What do you think about this physical developmental stage in 1 year old?

[eoinsmom]

I have a dcg who turned 1 in January. She is a bum scooter, which is fine - I've had a few of those, they skipped crawling but just up and walked one day. What I haven't ever had before is a kid who refused to bear weight on her legs and couldn't roll over or sit herself up by the time she was one! This girl can sit very well (bum scoots everywhere), but if she ever tips over she just lays there like a turtle flipped on her back and cries. I've left her for a few minutes before just to see if she will roll over and sit up, but she doesn't. Her parents have told me that they never really did the tummy time because she would always cry. I've been doing tummy time and having her practice going backwards down the stairs, I think it is important that kids know how to do stairs by the time they get mobile (she's already fallen down the stairs at home, trying to butt scoot down). I try to get her to put some weight on her legs occasionally, but she just pulls them up! Being able to roll over and sit yourself up seems like a pretty important skill to me....any ideas on how to help her to 'get' this concept?

[torontokids]

My cousin's kid did this exactly and the dr.s were a bit concerned about leg/hip problems but they just watched and waited and at 15 mos started walking and shortly after running. I would just ask the parents what the dr is saying about it. Probably nothing to worry about.

[Bookworm]

Could also be that the parents pick her up every time she cries while on the floor, so she does it because she gets picked up. I would just leave her on the floor for a bit every day (maybe even in a playpen) and when she falls over, leave her to figure it out on her own. Or, show her what to do, but don't do it for her, kwim? Instead of picking her up, help her sit up etc...then gradually stop helping her up and she should do it on her own.

[MonkeyMamma]

My son bum scooted and did not bear weight at 12 months. He was also low weight and was considered failure to thrive (a term I dislike). What has their pediatrician or doctor said? We were sent to CHEO for evaluations. Luckily, no problems could be pinpointed, and my son just up and started walking at 18 months. His gross motor quickly caught up and there is no stopping him now.

We did a lot of exercising in jumperoos and exersaucers to help develop his muscles and motivate him to use those legs.

[Artsand crafts]

I had a similar case. At 1 year old when she started with me she could not get up by herself. She was crawling though. If I helped her to hang into something in the standing position and let go she would fall down. She showed some other delays in her development. She walked after 3 months and improved a lot. I think she was more motivated here than at home to move around to be able to get toys to play with. By 18 months she new some colours, was able to eat with with spoon, and was able to control herself very well like waiting for her turn all the time when she wanted something. She is now a very smart 4 years old... If the doctor says that she is healthy it could be that at home they have not let her do things that she is capable of because they do not want her to get frustrated.

[playfelt]

Sounds like she has been carried a lot of the time or the parents have been down on the floor with her so all she had to do was scoot between them.

Put her in the exersaucer or something similar every day or even a few times a day to get the legs moving. Another thing to work on balance is to use a large exercise ball and have her sit on it, lay on it etc while you hold her hands. She will increase her sense of balance doing that.

When she falls over instead of picking her up assist her body through the motions of getting up. If she can't push herself up then her arm strength is poor as well. Doing things with the arms overhead such as holding scarves above her head for her to reach and bat at will help increase shoulder/arm strength and work on balance too as she will be looking up and need to rely on her body to stay stable not the horizon.

[Crayola kiddies]

I have one right now that started with me at the end on nov and he was just 10 months. At that time he did not crawl, roll over, or put himself in a sitting position. He would stand at a table or some such thing but could not get down so would just stand there and cry. He could cruise around the table and if you held his hands would walk. His first week with me I would put him in a sitting pisition in the middle of the floor and put toys around him but out if reach so if he wanted them he had to go get them. In less then two weeks he was crawling. When I changed his diaper I would leave him there for a bit and when he started to cry I would take his one leg and cross it over his body to show him how to roll over. After about two or three weeks he finally flipped over himself. He was here probably 4 weeks when his mom told me he rolled over in his crib in the night for the first time. After about 6 weeks they told me he pulled him self up in his crib for the first time .... He was over one at this point. Three weeks ago after many weeks of tears he learned how to go from a standing position back down to the floor. This child just got helped in to the position he wanted instead jf being encouraged to do it himself .... He has come a long way in the 3.5 months he's been here. Basically from immobile and helpless to self sufficient. Now I just got to get him going up and down stairs and walking.

[eoinsmom]

Thanks! We'll keep working on it! I've never experienced this before, all my other kids were so active and ready to move

[playfelt]

I blame the current fad of using a sling for a lot of the physical issues. If your arms and legs are imbolized you don't use them. If your body is constantly supported by the sling you don't develop strength in the upper body. Now dont' get me wrong I think a sling has it's place for newborns but once a child should be mobile it's use should be discontinued at least for portions of the day. I have had a mom come for an interview and carried her 11 month old in in the carseat and then transfer her to the sling for the duration of the interview. Other than the cute little face and the brief view as she was lifted out of the seat I never saw the child the rest of the time. Any attempts to get access to the child were met with a why kind of response. Needless to say suggested a nanny at least for a few months till child was a little more independent as there was no way this child was ready for group daycare.

[eoinsmom]

Yes! That is my clingy, crying two year old...she came to me last May in a sling, and was sent to my home with her sling for me to use (didn't happen). I remember putting her down on the floor and her giving me this stunned look like "You expect me to move myself?" She caught on after a few months that I wasn't going to come carry her everywhere and started moving around. Unfortunately, she was away for a week just recently, and I suspect was carried everywhere again...she returned to care asking me to carry her, refusing to play with other kids, crying if she wasn't picked up or didnt get what she asked for right away. Some of this I can chalk up to her getting close to the two year old, "terrible twos", mark but a bit to the extreme. (I've had a few other posts about her, she is definitely more suited to a nanny). Mom brushed it off at first, but when I pushed she admitted that dcg fell down a few stairs and so they have been carrying her up and down the stairs as she "scared herself and is afraid now". Mom also admitted that she in fact doesn't play well with other kids outside of my care (which I have been saying for months), and that she prefers to stay with adults as opposed to going off and playing. Drives me bonkers, I am constantly telling her to go play, which she refuses to do and if other kids try to play with her, she asks to go to "nap" (she is extrememely verbal for her age) and will happily stay in her playpen for hours at a time reading books or playing with little toys. IMO mom is a bit over the top and would ultimately enjoy a nanny more - she texts me multiple times a day to check in (kid has been coming for almost a year now), sends her own organic food for dcg, doesn't push dcg to do anything she says she doesn't want to do, insists on long "snuggles" to say good bye in the morning even when dcg obviously wants to get down....