We commonly hear that parents are worried about their kids’ gross motor development long before their family physician or paediatrician are concerned. But knowing when to get your late-walker assessed is tricky. While it is true that often kids will walk when they are ready, if this is a cause for concern, there are options!

What is Late Walking?

Kids develop at their own rate, with a fairly predictable path, but within this path there is a wide range of what is considered normal. Kids generally walk between 12-16 months, although many even take until 18 months and this is still considered to be within typical range. While taking longer to walk doesn’t necessarily mean cause for alarm, a few easy tricks can often get your little one moving in the right direction.

What Can Physiotherapy Do?

Sometimes kids develop their own habits of moving around which are comfortable and stable for them, yet this takes longer to develop the right core, trunk or gluteal muscles needed for upright steps resulting in late-walking. Identifying these patterns or habits can really help!

Other times late-walkers are kids that are very cautious. Learning strategies to help them gain confidence can go a long way in a short time.

Late walking may also be related to the environment. Some kids love hanging out in exersaucers or jolly jumpers, but these don’t allow for proper muscle development at the hips. Others may just be happy playing on the floor if that’s where all the fun toys (or pets!) are. Ideas to identify and change may help to get your little one moving.

Early Intervention

Occasionally there is more to it than a simple fix, however if this is the case, early intervention is still the best course of action.  Low muscle tone (hypotonia) can mean that the body need even more stability since the muscles are floppy, or high muscle tone (hypertonia) can result in the muscles not being at the ideal length and can make balance difficult.

In today’s environment there are often long waitlists for public services. So even once a referral has been initiated, it may be some time before your child is seen for an initial assessment – contradictory to the idea of early intervention.

What Can You Do?

At Butterfly Paediatric Therapy, our Physiotherapists can help, and your kiddo can be seen within 2 weeks. The therapist will do an assessment and provide a treatment plan which will always involve ideas for things to do at home, and if warranted follow-up sessions with the therapist to work on the areas of weakness.

If you’re concerned, please call us at (905) 206-0300.  We can alleviate your worries about your late-walker and give you some strategies to get your little one on their feet!