Clinically reviewed by What is child not walking
Most children take their first independent steps somewhere between nine and eighteen months. That is a wide window and nearly all of it is normal. A child who walks at fifteen months is not behind one who walked at ten.
Parents search for this as bacha chal nahi raha. The honest answer is that late walking is common and most of the time nothing is wrong.
Walking is called delayed when a child is not walking on his own by eighteen months. At that point it is worth finding out why, because a small number of children have a reason that treatment helps.
Symptoms you might have
- Not walking independently by eighteen months
- Not pulling up to stand or taking weight on the legs by twelve months
- Bottom shuffling instead of crawling, which runs in families and goes with later walking
- Walking only on the toes, with heels that will not come flat to the floor
- One leg used differently from the other: dragging, stiffer, or a clear limp
- Falling far more often than other children of the same age
- Late with other things too: speech, hand use, sitting, understanding
Why it happens
- Simply a late walker, often with a parent who walked late too
- Bottom shuffling, a normal variation that goes with later walking
- Being born early. Count from the due date, not the birth date
- Low muscle tone, which makes standing and balance harder work
- Cerebral palsy or another condition affecting the brain's control of movement
- Hip dysplasia, where the hip joint has not formed properly
- Rickets from vitamin D deficiency, common in Pakistan and weakening to bone
- Muscular dystrophy, uncommon but important to rule out in boys
When you should see a physiotherapist
Before eighteen months, if your child is pulling to stand, cruising the furniture and using both legs evenly, you can usually relax and give plenty of floor time.
Book an assessment if your child is not walking by eighteen months, is not taking weight on the legs by twelve months, uses one leg differently from the other, or is late with speech and hand skills too.
See a doctor without delay if your child loses a skill he already had, for example a child who was standing and no longer can. A sudden change in tone, stiff to floppy or floppy to stiff, also needs urgent review. A boy who is falling more and struggling with stairs needs a blood test for muscular dystrophy, which your doctor orders.
Al-Shama Physiotherapy Clinic
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اپائنٹمنٹ کے بارے میں پوچھیںAppointment ke liye poochein
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یہ فارم پُر کریں؛ واٹس ایپ پر آپ کی تفصیلات کے ساتھ پیغام تیار ہو جائے گا۔Yeh form bharein, WhatsApp aap ki tafseel ke saath khul jaye ga.
How it is treated
The first appointment is mostly assessment, and for many families that is the whole treatment. Checking hips, tone, reflexes, strength and the way your child moves tells you whether this is a late walker or something more.
- Exercise therapy, graded practice of pulling up, standing, side stepping and letting go of your hands, built into play
- Strengthening for the hips, thighs and ankles, which is what most late walkers actually need
- Balance work, standing on an unstable surface and reaching, so your child trusts his own feet
- Stretching and manual therapy for tight calves and hips where the assessment finds them
- Supportive footwear or ankle splints where the ankles roll in badly, as a short-term aid
- Referral when the problem is not mechanical. Hip X-rays, vitamin D levels and blood tests for muscle disease are arranged through a doctor
There is no operation for late walking. Where a specific cause is found, such as hip dysplasia or rickets, treating it belongs to an orthopaedic surgeon or a paediatrician, and physiotherapy supports that.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- Floor time and crawling on a firm surface, which builds the strength walking needs
- Standing at a low table with toys on it, so your child plays with his hands free
- Side stepping along furniture, and holding one of your hands instead of two
- Barefoot walking indoors on a safe, even floor, which lets the feet feel and grip
What to avoid
- Baby walkers. They do not teach walking, they delay it, and they cause serious falls
- Long hours in a pram, high chair or car seat instead of on the floor
- Pulling your child along by both hands held high, which stops him balancing himself
- Comparing with a cousin the same age. It tells you nothing useful
What you can do at home
Give your child as much floor time as you can. Hours on the floor beat any exercise programme.
Make the floor interesting and safe: a firm, clear, even space with toys placed just out of reach.
Let your child be barefoot indoors. Soft, flexible shoes are better than stiff ones for most children.
Arrange furniture so your child can cruise from one piece to the next with a small gap to cross.
Expect falls. A child learning to walk falls many times a day, and that is how balance is built.
If your child is bottom shuffling, do not try to stop it. Shufflers walk later and they walk normally.
How long it takes
A healthy late walker with a normal assessment usually walks within two to four months of starting physiotherapy, and often sooner, because what he needed was practice and confidence.
A child with low muscle tone normally takes three to six months of consistent work, and sometimes longer.
Where there is an underlying condition such as cerebral palsy, hip dysplasia or rickets, the timeline follows that condition and the treating doctor guides it.
What speeds it up is daily floor time, bare feet, and letting go of your child's hands. What slows it down is walkers, prams and carrying.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
زیادہ تر بچے نو سے اٹھارہ مہینے کے درمیان چلنا شروع کرتے ہیں۔ یہ فرق بالکل نارمل ہے۔
اگر بچہ اٹھارہ مہینے تک بھی نہ چلے، یا بارہ مہینے تک ٹانگوں پر وزن نہ لے، تو معائنہ ضروری ہے۔ زیادہ تر کیسز میں کوئی مسئلہ نہیں نکلتا، اور یہ اچھی خبر ہے۔
بچے کو روزانہ فرش پر کھیلنے کا زیادہ وقت دیں۔ واکر کا استعمال نہ کریں، اس سے چلنا دیر سے آتا ہے اور گرنے کا خطرہ بڑھتا ہے۔
اگر بچہ پہلے کھڑا ہوتا تھا اور اب نہیں ہوتا، یا ایک ٹانگ گھسیٹ کر چلتا ہے، تو فوراً ڈاکٹر کو دکھائیں۔
Roman Urdu
Zyada tar bachay nau se atharah mahine ke darmiyan chalna shuru karte hain. Ye farq bilkul normal hai.
Agar bacha atharah mahine tak bhi na chale, ya barah mahine tak tangon par wazan na le, to assessment zaroori hai. Zyada tar cases mein koi masla nahi nikalta, aur ye achi khabar hai.
Bachay ko rozana farsh par khelne ka ziada waqt den. Walker ka istemal na karen, is se chalna der se aata hai aur girne ka khatra barhta hai.
Agar bacha pehle khara hota tha aur ab nahi hota, ya ek taang ghaseet kar chalta hai, to foran doctor ko dikhayen.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
INFORMATION → INDIVIDUAL CARE
A plan built around you.
Talk with Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT. Understand your next steps, with guidance for your own symptoms and daily routine.
Talk it through
Discuss your symptoms, what you find difficult and what you want to get back to.
Understand your next steps
Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
Take your plan with you
Your online consultation includes a written plan you can refer to afterwards.
Questions people ask
My child is 16 months and not walking. Should I worry?
Do baby walkers help a child walk sooner?
Does late walking mean my child is slow?
My child walks on his toes. Is that a problem?
Can rickets cause late walking?
Related conditions
- Cerebral palsy treatment and physiotherapy
- Torticollis in babies
- Delayed developmental milestones
- Low muscle tone in babies
- Knock knees in children