this might sound weird, and i don't mean to sound belittling, but are you practicing with him? We don't pick our son up off the floor anymore until we hold out our hands and let him pull himself into a standing position. And we also have LOW MEDIUM and HIGH boxes that have interested toys on them. And we just leave him alone to figure out how to get UP to the toys...it took him no time at all to figure out how to use his hands and body to get up high if he really wanted something. Perhaps you should try to make a game of it for your son to stimulate his interest.

I do practice with him. I hold out my hands and grab his and he doesn't pull. Its like he has no clue he should be pulling. I like the idea of the blocks. I'll have to look around for some.

My DD is also 10 months and in the same situation. I also reach out to her and grab her hands and encourage her to pull herself up, but she also seems clueless about having to do so. Rmae, you're not alone...I also worry. And as hard as it is, I sometimes ask myself if it's something I'm not doing. DD isn't crawling yet either. While I think that physical milestones are very important, I've read that a lot more weight is placed on whether or not they are mentally capable of things, such as babbling. Vocabulary is a big indicator of development.

Hnelson: thanks for the suggestion. I will also try that.

I've read somewhere that if your child is ahead in one area like motor skills they may be behind in language skills and if they are ahead in language skills they may be behind in motor skills. Im not sure if there is an scientific proof to that but I thought it was interesting.

All children grow and learn at their own pace. How is your baby at all of his other milestones?? Is this the only one you are worried about? I would give him some more time and just work on it a little more. Maybe he just isnt interested in it yet.

My cousins son didnt walk until 15 months old...there are babies on here walking at 9 and 10 months old. All babies are different. Im sure yours is just fine.

I hadn't heard that one statistic, but it makes a little sense. One of my DS and facebook buddies has a baby just one month younger than my son, and her daughter is communicating, talking more, and waving, etc......but not crawling yet. Jackson has leaped forward in the crawling, pulling up on things, etc (physical stuff) but still not really COMMUNICATING with words well. We get mama and dada and other babbles but nothing really concrete yet. my mother told me too that sometimes it's a gender thing (but then again the last time SHE had a baby was 32 years ago) hahaha.

I agree with the others that if this is the ONLY area your baby is struggling in or that you are concerned about, then he's likely fine and just not that motivated to move around yet. As the mommy of a baby on the move though, take advantage of the time cause once they find their legs there is NO STOPPING THEM!

I dont know if there is any truth to it, I dont even know where I read it. It might have been here on DS......but like you, Heather, I feel like I've seen babies who are better in one then in the other. And I didnt mean "behind" really....just have it down better I guess. I dont know.

I agree about the physical/language stuff as well.. my DD is 6 months old and she is working hard on learning to crawl... sit herself up.... stay sitting up... pulling up.. holding on to things to stand.. all of the physical.. she however always seems to be "slow" or "behind" in the vocab area.. she still doesn't babble or use consonants although she is starting to make a few consonants sounds (maybe?) and she rarely ever "talk" to you or her animals.. it is like she couldn't care less about that...

I really wouldn't worry too much. My DD will be 11 months on the 30th and has only started to show interest in pulling up the last week or so. She still doesn't "officially" crawl although she is very close and just mastered sitting up on her own in the last two days. This may sound really weird -- but is he around other babies who do those things much? I found my daughter had no interest in any of it until she started being in music class and going to story time with babies who were close enough in age that she could relate to them, and who were crawling, sitting up on their own, and walking. Then she really started working at it. And I agree that if they are making big progress in one area, they may be behind in another -- my daughter is very into communication -- she says "Mama" "Mom-Mom" "Ema (Gramma)", "more", "yes" and "yeah." She also waves, and responds when I ask her questions. Also, she's very cautious by nature and I think that has slowed her up a little.

Thanks everyone, I feel much better! Collin is a very vocal baby and he has great fine motor skills so perhaps that is why he lags on gross motor skills. Alh, you have a great point about him not being around other babies. He does not have other babies around him although he does have a big sister (almost 5) and I thought he might try to keep up with her, but he shows no interest. I'll keep working with him. Thanks again for all the great advice!

I totally agree with alh, about having other babies around. My DD is 8 months and crawls, pulls up, stands up, walks with toys....but she also has 2 older cousins who do those things and it wasn't until she saw them doing it all that she wanted to as well. I think as long as your son is progessing in other areas, he'll eventually catch on to pulling up and sitting up, he just may be taking his time doing so :)

My DD is going to 10 months on the 2nd and I can tell you that she all of a sudden last week started rolling back to belly and sitting up. Just one night out of the blue she just started doing it. I couldn't believe it. She's not crawling she's doing some army drags and push thing but she wants you to hold her hands so she can walk all over the place.

My daughter was very late in learning how to sit up. She started sitting up on her own around 12 months and was standing walking around the same time, but she was way ahead on her other milestones. If your child is not walking by 18 months old, go back to the pediatrician and have your child evaluated to rule out any medical problems. It can take even longer if your child is a knee-walker.

If you have any friends who have kids, see if someone has a bebepod or baby bumbo that you can borrow. They really speed the learning process up and you'd only need it for about a week. Due to his age, he will not use it for long, so its not really worth spending the money for.