Africa: Late to Walk

29 March 2017

Ottawa — I have two children. A daughter who just turned six and a son who just turned three. My daughter was late to walk. My husband and I were pretty worried about why it was taking so long for her to stop 'bum scooching' -- her preferred method of movement. I consulted Google on more than one occasion to see if other parents had children doing the same. I felt anxious when I read that 18 months was considered very late. She didn't start until she was 22 months after a few months of physiotherapy.

My son followed in his sister's footsteps, but being the second child, we were much more relaxed about his late motor development and repeatedly said, 'he'll get there.' But by the time he was 22 months he wasn't even close to taking his first steps. His pediatrician referred him to the same physiotherapist who helped accelerate our daughter's walking. When my son was about to turn two, the physiotherapist, recommended that we get his name on the long waiting list to see a Developmental Pediatrician for a neurological exam because it could take between 6-9 months to get in. If there was an issue, we needed to find out sooner than later.

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