I got worried. Month by month would go by and my son would still be crawling when he should have started walking. He was actually late with crawling but I’m not sure if that is because we loved to cuddle with him so much and rarely put him down long enough to crawl. He is so loving and affectionate. We finally realized that he wasn’t crawling and started working with him to crawl more. He finally started to scoot across the floor but his sister did that and started walking right on time.
Then came his one year birthday. He didn’t mind crawling at this point and was very good at it, but for some reason he did not want to walk just yet. I wasn’t too worried at this point but after a few months went by and still not wanting to walk without us holding his hand, I began to worry. The worrying particularly got intense when I saw other little boys his age walking just fine. I asked around but when his Pediatrician reassured me that he was just fine, I felt a sense of calm come over me. He had just turned 15 months so I knew this walking thing had to happen within the next 3 months.
The thing that really made me see that this was a choice for him is that when he held my hand, he would walk on his own not really using my hand for any support. It was all mental for him. I think he just feared falling. That is when I just said a simple prayer “God help Josiah to walk and not fear falling.” That prayer worked because one day on his own, he decided to walk across the room on his own. Then he fell down and started crawling. We rejoiced! This was a victory! He has been doing this walking then crawling thing now for about two weeks. My next prayer is “God help Josiah to walk without having to crawl. Help him to have confidence and balance.”
If your a momma out there searching the internet for tips and resources to help your child walk, I wanted offer you a few ideas:
As my physician told me, some kids walk at 9 months and others at 18 months. It doesn’t mean something is wrong developmentally and this is not a cursor for developmental issues. They decide when they are ready.
Try your best not to compare. I know its hard, but know that your kids is unique and will walk in his/her own time.
Try using upbeat music to encourage dancing while standing which helps with balance, but again they will do it in their own time.
Being around other children that are walking helped Josiah. He was encouraged to follow his peers. It may or may not work.
Rest. Don’t let yourself stress out too much about this. Enjoy this season with them and just laugh about it later.
Momma, you got this even though sometimes it feels you don’t. As long as your present, loving and praying for your baby, he/she will be just fine. I’m sure of it. I hope this helps but tell me in the comments your thoughts! I know it’s easy to say, don’t worry but we tend to be concerned because we just want the best, so I’m here to listen.