11 month old not sitting, crawling...

[jenlh]

My 11 month old is not sitting up on her own yet.  She can not pull her self up into a sitting position nor can she sit by her self if I sit her up.  She's not crawling, walking or standing.  She does roll very well though.  She also hasn't spoken any words yet(mamma, dadda...) It's almost as if she's an eight month old baby and not on her way to a year.  She was three weeks premature, but otherwise very healthy.  She hasn't even been sick yet.  I've increased her tummy time and have been paying extra special attention to her developement but am very conserned.  Could this be a real problem?

[nastursim]

mmm, it may be worht your while getting her assessed to see a physio. SHe may have some global delay or it may be a sign of something more serious. Take her to your peadiatrician ASAP

[Resptherapist2]

I am also a mother of a child like this. He is 10 months and cannot sit up by himself, cannot crawl, doesnt pull-up, doesnt hold his own bottle...etc. And I dont see him doing it any time soon. He rolls both ways very well and otherwise seems alert. We had an MRI and all they could find was "a small area of gliosis" Could any doctors out there explain? They didnt seem worried about it.....Jenlh- What does your doctor say???? Please write back....or e-mail    o2_4_you***@****
I have been worried sick.....

[nastursim]

MY little girl was the same, she was diagnosed with hypotonia, low muscle tone, mild cerebral palsy, and her MRI showed periventricular luekomalacia. SHe has been receiving therapy since she was 6 months old, and has come a long way, now at 20 months, she can do most things. Every child is different thought and that is why it is important to go to the doc and get her looked at.

[jenlh]

My 11 month old has just started her pysical therapy, we haven't done any test yet like an mri or anythingh.  Her doctor would prefer to waite untill her up comming appointment one month from now to see if she progresses at all.  We are more conserned about a possible gass issue or sever acid refluck that she may have because she has all ways suffered with lots of gas, and has had problems eating.  She would spit up most of her formula for about 8 months when we finally found the perfect formula for her.  Now she has difficulties eating.  She only eats some baby food if it's real liquidy.  She has a hard time with real thick foods.  She also seems to have gas pains immediately when she starts to eat.  We intend to look into that as well as the other possibilities.  Other then that, it is a mystory to me.  

[isthiscp]

Our son is similar. 3 weeks early,tough pregnancy and delivery. He is 12 months and 2 weeks. With physio and hard work he can now sit but cannot be left as if he falls over he cannot catch himself. He slumps to the right side and cannot crawl, hold bottle etc. Has your daughter other med probs? Our son has had recurrent kidney and uti infections with seizures even though they say the kidneys are clear. They say he has hypotonia. Cerebral palsy has been mentioned but finding it hard to get anyone to give a firm diagnosis. Please reply if you can!  

[isthiscp]

Our son is similar. 3 weeks early,tough pregnancy and delivery. He is 12 months and 2 weeks. With physio and hard work he can now sit but cannot be left as if he falls over he cannot catch himself. He slumps to the right side and cannot crawl, hold bottle etc. Has your daughter other med probs? Our son has had recurrent kidney and uti infections with seizures even though they say the kidneys are clear. They say he has hypotonia. Cerebral palsy has been mentioned but finding it hard to get anyone to give a firm diagnosis. Please reply if you can!  

[nastursim]

If your little one has low muscle tone it can affect their feeding, as their mouth and tongue muscles can take longer to mature. It can cause delays in speech too. as those muscles can be affected also. I think it may be a little negligent for your doc not to make some diagnosis, even something as simple as low muscle tone, because the sooner you start therapy, the sooner they can progress. My little one had to be taught to do everything as her brain was not sending the right messages that, the ones they naturally do. An early intervention program would be good to get her into as they have the OT, speech therapist, and physio.  The speech therapist can help you with the feeding issues.

[jenlh]

Isthiscp- no my daughter hasn't had any UTI's or kidney infections, all though I did have a constant UTI while I was preg. the whole time- it even caused preterm labor which I receive the drug they give you to stop the labor(the one that makes you shakey)  I can't help but wonder if your son experiences some pain do to his uti and kidney issues.  If I were you, I consider finding someone who specialises in that type of thing, and have them see your son, it wouldn't hurt. Could it be possible that he continues to have a uti even slightly? does he have his urine checked constantly?
I just purchased a Bebe pod, which is a seat designed to promote your baby's sitting and developement.  It is a soft deep seat that is designed to allow his weight to support him while sitting in it safely and comfortably.  Have you tried this for him? I've only had it for a couple of days, but am hopeful.  Nastursim- I am a little conserned about low muscle tone because of how wobbally(can't spell) she is.  I was a little dissapointed that her doc, wanted to wait untill her 12month appointment (3 weeks away) not just because I want answers, but because I am very conserned that she may be in pain. Every time I sit her up, she kicks her legs out and crys like it really hurts (you know what I mean by understanding your baby's cry) I don't know if it's her back or her stomach.  I do have a slight scholiosis (again I can't spell:) but it was brought on by bad posture and pregnancy.  I have a half sister who also has scholiosis, but she has always taken very poor care of herself, and she is just my father's daughter. When I feel my daughter's spine, it seems fine to me, but what do I know? What do you think?

[jenlh]

[jenlh]

One perhaps crucial thing in which I forgott to mention about my 11 month old girl is that when she was born, she had to have her stomache pumped the day after her birth because she was a purpleish color and was spitting up mucas.  They thought that she may have swallowed fluids or something like that when she was born so they went ahaid and pumped her stomache.  My sister had mentioned to me when she came to visit us that day (day after birth) and felt that my daughter shouldn't be a purple color, I then proceeded to tell ask the nurse if their was something wrong.  That's when she took my daughter into the nursery.  She came back and said that yes she shouldn't be that color and they would pump her stomache.  Is there a chance that she may have been lacking the propper oxygen, and if so, can this be the problem?

[kerby's mama]

my sister has a 19 month old lil girl...she doesn't walk, crawl, sit up very well, talk, has a lazy eye, and when you try to bend her legs, feet or knees you cant because they are so stiff, but she can move them on her own slightly....she is currently in speech therapy, physical therapy, and is seeing a neurologists to try and figure out what is going on with her body. oh, and she was 2 1/2 months premature as well. doctors haven't figured out anyhting yet but i thought i would share my experience with you.

[jenlh]

do you know if she has had an mri? I'm sure that it would be on the top of her neurologists list. My daughter just had an other dr's appointment today, we are really leaning toward's a gas and acid reflucks issue which is likely causing pain preventing her to sit and eat propperly.  She just started medicine today, and we're very hopeful.  Their was some talk of possible CP, but her doc feels that her fine moter skills are very good.  An mri would tell us for sure.  Has your sister's doc considered ceberal palsy (cp) I know that it can cause the muscle often in the legs to be really stiff or flabby. It sounds like she's getting the appropiate help.  Good luck

[wq2779]

Hi, my baby will be 1 yr old next week.  He was born three weeks early, and had acid reflux until 9 months.  He only learned to sit up if I did it for him at almost 9 months.  His pediatrician recommended early intervention at nine months.  When EI came to evaluate him, they said he has hypotonia in his trunk and hypertonia in his extremeties.  They said he has no problems socially.  A neurologist gave us the wrong blood test results and told us he has a genetic abnormality, when questioned further she was very vague but said it is not my son with those results. I took him to another neurologist, because I wanted an MRI because it is the only way to truly confirm cp. Needless to say, I was losing my mind and sleep! His MRI is in January and I am taking him to a geneticist tommorow.  About three days ago, he had a visit from his PT for the first time and that night he all of a sudden started to crawl the right way, cruise along surfaces and pull to sitting and crawling all in the same day.  So now I think my child is just slow in his motor development and due to his reflux he got no tummy time until 9 months. So, the moral for us Mommies, is to really take a deep breath and hold on to hope because miracles do happen! You are welcome to share any stories or comments. my e-mail is ***@****.  Love to all.

[wq2779]

oops I didn't know I can't share my e-mail but please feel free to comment here!

[2230]

I have 14 mth. old twins. One boy one girl.The boy will be needing a heart transplant and the muscle biopsy have come back negative the Drs. feel it happen inuteroHe does fine and is walking, he does'nt say a lot of words yet but recently had to have a G-tube for weight gain. Now his twin sister is crawling stiff, her tongue comes out of mouth a lot and is usally to left side when it does.She arches her back when taking a bottle. Seem to cough a lot sometimes chocking sound effect she also is able to say alot more words than her brother, and as far as I know has no seizure activity. She also interlocks her fingers a lot but can pick up books turn pages, plays with toys. They were delivered week 37 Drs choice not mine since I had no labor pains. But they said I had gestial diabetes although when I did the finger pokes my levels were always normal range. She also draws her hands up in what appears to be a puppy type beg at times. I have talk to the pediatrican numerous times since she was younger and she felt that some of these things  were normal for twins. Now on last visit I showed her pictures and she watched her crawl and said to call 1-800 early on but would'nt go into detail about what their for or what she feels is wrong. When I asked her she said we would give it another mth after her brothers echo of heart and talk more. He is being seen at a well known hospital in Mi at University the pediatrian is also through this hospital. But I plan on going to a Nurologist for children to have her evaluated or a second opinon since our pediatrican is being so evasive. Yes my delivery was very difficult the ob nicked the bowel, and they were delivered quickly, my son weight 5lbs.5oz, and his sister 4lbs.11oz. They had trouble during the c-section and I was hospitalize for 3 weeks with numerous problems but not sure if the trauma effected the twins. Any one who has any ideas please let me know. As I worry so much. I forgot to mention she can stand sometimes holding onto furniture when she lets go she trys to walk but I noticed her foot is a little outward and when she sits it is usally like a w postition. I'm fearful this may be cp or  some tumor could cause this. Please any info would help since I'am so worried. She does eat number 2 foods and mash potatoes, I give juice in sippy cups small amount since she sometimes seems to choke. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks So worried mom.

[SweetSarah06]

My little girl has a lot in common with some of yours, too. She's 14 months old and can sit briefly but often falls out of the seated position. She just doesn't seem interested in the whole idea of sitting. She also has absolutely no interest in standing, even with support. And she makes very few consonant sounds and doesn't babble much. Recently she started experiencing seizures for which she is taking medication (to halt them until we figure out why they are happening). She does roll around a lot, can hold her bottle, laughs, makes eye contact, responds to her name, knows her brothers and sister and grandparents very well and is generally a very happy girl. She had a completely normal delivery and eats well.

We are going crazy trying to figure out what is wrong but so far everything we've done has turned out normal - normal MRI, normal EEG, normal fundus exam, part of her metabolic tests have come back - also normal. We are waiting results from chromosome tests and some other metabolic tests, but because everything takes so long, I want to do everything possible as soon as possible. Any idea of what else she might need?

We are expats and are planning a trip to the US this summer to try and get (or confirm) a diagnosis - any ideas of where in the Southwest might be a good center to try? Somewhere in New Mexico/Texas/Colorado would be ideal.

Thanks! And just reading about everyone else's experience makes me feel like I'm not alone - knowing that something isn't right with my baby but not knowing what is sooooo frustrating!

[mommyofnathan]

The fact is... if your child is not developing the way that they should, you should insist on further tests.  In some cases it is a mild form of a brain disorder, in others it is a genetic problem (chromosome defects), in others it is a very serious condition that falls into the category of neurometabolic diseases and in others it is a global brain disorder where the brain either didn't fully develop due to whatever reason, problems during birth, illnesses after birth etc.  That is why you should never ignore something that is out of the ordinary.
If your child has difficulties eating, there might be a problem with swallowing (due to hypotonia) and there is a very real possibility that he/she might be aspirating feeds (food/drink into the lungs).
It is difficult to take the wait and see approach, but unfortunately, this is just the way it is.  It is impossible for doctors to predict how a child will respond to physical therapy.  It is impossible to predict where your child will be in say two years time.
My son suffered brain-injury due to oxygen deprevation.  He is nearly three and still doesn't have head control let alone be able to do anything a child his age can.  He has acid reflux, hates tummy time, severe hypotonia, cannot coordinate swallowing, is cortically blind and is tube fed.  He has a lot of gas and GI problems will always be part of our lives due to low muscle tone also affecting peristalsis.  
The point I am trying to make here is that you MUST insist on physical therapy from a very early age if there is any reason to believe your child may be delayed.  The diagnosis is important in some serious cases, but the truth is, sometimes there just isn't any answers.  Start treating the symptoms so long but don't hold back on treatment or rehabilitation purely because you are awaiting test results or are unsure of a diagnosis.  Valuable time is lost.
Good luck to all of you.  I know how you feel, I have been there.  I am still there and although it takes a very long time, acceptance does happen.  Remember not to treat your child any different than you would if he was "normal".  Most kiddos with CP are bright, they just have problems with the motor side of things.
    

[SweetSarah06]

Okay, I've got a question. I just had my daughter's first session of "physical therapy" and anticipated that there would be some physical manipulation of her body involved. Instead, the therapist just suggested things that I was already doing - try to get her to feed herself, try to get her to drink from a cup... etc. She has what the doctors have termed "mild hypotonia" and a diagnosis is pending although all test results have come back normal.

We are abroad, so I'm very interested in knowing what physical therapy for a mildly hypotonic infant would mean elsewhere so if she's not getting what she needs, I'll seek it out.

Thanks!

[mommyofnathan]

Find a neurophysio.  Nathan is severely affected but his therapy includes:
1.  swimming in heated swimmingpool
2.  rolling on gym ball
3.  hours on the floor on tummy
4.  simulated crawling
5.  repetition and routine.
she uses a lot of positive motivation.  other words, if he gets something right, he gets a treat, sort of like dog training?? I know it sounds terrible but he knows if he can hold his head up by himself for 10 counts, he gets a lick of chocolate.  He loves it.  Every few weeks she increases the counts, then he is confused for a while and very unhappy if he doesn't get his treat.  But a few days and he catches on and does the extra counts she wants him to. She cheers and shouts it is VERY noisy during a session.  the physical manipulation is passive exercises and is meant to prevent contractures by keeping the joints mobile.
Maybe find someone you click with?

[SweetSarah06]

thanks so much for your feedback! That is exactly what I expected and was very surprised by what actually happened. I'll keep looking!

[sarah430]

It sounds like your daughter has hypotonia.  From all that I have read on the subject, she seems to have a lot of symptoms--the arching of the back and choking when taking a bottle, the 'W' sit, and the foods she's eating are a few.  Hope that helps.

[230507]

my son is 12 months old and still hasnt been diagnosed . he can roll to one but cannot sit up as he flops over, cant pull to stand up , he hates tummy time cant lift his head up. but he is always full of smiles. he is still on baby formula and he will certain baby foods once its liquidised , he gags on thick lumpy food. genetics thinks its noonans or cfc syndrome.he has certain facial features and single crease on both hands, he is recieving physio at the moment.

[crabby70]

He has been seen by neuroloigist....Where I live we go through Early Intervention and they give the appropraite threapy...Sometimes they don't give a diagnose till they are older...best of luck

[Salli198103]

I am so glad I found this thread! I have a 16 month old boy who has recently seen a paediatrician, following concern at his 12 month health visit.
He has been initially reffered to Physio for General Hypotonia (just pulling up to knees, not quite crawling properly - commando with one leg, Eye specialist for alternating Squint (might be related to poor muscle tone in eyes? ? ), Speech therapy (only babbles a bit, with no specific words yet), Portage (people who come out to the home ? ) , Blood Tests - for thyroid and muscle enzymes.

So as you can imagine, we have appointments coming out of our ears, and no real asnwers.

Nobody has mentionned an MRI? which I guess must mean that they don't think its neurologically related??

He is a happy child, smiley, eats and sleeps well, but I certainly wouldn't say he's bright? He can't pick a 'cat' or 'ball' picture out of a book, which I've been teaching him for weeks and weeks. I'm just concerned that with this physcial delay, is learning difficulties? Are the two related? Anyone else got similar worries?

[shellsa]

i also have a son like that thats 19 months hes only just started to caterpillar crawl he can speak and say some words it took tons of practice to sit around he ive got simalar worries with my son partly his prob is microcephally mildly hes very quite slow also

[jms1]

I have a 16 months old son, diagnosed as global developmental delay. He can roll and put up his head.  He started to sit at 14 months.  He still cannot crawl and hates sitting.  THe docs suggest MRI, but we hesitate because our son had been warded once at 4 months but the docs could not find his veins to get blood.  So, we are afraid that MRI which requires sedation will make him suffer but to no avail.  Is this possible?  I need some comments and advice on MRI.

[SweetSarah06]

Are you sure he'll need an IV? My little girl has had two MRIs - once they gave her an IV and the other time she had oral medication combined with sleep deprivation. We didn't really find out much from the MRI - all it showed was delayed mylenization. But at least we learned that her brain was structurally normal! Sarah ended up being diagnosed with Angelman syndrome. Your son sounds like he's about where Sarah was at his age. She's 2 and still can't really crawl.

As hard as it is to go through an MRI and see your little boy putting up with a procedure, I'd go for it.

[supermomma531]

I have three kids.Two of them boys.My 7 year old has a serious uncontrolled seizures disorder.He is learning delayed by about 3 years.He has been diagnosed with mesial temporal sclerosis,Lennox gastaut syndrome,epilepsy(3 different types of seizures),ADD,has up to 20-30 seizures daily.He is being considered for surgery.He was delayed in speech until almost 4 years of age.He was is delayed in all areas.He is having developmental testing and chromosome testing done by his pediactric-neurologist.I have a 11 month old boy who seems to be delayed as well.He doesn't like to be face down at all.He doesn't roll or crawl.He was nursed until 10.5 months old so he just started holding a bottle about a month ago.He doesn't sit up on his own yet but when put into the sitting position, he scoots around the house on his butt.He had a 30 minute seizure at x-mas time and had a fever but only at 38.7.The doctor thinks that there is something more underlying this issue.He seems to be very bright and attentive to all things.He also had developmental testing done,most things look fine.Still waiting for one part of test to come back.Epilepsy runs high in my family. Therapy starts soon. Any advice for a concerned,confused mom?

[MoMMA_MuSH]

Question:

My son is almost 10 months old -
He can sit on his own, babbles, says mama/dada, holds his own bottle, but he's not crawling or pulling up on his own yet. If I stand him up and put him next to the coffee table or bed side he can stand on his own, and even hold on with one arm. His pediatrician is concerned about his head size (we have big heads in both mine and my boyfriend's family) - they recently have performed an ultrasound and MRI on his head and both showed enlarged ventricles with excess fluid on the brain. She says sometimes this can be normal & they'll grow out of it, and other times it's called Hydrocephalus. We're going to see a Genetics Physician this week to see if we can actually pin point "if something is wrong" - does anyone else have similiar problems to this? I've searched all over the web for parents who have children with Hydrocephalus, but I've found nothing?

[MoMMA_MuSH]

Question:

My son is almost 10 months old -
He can sit on his own, babbles, says mama/dada, holds his own bottle, but he's not crawling or pulling up on his own yet. If I stand him up and put him next to the coffee table or bed side he can stand on his own, and even hold on with one arm. His pediatrician is concerned about his head size (we have big heads in both mine and my boyfriend's family) - they recently have performed an ultrasound and MRI on his head and both showed enlarged ventricles with excess fluid on the brain. She says sometimes this can be normal & they'll grow out of it, and other times it's called Hydrocephalus. We're going to see a Genetics Physician this week to see if we can actually pin point "if something is wrong" - does anyone else have similiar problems to this? I've searched all over the web for parents who have children with Hydrocephalus, but I've found nothing?

[MoMMA_MuSH]

Question:

My son is almost 10 months old -
He can sit on his own, babbles, says mama/dada, holds his own bottle, but he's not crawling or pulling up on his own yet. If I stand him up and put him next to the coffee table or bed side he can stand on his own, and even hold on with one arm. His pediatrician is concerned about his head size (we have big heads in both mine and my boyfriend's family) - they recently have performed an ultrasound and MRI on his head and both showed enlarged ventricles with excess fluid on the brain. She says sometimes this can be normal & they'll grow out of it, and other times it's called Hydrocephalus. We're going to see a Genetics Physician this week to see if we can actually pin point "if something is wrong" - does anyone else have similiar problems to this? I've searched all over the web for parents who have children with Hydrocephalus, but I've found nothing?

[MoMMA_MuSH]

Question:

My son is almost 10 months old -
He can sit on his own, babbles, says mama/dada, holds his own bottle, but he's not crawling or pulling up on his own yet. If I stand him up and put him next to the coffee table or bed side he can stand on his own, and even hold on with one arm. His pediatrician is concerned about his head size (we have big heads in both mine and my boyfriend's family) - they recently have performed an ultrasound and MRI on his head and both showed enlarged ventricles with excess fluid on the brain. She says sometimes this can be normal & they'll grow out of it, and other times it's called Hydrocephalus. We're going to see a Genetics Physician this week to see if we can actually pin point "if something is wrong" - does anyone else have similiar problems to this? I've searched all over the web for parents who have children with Hydrocephalus, but I've found nothing?

[mom24of3]

my daughter katie was 3 weeks premature, and she rolled over on time, but she is now 11 months, and still not sitting up yet.  she does not pull up, and i am starting to worry about her.  she is really alert, and she tries to sit up really hard, but she cant seem to get there yet.  she doesn't crawl, but she seems to be close to crawling, but not yet.  i dont think she is special needs, but she has really big problems on sitting up.  i am going to have her in pt soon probably.  i had another daughter that had torticolis, and she is so amazing now with all the hard work in pt.  she doesn't need it anymore.  i put her in a bumbo alot, and sit with her, and tummy time.  i am really at a loss, and not looking forward to the whole pt thing again. she is hard at feeding also.  she doesn't like finger foods yet like my other one's. and not even a tooth yet.                      

[cows573]

I have a 10 month old boy (No. 3) who is not sitting unaided and struggles even to sit assisted for longer than a few seconds.  I didn't really bother much up to this as I just thought he was a bit slower (and all kids develop at there own rate).  I phoned the Health Visitor today to ask about him and she came out to assess him.  He is within the normal range for everything else except his large motor development.  She's referring him to the consultant.  Is there anything I can do to help him? - he spends a lot of time rolling about and on his tummy but not much sitting up as he falls over so easily and cries like it's just too hard work for him.

[woolvett]

My daughter as well is 11 months old and cannot sit up. crawl feed herself a cookie or hold a toy.  She smiles, follows the family with her eyes and is generally a happy girl.  She is going to physio (her second session) and has her second appointment with her pediatrition.  Ŧhey think she has low muscle tone in her trunk and arms and want her to go to sick kids hospital for a full evaluation, have early intervention at home, go to speech and swallow therapy.  I just feel that I am not ready to ring the alarm bells yet.  I still think that with some help she will catch up already in the last two months shes learned to roll over and is now lifting her head while on her belly.  She also has a startle reflex still and has trouble with the chunkier baby foods and gagging.  I think I will wait for the next docs appointment to make any decisions

[Byancey]

No Child Left Behind requires that children in the US be identified and treated from the time of birth.  Pease contact your local School District Special Education Department and ask that your child be screened.  There is a 90 day timeline from the time that you contact the district and the evaluation is started.  This is federally mandated and at no charge to you.

[dee53020]

i have a 17 month old baby boy who has only started to sit on his own he cant yet cralw or speak or stand by himself he is going on wed for his first appointment anyone help me

[Shina26]

My son is 11 months old and he has similar problems. He does sit well and has for a long time but he does not move around the room or crawl. He does not feed himself food or hold a bottle. He is strong enough to support himself while standing with help but refuses to do so for more than a few seconds. He does babble and his happy. He can roll both ways but does not use this to get around the room. He has had respitory problems and may have asthma. We are growing very concerned about his delays and plan to have him checked out soon. We hope to get some answers soon though I have doubts it will be taken seriously by doctors. It took 4 months for them to finally decide that he needed to see a specialist for his breathing issues.