12 Month Old Not Standing By Himself??

[SunshineMama]

Can you help me out with some of your experiences with children?

I care for a 12.5 month old sweet little boy. He came from a daycare center, and was not crawling at all when I got him at 9 months. I let him play on the floor and all of the kids and I crawled all around to teach him how to crawl, and within a week he was crawling. Score! I am fairly certain that they had him in an exercauser all day at the center so he is a little weak and wasnt getting enough floor time.

So now I want to help him walk. He just started pulling himself up on the furniture. I try to hold him under his armpits and help him to walk a bit, but it isn't working. When I pick him up, he automatically puts his legs at a 90 degree angle like he is ready to sit down, he will not try to walk at all. I am trying to build his leg strength, but he cannot even stand up by himself for any duration of time, and he just isnt interested.

Also, he only says "mama." That is his only word- is that normal as well?

Both of my kids walked before their first birthday on their own, and could walk next to me while holding my hand at 10 months. Also, my other child had a good vocabulary at 12 months, and my eldest was even saying 2-3 word sentences by her 1st birthday. (I know that isn't typical for 12 month olds). But what IS typical? All of my other dck's are older so I have nothing to compare him to.


Should I worry that this child cant even stand/balance by himself? Should I discuss this worry with the parents? When he does stand against the furniture, his feet are always pointing out/sideways, but I cant tell if this is normal or not because I cant actually get him to take a few proper steps with my assistance to see what is exactly going on. I cant even have him hold one of my hands for balance while he tries to stand next to me. Nothing.


I know some children are late bloomers, so maybe my early bloomers set the standard a little high? I don't know. What's normal?

[AnneCordelia]

I have 4 kids of my own and a slew of DCKs that all started at 11mos of age.

At this age (12mos) my DS1 and DD were walking & talking (3+ single words). At this age my DS3 was walking but had no words. At this age my DS2 was not walking, standing or talking. He was crawling, but only learned 11.5 months. He finally walked at 17mos and talking at 2yo. He is now a perfectly normal 3.5yo, meeting all milestones.

Anyway, my point is that he sounds normal. Does he understand when you ask him simple things? "Want a bottle?" or "need a hug"? Can he do other things like identify his belly or come when you call him? There is a huge range of 'normal' at this age, I think, and everything you're saying falls into it provided that he is not exhibiting other signs of being delayed that you didn't mention here.

[MarinaVanessa]

It all sounds normal to me too. You can probably boost his motivation to talk by talking to him and interacting with him. My 14mo DS learned to walk at 10.5 months and had mastered it and started running at 11.5 months. He still only says Dada and Go Go Go.

I'M WITH HIM EVERY FRICKIN DAY AND HE WON'T EVEN SAY MAMA!!::

I'd wait it out. I'd give him until he was 1.5 to really start worrying about him not walking. I'd wait until he's closer to 3 to start worying about his language abilities.

[Heidi]

It is good that your are concerned, and I would say that he is developing a little slower than typical.

He does seem to be making progress, now that he is in your care. As long as he continues to show improvement, I wouldn't worry yet. His large motor skills are a bit slow, but the speech would not concern me yet.

How is his muscle tone overall? Is he "floppy"? If so, it is something to keep an eye on, but not something to worry about too much yet.

You are already giving him plenty of floor time, so that's a plus! It sounds like maybe he didn't get those things at his other caregiver. Give him challenges, like putting toys slightly out of reach, or up just above his reach. Maybe put some obstacles on the floor, like an old crib mattress, a big cardboard box to crawl through, etc. Anything that will get him moving!

[SD DaycareMOM]

He's lucky to have you!

It is good that your are concerned, and I would say that he is developing a little slower than typical.

He does seem to be making progress, now that he is in your care. As long as he continues to show improvement, I wouldn't worry yet. His large motor skills are a bit slow, but the speech would not concern me yet.

How is his muscle tone overall? Is he "floppy"? If so, it is something to keep an eye on, but not something to worry about too much yet.

You are already giving him plenty of floor time, so that's a plus! It sounds like maybe he didn't get those things at his other caregiver. Give him challenges, like putting toys slightly out of reach, or up just above his reach. Maybe put some obstacles on the floor, like an old crib mattress, a big cardboard box to crawl through, etc. Anything that will get him moving!

I completely agree. As long as he is showing progress, I wouldn't be too concerned. If he has no interest in walking, you can also work his leg muscles by laying him on his back with feet toward your lap, and gently pushing his feet in toward his body while singing/talking to him. His reflex should be to push back against your open hand on his feet. You can also just move his legs (lying in this same position), in lots of different ways. In a bicycle motion, while singing "Wheels on the Bus", for example.

[JenNJ]

He sounds typical to me. There is a large range of normal for kids as far as cruising and walking go. He sounds like he is trying and that is what matters.

[KBCsMommy]

SunshineMaMa you are a doll!! But I wouldn't worry about the walking and talking quite yet.

The average walking age for toddlers varies for all children. If the little one isn't walking by 18 months then you might want to worry!

And for the talking all kids are different in that area too! As long as some speech is picked up by 2 years old, drs wont be concerned.

All children are different! I have 3 and they all walked at different ages. The first was right at 10 months, my second at 14 months and my last baby walked at an astounding 8.5 months! My 2 older ones had perfect speech by 18 months my baby didnt start talking well into his 2's.

Also, maybe the family isn't very active. Maybe mom puts him in a walker at home. I had this issue with one of my dc girls.

Anyways, point being, this child sounds very normal!!

[Ariana]

My daughter didn't walk until 16 months and when the Pediatrician asked if she was a late walker I said "yes she started at 16 months" she replied that they don't consider that late and as long as they're walking by 18 months to 2 years it's all normal. I was surprised! The speach also sounds prefectly normal. By 18 months they should have 5 words (thats the developmental milestone achievement).

[SilverSabre25]

He sounds perfectly normal...pulling up to stand is all the walking help he needs right now! Lots of time and opportunity to practice! Maybe get a low table (like a coffee table or similar) for him to pull up/cruise on.

Talking--perfectly normal. Red flag there would be NO words by 18 months or if he does not seem to understand simple things, i.e. no, his name, where's the kitty, etc.

[Breezy]

My DS will be 12 months on Feb 15th and is only pulling himself up and cruising. He says mama, dada, ni night, baba(bottle).

[countrymom]

I have one like this too. Its like when I make him stand its like its painful (its not but he drops to the floor) he just started to pull himself around the table. I know he is in a walker at home, and so were my kids and they all walked by their first birthday. This kid also has food issues, he has a hard time with textured food. to me he seems a bit behind, I don't know, I've had so many kids here, you just pick things up.

[Rachel]

They are not considered late walkers until after 18 months. And that's only late, not abnormal.

My earliest walk of my four walked about 14 months. My preemie twins were 15.5 & 16m, my perfectly normal to term boy didn't walk until about 22 months (he did have weak muscle tone and physio, so did one of the twins).

I have a 13.5 month old now who is not close to walking (he pulls up but doesn't really cruise much). I also have a just turned 8 month old who might very well be walking in the next 2 months, before the older one possibly. It's all in the range of normal.

[SunshineMama]

Thank you for all of your advice and suggestions! To answer the question about his muscle tone, I would say that he is fairly soft everywhere and a bit weak. I am trying to work on that by allowing him the time and space to pull himself up on things, and I will make it a point to put more toys out of his reach to encourage him to push himself a little more. I also like the idea about pressing against the bottom of his feet and having him push back- all great ideas!

It seems like the general consensus is to keep working with him and reassess at 18 months. If I can at least get him to stand up on his own before that I will let everyone know. Thanks again everyone!