Dr. Hitesh Patel

Some babies learn to walk by the age of nine to ten months, and others may take longer, much longer to start walking properly. By the age of 15 months, people may start asking you if your little munchkin is able to walk yet. These constant questions can eventually irk you off, and keep you wondering if truly your baby is facing any sort of disability or not. In most cases, you will probably find your baby was too lazy to start walking all along, and he has mastered the art of “toddling” a couple of months later. Other times, when your baby has not started walking in over 17 months, you may want to give your paediatrician a visit.

When should you not worry?

If your baby is an active child and is playing around normally, you may not worry about him or her too much. If you find your child able to move around crawling or rapidly kicking his legs around, then your child is probably a late bloomer when it comes to walking. Other factors that will indicate that your baby is not going through any developmental issues are when he or she is able to communicate with sounds or broken speech. Other thing that you must keep in your mind is the relative age of your baby if it is born premature. If your toddler was born two months prematurely, then you must consider his developmental age by adding two months to his actual birth. Also notice if your child is able to move positions on his own, like if he is able to change positions when he is sitting down or lying down. As such, inability to walk is not really a solid indicative of a developmental disorder.

When is it of concern?

When you go to your paediatrician with your child regarding his inability to walk, your doctor will firstly take a note of the general movement of your baby. Thus the “quality” of movement is what matters the most. If your baby is showing signs of rigidity or flaccidity in his limbs, it may concern your doctor, as it is the primary symptom of cerebral palsy. Nothing can be concluded unless your get proper reports of scans like MRIs which your doctor will recommend you to get.

If your child is not walking, avoid carrying him around too much to allow him to make movements on his own. Who knows, you may find yourself chasing him around all over in no time! If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Pediatrician.