Hmm...sounds exactly like my DD except for the fact that my DD won't pull herself up or crawl (she's also 14 months). She was diagnosed with a slight case of low muscle tone (hypotonia) in her lower extremeties. It doesn't seem that this would be the case with your son since he is already doing that sort of thing.

Is it that he can't stand or that he just refuses to do so? Will he walk if you hold onto his hands? I would ask a pediatrician. I have no idea what birth to three is.

I haven't been through this before... but my daughter is 15 months and while she crawls everywhere and cruises all the time, she is not walking at all. The pediatrician said at her 15 month appointment that if she is not walking by 18 months she will have to see a specialist. She also only says variations on Mommy and so if she's not talking more by 18 months again she'll have to see a specialist. I'm trying not to get worked up about it. One look at my daughter and anyone can see how smart she is. She communicates with us, just not with actual words, but most of the time I know what she wants -- as much as any parent of a 15 month old does, I bet. She was a late crawler -- 11 months -- and so I think her walking is delayed because of that. So I don't have any advice for you, other than to tell you I know how you feel and to hang in there. I guess if they are willing to offer him services, I would take them. It can't hurt. I do feel every kid has their own developmental timeline and just because they don't fit in the "average" timeline does not mean there is something wrong with them. He will probably come along on his own just fine.

It does sound like it could be low muscle tone. My DD has it. A physical therapist may be able to tell you if your child has low muscle tone. You could also make an appointment with a developmental pediatrician to have him evaluated. They could tell you if anything is physically wrong or at least direct you to someone who could.

It's hard to remember so far back - but one of my twins didn't crawl until 11 months and did't walk until 16 months. She is just a cautious child. She wanted to make sure she could do it. Once she did get up and walk, she NEVER fell, there was no learning curve like her sister that walked early and was a mess of bruises! Everyone develops differently, I wouldn't worry about walking until he reached 18 months, then have him evaluated by a physician and in the meantime keep encouraging him to take some steps!

My son has a friend who is 2 months older than he is and he walked VERY late. He could/would not pull up and would not stand. His mom had Birth to Three evaluate him and they had no idea why he was not walking. This kid could talk a mile a minute though. They told her that they would re evaluate him if he still was not walking at 18 months. He still wasn't walking but she never called. Then when he was 20 months old he came over our house and after playing with my son (who was an early walker)he just started walking. He is just about 2 and he is still a bit behind with his gross motor but he is doing great. Kids all do things in their own time. Good luck!!!

My niece didn't walk until she was 17 months. Around 14 months she wouldn't put any weight on her legs. She ended up having physical therapy which helped a lot. She's now 10 years old and it didn't effect her at all.

Thanks so much for everyone's input and advice. I did ask about a developmental pediatrician, but my pediatrician thinks we should see how he does with birth to three before we go that rout.
I think that it might be low muscle tone becaise when I put him in a standing position he gets very wobely and cries, then sits right back down. I just feel sooo awful, although I know that things could be worse. I see othe babies his age walking. I also have to face questions from rude people about why he is not standing yet. A lot of people have said "Is something wrong with him?" and I don't know how to answer.
I hope that everyones babies who are having diffiuclty take off and are cruising soon!

When people use to ask me if my DD was walking I would say, she's taking her time. Hopefully, early intervention will give you some good ideas to get him interested in pulling to stand. I know I found if very helpful. Good luck!

My friend's daughter was not pulling up/standing at her one yr. apt. she was diagnosed with low/poor muscle tone and has been getting some physical therapy. She is now about a year and a half and can stand fine but is still working on walking.

I hate when I get that type of response from strangers, especially from FAMILY, when they find out my DD isn't walking yet either. It's almost as if they look down on the child or the parents. It really irritates me. I'm sorry you're going through this too. My DD also wobbled and her legs trembled when we tried to get her to stand. I don't know if it was fear or what (because this never happened until she turned a year old and we'd been trying to get her to practice standing at a very young age). It could very well be that your son has low muscle tone. I guess there are varying degrees of it.

Jen2279: thanks for telling us about your niece - it's encouraging for those of us that have late walkers (for whatever reason) :-)

As others have said, 18 months is when peds will start to worry that there may be a problem. It's tough to remember exactly how things progressed, but my little guy didn't start crawling until around 11 or 12 months and didn't walk until 16 months. I can't remember when he started pulling himself up and standing...

However, he was an early talker and is still ahead of his peers in communication skills. I have a philosophy that kids focus on one thing at a time. Generally if they talk and develop language early, they walk late. If they walk and develop gross motor skills early, they talk a little later. Obviously doesn't happen 100 percent of the time, but seems to be pretty standard.

My friend has a little girl who is 16 months alomst 17 months...they took her to a specialist and the problem was that she was holding her too much. they suggested that she make her walk, have some toys higher so that she has to stand to get them. and she will get those muscles strong and learn to walk.
If she would sit down if they pick her to walk, keep trying at it.

best of luck.

We had early intervention for both my twins because they were born 5 weeks early. One had hypertonia the other had hypotonia. It was diagnosed early on (by 6 months) so we were able to start working on it. Early intervention wasn't too concerned and just told us to keep working with them. For hypotonia we were told to help put them in positions that would require them to bear weight. Eventually it will help them build up some muscle tone and make it easier to stand. My kids are 14 months now and the hypertonia one is walking but the hypotonia one isn't. I've also noticed he's much more cautious about things so I figure that will make him take longer than his brother.

To add to what Mel9999 said - early intervention said that when kids are ahead in one thing and behind in the other, they are probably only behind because they were spending so much energy on the thing they were ahead on.

You doing a good thing getting it checked out - find out what kind of exercises you can do with him at home to encourage his development. I know for me, knowing I was doing everything I could helped me get through the day and not worry about him so much.

My son is 20 months old. He is not walking yet and is VERY skinny. Several specialist latter (4) and they still do not know what my son has. I really think that he just doesn't want to walk yet. Not every child develops the same way, and not every child fits in what books say is a "normal development". It's ok to be concerned, but do not let it consume you to the point where all you do is worry (I've been there). He will do it when he is ready!