Hetal ,

My baby boy going to be 1 year soon , still he is not walking , but started to walk holding everything from 9 months , he is a very active baby , cant leave him for a second alone , so we bought a big playard and we put him there ( we started to put him from 8 months) is that cud be the reason delayed him ? Still he is not at all good in self feeding , holding bottle and not able to use the sipper ? I feel guilty seeing my baby like this , and he dont concentrate when i read book to him , but im still trying , i feel so bad abt myself , i will be happy if u can guide me step by step , i desperately need advice from you ...

Pls help me Hetal replied. When to worry about walking, standing :
1. if after 10monts, your baby is not able to crawl or is not able to be in crawling position. talk to your dr.
2.at 12months/1year, if your baby is not crawling and still trying to crawl, then talk to your dr. however, this does not apply to babiees who have missed the stage, which means that baby will not crawl inspite of efforts and starts standing atleast by 1year on his own, by support or without support,,,,thn talk to your dr.
3. if by 12months/1 year, your child is not able to stand on his own legs, with support or without support,,then talk to your dr.
4. about walking with or without,, if your child is not able to WALK by 16montths !!!! then talk to your dr...

so as of now,,i see that your baby on stage of development is not missing nething.

however, i want to add that since she started holding everything from 9 months,,and is still not able to walk,,i would encourage him to walk holding his hand, and teaching him how to walk.
when i say encourage,make him stand with support, just transfer the support to your hands, hold his both the hands with your hands and put your step ahead and with one hand, put his leg forward...teach him, this is how we walk,,let him understand the concept behind it. some babies need that push from parents that this is what walking is all about.there is nothing to worry in it, unless your baby cries while steppng ahead ! which means your dr needs to check your child reflexes.
otherrwise, he is perfectly normal baby and will take him time when his body is ready by himself ready to walk.
teach him likewise,,keep doing it, and when you do so,,smile,,say left right left and so on and make it a playtime ! you should not be panic and keep your child eye contact with yours steady/ but at the same time,make him see how you are stepng your leg forward...
practice brings perfection,,so continue doing that..
once he shows interest in walking, your role will be losng your grip on his hands and leaving him slowly on his own,,keep doing it ! rem practice is the only key,,give your child enough time to understand the milestone and give him enough time of his own, respect his capacity,,dont overdo ! it might lead to irritation or frustration,,,
make it a once a while thing in say couple hours, thn twice in 2-3hours and increase the freq of practice dpending on how your child shows interest in this activity...also, take him to park, give him open spaces,,put his toys in corner of your room and let him cruise(put supporting things around so that he walks holding those things, and thn once a while increase the distance between things,,and see if he learns to leap from one thing to other,,leaving his grip or support),,and be there for him when he needs help or you think he will injure himself,,at the same time,,leave him on his own !
if by 1 month,your child does not show ne interest in walking,,i want you to talk to your dr,,or make it a concern,,,
i want you to give him enough situations wherein he HAS to walk and come to you,,,see if his desperacy helps him to move forward !
also check this for some other tips :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1215&table_name=dis_milestones


---- about self feeding, dont force,,give your child enough time to master his sucking skills and tongue/mouth muscle coordnatn..but keep trying offerng him enough opportunities dealing with lumpier foods:
put some overcooked pieces of the food you puree and mash lightly with your hand and see how he accepts that.give him lumps along with the pureed foods that you are offering,,first give mashed lumps,a couple ofthem,,he will find it abit difficult to learn to eat,,give him time to practise eating,go very slow and show happy expression instead of doubting ones when he is looking at you while eating !!
if he is fine with mashed lumps or extremly soft lumps,increase the texture of lumps and start lumpier foods,,and slowly mover further to abit harder texture,
biscuits soaked in milk,toast soaked in milk,bread pieces soaked in milk are best examples of mashed or lumpier snacks.try that..roti might be too thinn for him to learn to eat,however if you are soaking a paratha,,that might help.
also toddler cereals get very soft and lumpy and its not much a concern if baby doesnt chew them, but at the same time, they do try to chew them because of their size & texture,,one more great way to make them learn to eat !!!!
put a very small lump in his mouth,,it should be smooth enough to to dissolve in mouth, without much efforts..make him get interested that way...see if makes him feel interstd in self feedng,,other ideas of finger foods :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=7151&table_name=dis_feeding

leave him with food alone, make him sit (when badly hungry with some finger foods before him ,,,see what he does,,) be ready for mess,
make him sit alongwith family during meal times,,let him see how everyone is eating ! once a while surprise him with pieces of his fav foods in his toys,,see how he reacts and let him pick it and put in mouth !!

make the food you serve,,look appealing like colourful,diff shapes, play with flavours and texture,,let him dip his hands and feel the textures,if he does not do that, you do that in front of him and put your fingers in your mouth and say yum yum (show your excitement that you tried something and you liked it ! )
make it a together thing !
keep trying ! and alongside, feed him,,,see if it helps that way...
some other tips on cooked foods and textures :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=6637&table_name=dis_feeding

---- as far as sipper is concerned,,try NUBY if you are in US. i m sory i dont know about other brands outside US, but you can try the ones have soft nipple like spouts,,also on onestepahead dot com, there is a brand name second nature sippy nipple,,see if he is able to accept it ! those nipples and soft spouts are just like bottle nipples !
and now that your child is 1 year, start on glass and strawcups at the same time ! diff tips of sippy, straws or glass are as below,,go thru them :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=6761&table_name=dis_feeding

also pasting the matter from the post i just answerrd in some other site :
if your baby is not comfortable in sippy cups, go for the next step,,straw cup or direct glass..nothing wrong if you are one of those lucky moms who dont have to wash your baby sippers...also cows milk is abit heavy, so he will not ask it that often...and like sheetal said, he may accept cows milk when introduced directly in sippy..
make the bottle disappear out of his sight and whenever he asks for it,,show him there is no bottle..somtimes when they dont see it at all on the kitchen counter,, they forget about it and accept whatever is given. that worked for nirja pretty well..also, when hunger strikes, some kids take watever given..a couple times he may resist or cry for bottle, but dont give up,,he is 14months,and more you giveup, now he will get more attached to bottle..so upto you to judge that...
dipping the tip of the sippy spout gives them a hint that there is milk in there,,,,give him empty bottle and fill sippy with milk,,,and let him decide what he wants to drink : air or milk :)..sometimes that works..also, filling 25% of serving wth bottle and then rest 75% with sippy works..when he is over drinking 25%,as soon as you see it getting empty, release his fist/hold of bottle and remove the bottle and slowly replace sippy spount,,keep the liquid flow abit high than setting,,so tht it becomes easy for him to drink..,sometimes that works,,mostly when baby has that habit to take bottle just before sleep or he is not much interested in messing up with you,,.
for valve,,see what setting your baby likes..and always keep sippy cup as the first option,offer that first and let it be a toy all the time before his eyes and keep bottles out of sight,,,,see if that works! some kids leave the old habits when new ones keep hitting them again and again..
take care, hp it works out smooth forhim...

and finally last but not the least,,
dont feel guilty that your child is taking his time for developing, respect his body capacity..understand that it is out of your control. i know as a mother we worry for tiny thing and it makes us feel as if we are incompetant,,believe me i too feel that,,many a times,,but that does not help right..
there are ways to push your child,,try your best but dont expect him to show results always,,mostly because most kids are not ready for many things that we as mothers expect them to show us ! and yes,make it a concern to your dr only when its the time to worry. remember your getting concern too much about your baby health or milestone(even though when there is nothing to worry) might force your dr to think something serious..because all dr and myself,,we rely on mothers gut feeling when it comes to health of child..and when the concerns are more thn as expected,,the only thing that dr thinks is let me just deal with it,,and your child might end up having unnecesary doses of supplements,,so avoid doing that...but make sure to ask your dr if he THINKS that your child needs one !! dont force him to give at the same time.,,hope you understood what i meant to say..
see if all these helps you and i would wait for an update from you for ne of these..
never feel guilty about the things that are not in your control,,by worrying or feeling guilty it does show your love for your child but practicaly speaking, it will not help your child in neway,,but your feeling will keep haunting you and it might influence you to stop trying your best for your child development,,so avoid gettng in that feelngs,,...its all in mind,,,

take care,,and would love to hear update...

Hetal replied. When to worry about walking, standing :
1. if your after 10monhts, your baby is not able to crawl to is not able to be in crawling position. talk to your dr.
2.at 12months/1year, if your baby is not crawling and still trying to crawl, then talk to your dr. however, this does not apply to babiees who have missed the stage,which means that baby will not crawl inspite of efforts and starts standing atleast by 1year on his own, by support or without support,,,,thn talk to your dr.
3. if by 12months/1 year, your child is not able to stand on his own legs, with support or without support,,then talk to your dr.
4. about walking, talk to your dr, if your child is not able to WALK by 16montths !!!! then talk to your dr...

so as of now,,i see that your baby on stage of development is not missing nething.
however, i want to add that since she started holding everything from 9 months,,and is still not able to walk,,i would encourage him to walk holding his hand, and teaching him how to walk.
when i say encourage,make him stand with support, just transfer the support to your hands, hold his both the hands with your hands and put your step ahead and with one hand, put his leg forward...teach him, this is how we walk,,let him understand the concept behind it. some babies need that push from parents that this is what walking is all about.there is nothing to worry in it, unless your baby cries while steppng ahead ! which means your dr needs to check your child reflexes.
otherrwise, he is perfectly normal baby and will take him time when his body is ready by himself ready to walk.
teach him likewise,,keep doing it, and when you do so,,smile,,say left right left and so on and make it a playtime ! you should not be panic and keep your child eye contact with yours steady/ but at the same time,make him see how you are stepng your leg forward...
practice brings perfection,,so continue doing that..
once he shows interest in walking, your role will be losng your grip on his hands and leaving him slowly on his own,,keep doing it ! rem practice is the only key,,give your child enough time to understand the milestone and give him enough time of his own, respect his capacity,,dont overdo ! it might lead to irritation or frustration,,,
make it a once a while thing in say couple hours, thn twice in 2-3hours and increase the freq of practice dpending on how your child shows interest in this activity...also, take him to park, give him open spaces,,put his toys in corner of your room and let him cruise(put supporting things around so that he walks holding those things, and thn once a while increase the distance between things,,and see if he learns to leap from one thing to other,,leaving his grip or support),,and be there for him when he needs help or you think he will injure himself,,at the same time,,leave him on his own !
if by 1 month,your child does not show ne interest in walking,,i want you to talk to your dr,,or make it a concern,,,
i want you to give him enough situations wherein he HAS to walk and come to you,,,see if his desperacy helps him to move forward !
also check this for some other tips :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=1215&table_name=dis_milestones


---- about self feeding, dont force,,give your child enough time to master his sucking skills and tongue/mouth muscle coordnatn..but keep trying offerng him enough opportunities dealing with lumpier foods:
put some overcooked pieces of the food you puree and mash lightly with your hand and see how he accepts that.give him lumps along with the pureed foods that you are offering,,first give mashed lumps,a couple ofthem,,he will find it abit difficult to learn to eat,,give him time to practise eating,go very slow and show happy expression instead of doubting ones when he is looking at you while eating !!
if he is fine with mashed lumps or extremly soft lumps,increase the texture of lumps and start lumpier foods,,and slowly mover further to abit harder texture,
biscuits soaked in milk,toast soaked in milk,bread pieces soaked in milk are best examples of mashed or lumpier snacks.try that..roti might be too thinn for him to learn to eat,however if you are soaking a paratha,,that might help.
also toddler cereals get very soft and lumpy and its not much a concern if baby doesnt chew them, but at the same time, they do try to chew them because of their size & texture,,one more great way to make them learn to eat !!!!
put a very small lump in his mouth,,it should be smooth enough to to dissolve in mouth, without much efforts..make him get interested that way...see if makes him feel interstd in self feedng,,other ideas of finger foods :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=7151&table_name=dis_feeding

leave him with food alone, make him sit (when badly hungry with some finger foods before him ,,,see what he does,,) be ready for mess,
make him sit alongwith family during meal times,,let him see how everyone is eating ! once a while surprise him with pieces of his fav foods in his toys,,see how he reacts and let him pick it and put in mouth !!

make the food you serve,,look appealing like colourful,diff shapes, play with flavours and texture,,let him dip his hands and feel the textures,if he does not do that, you do that in front of him and put your fingers in your mouth and say yum yum (show your excitement that you tried something and you liked it ! )
make it a together thing !
keep trying ! and alongside, feed him,,,see if it helps that way...
some other tips on cooked foods and textures :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=6637&table_name=dis_feeding

---- as far as sipper is concerned,,try NUBY if you are in US. i m sory i dont know about other brands outside US, but you can try the ones have soft nipple like spouts,,also on onestepahead dot com, there is a brand name second nature sippy nipple,,see if he is able to accept it ! those nipples and soft spouts are just like bottle nipples !
and now that your child is 1 year, start on glass and strawcups at the same time ! diff tips of sippy, straws or glass are as below,,go thru them :

http://www.indiaparenting.com/boards/showmessage.cgi?messageid=6761&table_name=dis_feeding

also pasting the matter from the post i just answerrd in some other site :
if your baby is not comfortable in sippy cups, go for the next step,,straw cup or direct glass..nothing wrong if you are one of those lucky moms who dont have to wash your baby sippers...also cows milk is abit heavy, so he will not ask it that often...and like sheetal said, he may accept cows milk when introduced directly in sippy..
make the bottle disappear out of his sight and whenever he asks for it,,show him there is no bottle..somtimes when they dont see it at all on the kitchen counter,, they forget about it and accept whatever is given. that worked for nirja pretty well..also, when hunger strikes, some kids take watever given..a couple times he may resist or cry for bottle, but dont give up,,he is 14months,and more you giveup, now he will get more attached to bottle..so upto you to judge that...
dipping the tip of the sippy spout gives them a hint that there is milk in there,,,,give him empty bottle and fill sippy with milk,,,and let him decide what he wants to drink : air or milk :)..sometimes that works..also, filling 25% of serving wth bottle and then rest 75% with sippy works..when he is over drinking 25%,as soon as you see it getting empty, release his fist/hold of bottle and remove the bottle and slowly replace sippy spount,,keep the liquid flow abit high than setting,,so tht it becomes easy for him to drink..,sometimes that works,,mostly when baby has that habit to take bottle just before sleep or he is not much interested in messing up with you,,.
for valve,,see what setting your baby likes..and always keep sippy cup as the first option,offer that first and let it be a toy all the time before his eyes and keep bottles out of sight,,,,see if that works! some kids leave the old habits when new ones keep hitting them again and again..
take care, hp it works out smooth forhim...

and finally last but not the least,,
dont feel guilty that your child is taking his time for developing, respect his body capacity..understand that it is out of your control. i know as a mother we worry for tiny thing and it makes us feel as if we are incompetant,,believe me i too feel that,,many a times,,but that does not help right..
there are ways to push your child,,try your best but dont expect him to show results always,,mostly because most kids are not ready for many things that we as mothers expect them to show us ! and yes,make it a concern to your dr only when its the time to worry. remember your getting concern too much about your baby health or milestone(even though when there is nothing to worry) might force your dr to think something serious..because all dr and myself,,we rely on mothers gut feeling when it comes to health of child..and when the concerns are more thn as expected,,the only thing that dr thinks is let me just deal with it,,and your child might end up having unnecesary doses of supplements,,so avoid doing that...but make sure to ask your dr if he THINKS that your child needs one !! dont force him to give at the same time.,,hope you understood what i meant to say..
see if all these helps you and i would wait for an update from you for ne of these..
never feel guilty about the things that are not in your control,,by worrying or feeling guilty it does show your love for your child but practicaly speaking, it will not help your child in neway,,but your feeling will keep haunting you and it might influence you to stop trying your best for your child development,,so avoid gettng in that feelngs,,...its all in mind,,,

take care,,and would love to hear update...