delayed milestones
In our growth and development section, we try to highlight some of the ages at which a parent should expect certain milestones. However, we do understand that this information is not exhaustive and does not beat the assessment you will get from a general paediatrician in contact with you and your child.
Delay in milestones could happen because of insults that may have interfered with your unborn child's (embryo or fetus) development. Such insults may include drugs and toxins, infections, insufficiency in nutrition, mothers disease or genetic problems. Delay in milestones could also happen due to injury during the process of delivery (injury to the brain, deprivation of oxygen due to a slow process of delivery due to whatever reason) or in the first few months of a child's life (infections, toxins, trauma).When this happens, it is called cerebral palsy.
Many times in our set-up, it is difficult to know the cause of delayed milestones. But this does not prevent management of the child and parents to try and ameliorate the deficits. A visit to the paediatrician will help. We are happy to engage some more with parents who need more guidance on this.
Comments
delayed milestone
what can i do for my two year old son who has not walked?
Delayed walking in a two year old
Your concerns are valid; at two years, a baby should be walking. Some perfectly normal children take time to start walking. Commonly, such children don't crawl but would rather move with their bottoms - bottom shuffling. However, there are some tell-tale signs that can indicate whether there is a problem. Thus, your baby may have taken time to sit up (usually at 6 months), crawl (at about 9 to 12 months) or even pull on to the age of a table or object to stand (from about 12 to 15 months) and cruise around furniture (moving round holding onto the table or chair). On holding the baby to stand on your lap,you could also feel that his legs are a bit weak and he may collapse on your lap.
It would be important to know what of the things that I have mentioned above your baby is able to do now. And can he follow simple instructions, speak, look for stuff to play with or smile and play with other people? The ideal thing is to have your baby to be comprehensively reviewed by a qualified paediatrician. You could also come to our workshop this Saturday (09/07/2011) and one of our doctors will have a look at your baby and offer appropriate advice. Feel free to provide us with more details about your baby.