems that baby's just have to decide it's time. I'm sure on day he'll be tired of crawling and just start walking like it's noones buisness:) lol The thing the doctor told my mom was not to carry him, let him try on his own. The thing that helped my baby was when she was in the stage of holding on, instead of crawling or carrying I would hold her hand for support and let her walk with me. That might help:)

Melissa - posted on 05/30/2010

my daughter is almost 19 months old & still isn't walking either. my dr hasn't shown any worry in her yet but our local infant development lady says I should be worried. My oldest daughter didn't walk until 15 months, but I was walking by 9 months. there is a HUGE range of time that children will walk & won't do it until they are ready. ALTHOUGH try getting a friend to walk with him. that's how my oldest daughter did finally start @ 15 months. no matter how hard I tried she just wouldn`t do it for me.

good luck :-)

p.s. LOVE THE IDEA OF THE SPOONS ZILANA

Natasha - posted on 05/30/2010

A real big thankyou to all I really appreciate your replies

Sarah - posted on 05/30/2010

There is a wide range of normal for when kids reach milestones. I would listen to your pediatrician. Perhaps you could ask the doctor for a referral to physical therapy. If you are very concerned, a second opinion is always justified.

Zilana - posted on 05/25/2010

a friend of mine told me to let my daughter hold on to teaspoons while you hold on to them to. You then walk with her holding the spoons, after a bit of practise you let go of the spoons and 'hey presto! your son is walking on his own - still holding the spoons but walking on his own!!! good luck! PS i tried it with my daughter and it worked. she only started at 15 months and at 16 really walking. I started walking at 18 months and i'm really not that far behind...lol just joking!

V - posted on 05/23/2010

I wouldn't worry about it, she will eventually walk by herself. I know what helped my little guys was a walker push type toy. One day they took a couple steps and were so proud of themselves and then they just started walking further and further from the chair, couch, etc. I agree with Cathy, just encourage her to walk to you and walk to get toys. I really hate those guidelines of what is expected at various ages, every baby is different and develops differently. Just because a baby doesn't walk by 12 months doesn't mean anything. I know preemie babies til about 2 yrs of age are sometimes behind the "normal". My mom said I didn't walk til I was 14 months and I turned out just fine.

Cathy - posted on 05/23/2010

My daughter will be 18 months next week and doesn't walk by herself yet. She is really close and making progress which is what my doctor said is important. She was a late crawler too. She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING and just recently started using a walker and will push it around but not much. She LOVES to climb the stairs. She now will also walk only holding one of our hands which is progress for her. She can stand for long periods of time without much support and is trying really hard to stand up in the middle of a room all by herself. She does see a physical therapist for a different issue (curved spine) and the therapist is not at all concerned yet. She said to just make her walk places and not carry her as much and to keep encouraging her and she will do it when she is ready. As long as progress is being made we shouldn't worry.

Natasha - posted on 05/23/2010

Thanks alot for your help much appreciated at least I know that there are other kids like Miguel Thanks

Tiphanie - posted on 05/22/2010

Hi, my son is the same age and cant walk by himself either. He is dying to though and loves us to walk around with him. He has a baby walker and can use that, so we keep practising each day. I wouldnt worry all babies are different and it annoys me how the experts expect every baby to be the same :-)

Jen - posted on 05/21/2010

has your son got a walker. does he walk with tht.sum children dnt walk til 21 month its not not heard of. just give him lots of encougement try moving sum toys further away n let him hold just one of your fingers to walk n get them.