late walkers? late talkers?

klaus · May 2012

Hi - DS is 15.5 months old. His pedi thinks he should be walking by now (since average age to walk is 13 months) and that he should have more words. We started the Early Intervention process but it will take at least until 6/10 to get a plan and then who knows how long after that (if services are needed) to get the first PT or Speech appointment. I know I've read on here that some of you have late walkers/talkers. Were your pedi's concerned? What steps did you take, if any, to help your child along?

Thanks!

Mrs.RockyM · May 2012

i was told that most doctors aren't concerned about walking unless they're 18 months and still not walking. My niece and a couple other friend's kids didn't start walking till about then either.

m&m2006 · May 2012

DD1 was a late walker, she walked right around 17 months. pedi wasn't concerned at all...said that if she wasn't walking by 18 months, that we would discuss some options. DD1 will be 18 months this week, and she is walking all over the house, and cries if you try to put her in the stroller.

i wouldn't worry about it.

perry7285 · May 2012

it sounds to me like your pedi is jumping the gun a bit. my soon took his first step at 15 months but wasn't really walking for another month or two after that. the pedi said he was comfortable waiting until 16-17 months for the first step. regarding talking, my pedi said that as long as they have three words at 15 months they're fine. my son only actually had four words at 18 months and the pedi wasn't worried.

there is a huge range in how quickly normal, healthy children develop. it sounds to me like your pedi isn't being realistic about how big the differences can be even when there is no problem. if he gets pushy about this stuff i would suggest considering changing doctors.

alchris · May 2012

Average means 50% of kids are after that. Please don't worry -- you still have tons of time before I'd even begin to worry!

Kira's first word was at 21 months.

Elena will be 17 months in a couple days and isn't close to walking.

It's not a race -- they'll get there when they're ready. EI is fabulous, but you're not there yet.

The only reason I'd worry about speech is if you have hearing concerns.

I wouldn't worry about walking until 18 months. *I* started walking at 18 months and had noooo clue until my mom told me after Kira started walking. 18 months is still considered normal, I promise.

itsmevkb · May 2012

Neither of my older kids walked until 18 months. Is your ds standing and cruising? My oldest was standing and cruising and just didn't seem interested in putting forth the effort to walk independently until 18 months. I never worried about him nor did my pedi.

With my daughter, she wasn't standing or even trying to stand by 12 months and she had a clear aversion to putting weight on her feet and legs so our pedi recommended physical therapy as well as ankle braces. That helped move things along and by 18 months she was walking.

As for speech, gosh, honestly I don't recall either of them really talking a whole lot before their 2nd birthdays. They had single words but not a ton of them. For both they had real explosions of language right around age two with my daughter being a little earlier.

LIAngel · May 2012

Nicholas was a late talker. We started the EI process when he was 17 months old and he actually started the sessions when he was 18 months old. I guess if Ava isn't talking by 17 or 18 months, we'll do the same process for her.

If she's not walking by then either, then we'll do something about that too.

klaus · May 2012

Thanks for all your repsonses. I appreciate that I'm not alone. I think I am just getting sick and tired of every other person asking me if he's walking. I feel like I have to explain that a lot of kids don't walk till they are 17-18 months old. It's just irritating. I didn't think it was an issue until we went to his 15 month visit. since we got the ball rolling with EI, I think we'll stick with it. I don't feel like there is any negative to having some extra help if he qualifies for it.

itsmevkb - He is standing, cruising, pushing his cozy coupe around but just either doesn't have the balance or the "drive" to stand independently or walk right now.

I don't think he has a hearing problem either. He turns to look at the door when the garage door open, he looks for his dad when he hears him on the stairs, he dances to music, he turns his head when I call his name...

Again, thanks so much for weighing in. It really does make me feel better that he's not the only one

kristinem17 · May 2012

Our son did not take his first steps until 14.5 months and was not walking, on his own, until 16 months. He had a handful of words between 16-24 months and so we contacted EI and got him evaluated just after he turned 2. He was found to have a significant speech delay. He had maybe 5 words at the time. 2.5 months later he finally started speech therapy. Coincidently he had a word explosion just before the therapy started. At 27 months old he now has 40 words approx. I don't feel it is because of the therapy as he has only had 3 sessions. I think he just wasn't ready to talk until recently. He has actually been delayed in all of his milestones. Seems DS does things on his own time and not when Mama/Dada want him too!

alchris · May 2012

klaus:
Again, thanks so much for weighing in. It really does make me feel better that he's not the only one

Again, about 50% of kids are behind any "average"/median, which is why ages *should* be given in ranges. So 50% of children are behind the median, meaning he's *very* much not the only one!

BeccaLandes · May 2012

my boys are late talkers. our dr first seemed concerned when they had very few words at their 18 month appt. we had already called EI at that point, though.

they were early/on time walkers.

klaus · May 2012

alchris:
klaus:

Again, thanks so much for weighing in. It really does make me feel better that he's not the only one

Again, about 50% of kids are behind any "average"/median, which is why ages *should* be given in ranges. So 50% of children are behind the median, meaning he's *very* much not the only one!

Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it. I do need to remember that average means just that - in the middle!

alchris · May 2012

klaus:
alchris:
klaus:

Again, thanks so much for weighing in. It really does make me feel better that he's not the only one

Again, about 50% of kids are behind any "average"/median, which is why ages *should* be given in ranges. So 50% of children are behind the median, meaning he's *very* much not the only one!

Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it. I do need to remember that average means just that - in the middle!

You bet! And these things aren't races -- the first to talk isn't the best talker in life, you know? The first to read isn't the best reader -- you get the idea!

DD1 walked before 11 months -- DD2 is already 6 months older with no walking in sight. They just do it when they're ready.

And I do not get anyone asking about talking at 15 months, in all honesty -- while there are some kids saying words at a year, most are *after* 18 months in my experience. Talking wasn't even on my mind until 18-20 months with DD1. Speech has a HUGE range. It's quite common not to say any words until 2 or 2 1/2 and then burst out in complete sentences -- I've heard of that a lot, LOL!

Dochas · May 2012

klaus:
Thanks for all your repsonses. I appreciate that I'm not alone. I think I am just getting sick and tired of every other person asking me if he's walking. I feel like I have to explain that a lot of kids don't walk till they are 17-18 months old. It's just irritating. I didn't think it was an issue until we went to his 15 month visit. since we got the ball rolling with EI, I think we'll stick with it. I don't feel like there is any negative to having some extra help if he qualifies for it.

itsmevkb - He is standing, cruising, pushing his cozy coupe around but just either doesn't have the balance or the "drive" to stand independently or walk right now.

I don't think he has a hearing problem either. He turns to look at the door when the garage door open, he looks for his dad when he hears him on the stairs, he dances to music, he turns his head when I call his name...

Again, thanks so much for weighing in. It really does make me feel better that he's not the only one

Maybe your ped is recommending it early because it takes a long time to get an appointment in your location? We recently had an eval for speech and it took less than 1 week to get an appointment. So your doctor might be thinking of that and wanting you set up just in case.

jenn2929 · May 2012

DS didn't walk until 19 mos and now he runs every where! We did have EI in working on many different things with him until last month when he "graduated" from EI. It seems a little bit early to me, but you have to do what oyu are comofortable with. It certainly won't do any harm to bring someone from EI in to see him.

Assembly_Reqd · May 2012

klaus:

think he has a hearing problem either. He turns to look at the door when the garage door open, he looks for his dad when he hears him on the stairs, he dances to music, he turns his head when I call his name...

Nate does ALL of that too...without his hearing aids. He has mild-moderate hearing loss.

I think EI will want you to rule out any hearing issues before they offer speech. They may have the ability to test him (or screen him, at least) or you can go to an audiologist (preferably a pediatric one) and have a booth test done.

I have heard anecdotes that "first comes the walking, then the talking". Sometimes it is hard for kids to work on more than one BIG skill at a time.

laura1 · May 2012

My DS didn't start attempting to walk on his own until 15.5 months (when I was in the hospital having my DD), and didn't really talk until then either. We came home from the hospital with a new baby and found a toddler that was trying to walk (but falling down a lot), and had started saying more words (up until then he only said dada and ta - which meant bus, ball, and any number of other things). When we got home he was saying mama, his sister's name, and by 18 months he had almost 50 words. So between 15 and 18 months he had a huge explosion in both talking and motor skills. I wouldn't worry about either until 18 months. Good luck!

UsedToBeGoldie · May 2012

i can't imagine a doc being so worried at only 15mo! I know MANY kids who didn't start walking until around 16mo, and their docs had no concerns. Gibby was about 15mo, and never once were we worried.

as for talking - huh??? 15 month children often have no words and it's OK - if they understand what you are saying to them..... that is more important at that age.

your doc is a bit of a worry wart ---- and i've had a child in speech so i'm not putting it out of the question- but at 15mo i would not be stressing out so much - UNLESS your child doesn't seem to understand... and if there seems to be tone/muscle issues or smoethign else medical worrying your doc re: walking.

thh · May 2012

My oldest son didn't walk until 18 months. We were very concerned but were told that 75% of kids walk by 17.5 months (Which means that 25% don't). My youngest walked at 16 months, and had been diagnosed with a significant motor delay at 13 months (he didn't pull up to stand until 14 months, but then once he did that, he caught up in a matter of weeks and is no longer delayed at 18 months).

As for talking -- My oldest also had a speech delay, but also eventually caught up. If you are worried at all, have him evaluated in June as planned. It will give you piece of mind. But it seems strange to me that the doctor suggested that unless he had other delays as well (is he pulling up to stand? Cruising? Pushing push toys?)

Ali212 · May 2012

L is 15 months old now and has been walking for a couple of months but I feel like I would really be stretching if I said she has any words (some people would probably say she's saying "daddy" but I think it's a bit of a stretch). Anyway, everyone keeps telling me not to worry so I'm trying to hold until 18 months b/c I keep reading about people that say their child(ren) had a word explosion between 15 and 18 months. I will say, she seems to understand almost everything I say so that helps me feel better with the lack of verbal skills.

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