Motor delay in an 11 month old

[tmccallan]

My 11 month old son has some motor delay problems.  He doesn't stand (even with support), isn't crawling, and doesn't have a fine pincher grasp yet.  He has difficulty rolling from front to back as he can't seem to get his arms under him.  He is able to sit without support, but doesn't get to that position on his own.  He is unable to do the "baby push-ups" when he is on him tummy,  

We have seen different doctors over the last few months for various reasons.  Some say not to worry that he is just "lazy" and others suggest that we see a specialist. The message to us has been very mixed.

He was a week premature, but otherwise had a totally uncomplicated perinatal period.

Should I be worried?

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is certainly reasonable to pursue this situation, because your son's motor development is outside the norm. The length of the pregnancy should not at all be a factor. But the lack of progress in this area does deserve evaluation. A developmental pediatrician could be consulted. Ask your son's pediatrician for a referral, and don't settle for the explanation that your son is 'lazy' - that is not a sufficient explanation of what is occurring.

[mom2rachie]

WHen you say a week pre-mature do you meanhe was born at 39 weeks because anything after 36 weeks is full term so he wouldn'tnecessarily be considered pre-mature.
If he was born at 35 weeks, well then he is pre-mature but would still be expected to do the things that a 10 month old does.
My daughter is 11 months old yesterday and can do all those things but my sister in law's son cannot and he is a month older.  She has a therapist work with him and has since about 8 months old.  He really should be doing those things by now and early intervention is the key.  I think that it's easy for docs to say that it will correct itself but as you're waiting for it to do so, time is flying by.
I suggest you get him into physical therapy.  He progbably is just lazy, lots of babies are.  Do you have any other childrenin the house, perhaps younger that he is imitating?  Hemightbe trying tohold onto to that "baby" status longer than usual for attention.  He needs to be stimulated into doing a lot of what you mentioned or he will fall further behind.  OR, he could just wake up one day and do them.  
If I were you, I wouldn't wait but I wouldn't be overly concerned.  

[Cleveland Mom]

It would be wise to contact your healthcare provider and request a referral for a physical therapist to evaluate your son.  Physical therapy can be very beneficial to helping children reach gross motor milestones.  You should also request a referral for occuptional therapy to evaluate your son's fine motor skills and to provide treatment if appropriate.  

In addtion to contacting your health care provider, you should also consider contacting your local public school district for Early Intervention services.  If your son qualifies, he can recieve therapy thru the school district free of charge to you.

Best wishes...

[Ali33]

My son was very similar at this age. He did not sit up until 11 month, did not crawl until 14 months and at 17 months old he is still not able to walk or say any words except Da, da. He also found it difficult to use his arms and until 14 months was trying to use his head to crawl. Otherwise he is a happy loving child. He see a speech therpaist, Physio and might also see occupational therapist. He has had a formal assessement at one now is diagnoised with a Global developmenat delay. It is important to get him help as young as possible and this can really progress thing and also mean experts are looking for what might be going on and can refer you to other usefull team is neccessary such as genetics.

[dulcemillie]

i am a nanny for a 11month old girl she refuse to sit down unless you put her down she cant do on her own yet she doesnt like to use her knees .she doesnt point at anything she doesnt even babble..she crawls on her stomach only doesnt want to use her knees again.she likes to stand up for alittle while with support but not by her self.she doesnt have any type of balance she flops over all the time even sitting .she see a phyical thereapy 2 twice a week but i see very little development is there any thing i can do to help thank you millie

[tylaj246]

Hi, my daughter was 12 weeks pemature and all your symptons are similar to that of my daughter. she has cerebral Palsy.  I too knew something was not right but everybody told me she was lazy and i was over-reacting.  Finally 14 months later she was diagnosed after a lot of foot stamping!  I would demand to see a specialist, your instincts are usually right.

[limon2920]

My son is 10 months old and has the same issues as your son. He can't sit up on his own and doesn;t crawl. He sees a PT and she diagnosed him with having low muscle tone. He doesn't like solid food. He normally just spits it out.  He seems to be getting stronger everyday, but is not quite where he should be. It's so hard because I wish I could fix him but that come with time. I can't wait for the day when he starts crawling.

[need help now]

My daughter started to crawl just before 12 months and started to walked on 18 months! She had problems with her muscels went for fisio got better after 3months of fisio witch i did myself. Good luck