What happens now?

Hello, all. I’m a mom to a 16 month old who is still not walking. The most he can do is about 3 steps before he falls or drops down, and only today did he start taking those steps without being made to by us. His speech also seemed delayed to me. I KNOW this is not technically a concern until 18 months, but my mom alarm bells are going off. Please do not say anything along the lines of “he will do it in his own time” because that is not helpful and is very invalidating.

I am an educator to 5th graders, so my experience with early childhood is limited, but I firmly believe in early intervention. I just wanted to know where he stood, so to speak.

We had him evaluated by our state’s Early Intervention program, and he barely didn’t qualify. He had to be the equivalent of an 8 month old in any one area, and he tested as a 10 month old in communication and a 12 month old in motor skills, which is a combo of fine and gross; I don’t have concerns about his fine motor skills, only his gross.

The evaluator suggested we see an audiologist to see if he has fluid in his ears making it more difficult for him to hear and balance.

We got that referral to audiology from our pediatrician in today so hopefully we will get that call to schedule tomorrow and can have that appointment quickly.

My question is, what happens if he doesn’t have fluid in his ears? Or if he does, but they won’t do anything about it? He hasn’t had a single ear infection, but he does have seasonal allergies and has started taking Claritin for that.

What interventions have you seen performed on babies who cannot walk at 18 months?