Son not walking

schreibs4 · July 2012

My son is almost 17 months old and loves to walk around holding just my pinky. We recently tried walking wings with him and let go and he walked about 40 steps on his own, but didnt realize I wasn't holding on to him. Once he realized he was walking on his own he sat down. So I know he can walk on his own, he just won't. He loves to crawl and climb and talks, waves, points, shakes his head and can point to body parts when asked. He just does not want to walk on his own. Wondering if anyone else has experienced this and any tips to get him to walk more.

azzyberry · July 2012

Your DS sounds normal. He's probably just not confident in his walking ability yet so he's being a little cautious. Keep practicing with him and once he feels more secure he'll take off. Then you'll never get him to stop and you'll spend your days chasing after him

SantroiniSteph · July 2012

My son has been walking only holding onto things since he was 10 months. He did this and crawling until 17 months and I was so worried that he didn't want to walk on his own. At 17 months, he took his first unassisted steps. For the next two months, he would only walk a few steps at a time, then realize he was walking and dropped down to a crawl. Now at 19 months, he is FINALLY walking more. I wouldn't say he was a full time walker yet, but we are very close now. My doctor was not concerned since he could walk, just preferred crawling.

flyingsaucer · July 2012

DS#1 did not walk until he was 17 mos and then one day literally just RAN (he is 4 now and has not stopped running yet!). I was concerned too at the time, but my pedi said it was considered "normal" until the end of the 18th month for children not to walk. He will do it when he is ready

BeachM · July 2012

Mine walked at 14 months, but the process was the exact same. I'm very certain he could have walked on his own around 11 months but would not let go of my finger. When I did manage to pry my hand loose, he would take a few steps then sit down. One day he picked up a ball outside and started walking with it.

It's really frustrating when you know they can do it, but won't.

ETA: Nothing I did motivated him. Same with crawling. When people suggested making a trail of puffs, I tried that and he gave me a "Do you really think I'm this stupid?" look. Even when he did start crawling at 10.5 months his entire motivation for moving was to get to me, pull up using my hand, and then walk around holding my hand.

They just do it when they're ready to do it.

MrsDL · July 2012

I wouldn't worry about it, you know that he can do it so there is likely no physcial reason holding him back, he just prefers what he is doing now. He'll get there when he's ready, he won't go to Kindergarten only crawling.

saturdaynightdoubletree · July 2012

It's hard not to worry, but some kids just take a little longer. DS wasn't walking until 17.5months, and then just started running. It didn't ever seem to matter what we tried, he just did it when he was ready. Keep letting your DS hold your pinky, when he feels confident he'll let go, and you'll be wishing he'd slow down and hold your hand. Hang in there!

Son not walking

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