Getting My 14 Month Old Motivated to Walk and Stand Idependetly.

She will walk when she is ready not when you are. They all develop differently. If you keep pushing her, you might run I to a power struggle. Just enjoy her.

Welcome to the world of competitive parenting! There will always be some kid, right down the street, who's reading at age 2, breaking athletic records at age 12, discovering the cure for cancer, and -- bleh. It's not your daughter's job to be those kids, and it's not your job to motivate her to be those kids. It's your job to love her (which you're already doing) and to promote self-acceptance (her age is a good time to start).

Put differently, in a month or two, if your daughter isn't walking independently, it might be worth putting in a call to the doc and seeing if this isn't a sign of some underlying something. But otherwise, focus on celebrating what makes her wonderful and special. Do her eyes light up when she hears music? Is she a snuggle-bug? Does she have a wonderful, infectious laugh? Whatever it is, it makes her one of a kind, and it's really important to cherish and celebrate it -- it'll set the tone for everything to come. Of course -- I know from experience -- this is easier said than done.

My own son has always been at the slow end of the curve with his physical milestones. At 6, he can't tie his shoelaces, he has a mild-to-moderate speech impediment, he can't yet swim, and he can't really participate in competitive sports with other kids (though he does do karate, rock climbing, and very mellow, low-key soccer). AND, he's a first grader who reads at a 6th-grade level. His teacher has never seen anything like it. He's got a phenomenal knowledge of Greek mythology. This, not sports, will be his calling card in life, and while I do take him to occupational therapy and the like, it's my job as a mom to teach him to work on your strengths, get really good at what you love, and don't beat yourself up for not being some random other guy down the street. This is easier at some times than others. But I can't recommend it enough.

Do you understand that this has to do with brain development? The brain has to be ready to do this. She isn't ready. Why are you trying to make her do something that she isn't ready to do? She is not behind. It's not like she's 24 months. Your ped would tell you the same thing.

You need to do some reading to see why you are in the wrong place regarding your baby. These milestones are not for YOU. They are for her.

It's only when a child has a disability of some kind that should worry you. Not because you watched some video, or because your friends' kids do. Why on EARTH would you feel bad because your baby doesn't do everything your friends' babies do?

Don't be a sheep, mom. It's not fair to your daughter. Let her march to the beat of her drummer - not someone else's. If you don't believe me, ask your pediatrician.

Dawn

Call your pediatrician if you are concerned. However, walking is completely developmental and she will walk when she walks. There is no reason in the world you should be pushing her. DS walked at 13 months. A friend had one walk at 9 months. I was incredibly grateful mine did NOT walk at 9 months.

My niece only JUST started walking at nearly 16 months old. She was using a free-standing walker thingie with wheels on it... she was pushing it around walking behind it for a month or two as well as cruising along furniture. The key in getting her motivated was not pushing the issue with her and not making it a control issue. It had to be fun for her and not a chore. She's 100% typical.

My eldest daughter didn't show any interest at all in walking until she was 13 months. She was never great at physical things. Gross motor skills weren't her focus. She loved fine motor skills and was very, very advanced in speech. Same with my youngest daughter.

My middle daughter... well... she was just several days shy of turning 18 months old when she started to show interest and cruising on furniture. 18 months old is when you would start to get concerned to get her evaluated as it could be a sign of different things. For my daughter, it was a sign of Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. She had many, many other gross motor delays though and it was typical for her to have delays in things like that. She was advanced, however, in other things. She was good with fine motor skills, organizing things, taking things apart, speech , and so we didn't worry so much about the gross motor skills.

So is your daughter talking? Does she like to use her voice? Does she enjoy coloring? Does she like playing with toys and turning pages on books? Does she like to examine things? Does she pay attention to textures and details? Those are the skills that she could be working on and, I would say, are more important than whether or not she's mobile.

My son did not walk independently - i.e., without holding onto furniture, people etc. until he was 15 months old.

Turns out he had flat feet and just did not feel the balance that most of us did. One pair of orthopedic shoes later and he was literally up and running as soon as he put the shoes on.

So, check with the pediatrician just to make sure.

But always remember that all kids are different.

Hugs

My son did not start walking until this past June, at 17 months. He was content to crawl and would "walk" on his knees. Ped said not to worry about it until they are around 18 months. He is all over the place now and I believe he is much more steady on his feet because he waited so long. She will do it when she is ready...

There is a range, so stop comparing your child to others. She may be doing things that they are not and you don't know about. As long as your doc isn't concerned, don't worry. You don't have to "work on it". Just be there and play with her, and be excited when she's brave.

She will walk unassisted when ready. Giving her something to push around so she can walk is perfect for her age. Just make sure you aren't carring her all the time too. Like from the car to inside the house, she if you can get her to take your hand for support and walk that way.

Don't compare her to your friends' kids, it's like apples and oranges.....and you'll only drive yourself batty in the process. She may not be walking unassisted now but later down the road might be a numbers wize while someones elses kid just doesn't get it.

S.

I wouldn't be too worried yet. As long she is walking in some form or fashion. She'll take off when she's ready.

One thing that works for some would be 2 people sitting across from each other, and having the child walk between the 2 people. Even if it's just taking one independent step to start with. Would have to start very close to each other to start with for sure. But if walking between people isn't her idea of fun, it won't work.

Don't worry about it. February is so far away- especially when you consider how short her life has been so far! She has plenty of time, and if not, no big deal. You know she can do it, so it's nothing physical- she's just nervous!
We didn't even buy my son real shoes till 16 months because I wasn't wasting the money on them when he wasn't really walking. He was able to hold onto things and walk just fine, but was just timid about doing it without holding on. It was a little embarrassing, but really a blessing later on. All the physical stuff, he was timid about and did later than his peers. But that caution was great later on. At two he wouldn't just run off at parks or in parking lots. I didn't have to worry about him climbing all over the house and getting hurt. He waited to try these behaviors much longer than his peers, and by the time he was climbing he was mentally ready to understand how to keep his balance and what was dangerous. I would never just take this for granted and stop watching him, but it was cool to not have to pull him off coffee tables like my friends were doing all the time!
The swap was that he spoke much earlier than other kids. Sure I had to say no to the walking question at his doctor's appointment, but I also had a long list of words he could say. Most kids were still using single words when he was talking in sentences. He was a very calm kid as a result of being able to express what he wanted to so easily. So there were benefits to him being a late bloomer in the walking arena!

The best thing you can be doing for her is giving her plenty of freedom to cruise along the furniture and with toys. Have her walk with you holding her hands. Let her practice and develop the strength and independence needed to do it on her own.

She's cruising - so she's almost there!
My son walked at 14 months.
His birth weight was 9 lbs 1.5 oz and at 1 yr he was 25 lbs (but not a fat or chubby kid).
I figured he had to get just a little bit stronger to support his weight.
It wasn't long before walking became running and by the time he was 2 1/2 he was so fast I could not catch him.
Don't worry and just give it a little more time.

My son was a premie, so we saw a developmentalist on a regular basis. Before my son reached the age to start trying/walking, they gave me some tips: It's not about when he walks, it's how (make sure his feet are firmly planted, try to keep his heels on the ground if he keeps walking on toes only), let him self-guide along the couch/bench/tables/other things at his levels (don't hold up his arms because that builds shoulder strength instead of lower body strength), use things like upside down square clothes hampers to push around (which caused him to bend over slightly, again focuses on building lower body strength).
He was always ahead on the large motor skills, so walking wasn't delayed for him, but we saw some of his peers not walk until 18mos or later and still do fine. And some of the ones who started later, just took off without any adjusting or wobbling.
Good luck!

You have to remember, age guidelines for development are very flexible. Not all children develop right on time, in fact very few do. Is she meeting the other guidelines?
Do feel free to call your pedi with your concern. They may want to check for an ear infection that would throw off her balance, but those will generally clear up in time.