Would YOU be worried?

I have a friend who has a gorgeous 13 month old son. He isn't crawling or walking or even making any attempts to do so. The child nurses have put the fear into her saying that he should be at least getting himself about. She asked me if I would be worried if it was DD. I didn't really know what to say as I'm really not sure. In my opinion babies do things at their own pace - which is totally the correct thing to say but didn't make my friend feel any better as the nurses have really worried her. :(

What do you think? Should she be worried?

Yeah, i would be getting concerned at that age. I hope the nurses offered her some ideas as well as getting her worried. I would probably doing kindergym or swimming or other activites to give him opportunities to get moving.

Hey Kate, thanks for that. She is back home in the UK so the system is a little different to here. They see health visitors until the baby is a year old then they are discharged. The nurses have told her that she needs to keep seeing them until he is 18 months but as far as I am aware they have given her no other plan to get him assessed. I did mention to her about getting a referral to a physio but am not sure how hard that would be given that it's on the NHS.

I know that she takes him swimming twice a week though, so he does get that.

S xx

Oh i cant really say,i can only go by what i know which is DD,she has been crawling for over a month now and pulling herself up,she is a real mover..But then thats not to say that all babies do it at the same time..But i think if she wasnt crawling and things by 13 months i prob would be concerned?

Thanks Shell. DD is moving around a lot too - and she's 7 months. She's not crawling but she is rolling and creeping. My friend's little man sits in one place.
Oh, I hope that there is nothing wrong. I'm worried for her too now :(

S X

DD's orthopedic surgeon told me he doesn't worry about bubs (without any medical issue) not walking until they're about 22 months old. He said that is a perfectly reasonable amount of time for them to show signs of walking. I asked him after my MCHN got on my case. As far as crawling goes, I don't have an answer there.

How's your bub doing, Shoshana? Hope you had a nice trip home :hug:

can he roll over? Has he met other 'milestones' like babbling, clapping hands? I'd probably be getting a little concerned, but maybe he just hasn't seen the need to move iykwim? Does he have older siblings/attend playgroup or anything so he sees other babies moving around? That's a bit unhelpful the nurse didn't offer any advice or refer her to someone that could, rather than just worrying her!

Depends on whats his mental abilities are. Talking, eye contact, understanding of 'mum', 'dad' etc. I dont give a poo when my kids crawl, walk etc, I think talking etc is FAR more important....

My friends little girl did crawl till 13.5 months and didn't walk till 18 months, she's fine and healthy now 3.5 yrs

Yes i agree talking babbling mental abliities are ore important but i think by 13 months its important they are showing some signs of moving around or trying to,crawling and walking are pretty different than trying to move around

Sue is he rolling over? Moving on his belly? anything ike that

TBH If it was me, I would be concerned. Yes I totally believe that babies do things in their own time, and hopefully that's just the case here. But, if it was me, I would probably be thinking about getting a referral to a paed just to check things out. You said he just sits there, does that mean he's sitting unassisted? If he is that's a good sign, but even so, I'd be upping the activity, taking him to the park etc and putting him places which will encourage him to want to explore, maybe trying gymbaroo, taking him to places where there are other young children etc anything really to show him that he can move and perhaps try and create the desire to iykwim. GL hun, hope everything is well with your friends little man and he's just doing things his own way.

:hug: Its hatrd to know what is right and wrong with so many different views and information out there....maybe ask her if she has a gut feeling something is wrong...thats the best way. Like the girls said is he showing signs of talking babbling, pointing, reaching grapsing etc? Some kids are slow walker and crawlers...my biys were fast crawlers but slw walkers and talkers but Ds1 is very normal now!
:hug: Hope she can get some info to put her mind at ease :hug:

They are all so different.

Is he doing other things? rolling, reaching for toys, babbling etc??

DS1 didnt crawl till 13 months, he didnt walk til 21 months. He now at 28 months is always running, climbing etc.
DS2 is not interested in crawling or anything he can roll but when laid on floor he cracks it very quickly and wants to sit up. If sitting next to us he can pull up on our clothing to a stand.

I hope all is ok.

DD2 was meeting all of her milestones, except for the fact that she couldn't be bothered to crawl until 13 months, and walk until 17 months. And even then, we had to really push her to do those things. I wasn't concerned at all as she was reaching all of her other milestones.
So I guess if your friends' ds is meeting other milestones, then there shouldn't be much concern.

If he is getting about in other ways like cruising, creeping, rolling, bum shuffling then I wouldn't be concerned at all. But if he is just sitting there not attempting to mvoe about at all, I would be begining to get concerned at 13mths. Maybe she could go and speak to a gp and get a referral to a paediatrition?

HI there,

Well I didn't crawl at all (although I did do the bum shuffle - so was moving) and I did not walk until I was about 22 months old. However, I was toilet trained for poos at 15 months and I started speaking very young. So I really do believe that everyone is different. And to put your mind at ease, I was a ballet dancer at a professional level, so my late physical development certainly did not hold me back later on.

Janie xxx

Yeah but not crawling and not moving at all are 2 different things..Some babies do skip the crawling stage thats correct but they do other things along the way

Yes, I would be starting to get concerned. As others have said, cognitive functions like babbling and other physical abilities like rolling do play into it, but if there is something going on, intervention is better started earlier than later, so I would definitely be having a little look into it.

Before reading through here and seeing there are a couple of people who have either had late crawlers or crawled late themselves, I was going to say yes I'd be concerned about the not crawling but not about the walking. Even so, for me I'd still probably be getting concerned about the not crawling and in particular if he's not really doing anything other than sitting.

So, my questions are the same as the others... what other milestones has he met, does he have older siblings etc. The whole picture. Does he move around at all in any way? Like Janie said, she bum shuffled... so did Oskar, he didn't crawl until after he walked.

Like the other girls have said the not crawling or walking isn't in itsself a concern but if he hasn't make any other efforts to move around then it probably would be better to get it checked out. If there is nothing to be concerned about then her mind is at ease and if there is cause for concern then its being dealt with nice and early. I found Gymbaroo really good for my little man and it also showed me games and exercises I could do with him to help develop the what I think is called parallel movement which helps their crawling and I guess ultimately walking.

Nope, he just sits. No bum shuffling or anything. I've saved this thread and will send it to my friend, she asked me to ask over here what people thought - she doesn't have a great support of other mums.

Mentally, I'd have to ask her what he's doing. She's never mentioned any concerns about that so I would say that all is good there and the nurses would have raised any concerns I am sure.

Thanks for your input everyone, I'll send this to her and let you know how she goes.
S xx

mmmm yeah I think I'd be concerned if that's it. I possibly would've been a bit earlier than now even... only because kids usually are doing something more than just sitting by the time they're 12 months old. I hope that it's nothing and he just likes to be a lump lol. There's kids like that too!!

Good luck S, ley us know how you and your friend go xx

Thanks guys, I will let you know how she goes. I've sent her the link to this thread, she says thanks!