Why We Are Not Skipping Crawling Here
The day has arrived- your baby pushes themselves up off of their tummy and starts taking those first steps in crawling! This exciting milestone reflects a huge amount of strength and brain development for your baby. It also means that you as parent/caregiver get to “baby proof” everything in the house now that baby is on the move!
Sometimes we hear things like “my pediatrician said my child can skip crawling and that’s fine” or “my friend’s baby skipped crawling and went straight to walking.” Let’s talk a little bit more about why we as pediatric therapists are so passionate about crawling, and why we want to share more information about not skipping this milestone.
First off, what is crawling? Crawling occurs when a baby is in the hands and knees position and takes steps by moving their hands and knees synchronously. Some babies do a belly or army crawl prior to full hands and knees crawling. Crawling usually emerges between 7-9 mos in typically developing babies. There are some important movements your baby needs to be able to do prior to crawling. Pre-crawling skills include:
Rolling
Pushing up on hands while on belly
Spinning in a circle on their belly (pivoting)
Getting in and out of sitting on their own
Pushing up into hands and knees and rocking
Crawling is incredibly important for your baby! Crawling is the first time your baby can really explore their environment on their own, which opens up so many play and learning opportunities for them. Other benefits of crawling include:
Strengthening of the core, postural, shoulder, arm, and hand muscles
Improved fine motor skills
Improved hand-eye coordination
Improved visual and sensory system development
Encourages further brain development
Newfound sense of independence
Allows opportunities for peer interaction and initiating play, which improves early communication skills
As you can see, pediatric therapists are zealous about crawling not just for the sake of crawling itself, but because crawling is a complex skill that yields so many benefits for baby! If your child is older now and did not crawl, you can still reap the benefits of crawling by going back and working on it as an older child. If your baby is struggling to crawl, know that you and your baby are not alone, as crawling is a very tricky milestone. Some things you might see that may indicate your baby is struggling to crawl, particularly before the age of 10 mos include:
Hated tummy time / does not have a way to move around on their belly
Not progressing to hands/knees crawling after army or belly crawling for 3-4 weeks
Asymmetrical army crawl (one arm or leg does more work than the other)
Not able to get in and out of sitting on their own by 10 mos
Not able to get into hands/knees on their own
Loves to stand and only wants to be placed in standing
Only using one side of the body for their skills (example: only rolling to the right)
Atypical crawling pattern, like crawling with their elbows bent or crawling with one foot hiked up
At All Together Wellness our pediatric physical therapists love working with babies to help them achieve all of their mobility and motor goals - especially crawling! Taking a whole-body approach, we specialize in identifying WHY your child is not crawling and addressing any underlying muscle imbalances, tightness, or coordination issues that may be contributing to difficulty attaining crawling. This allows us to develop an individualized treatment plan to meet the unique needs of each baby and family that we get to encounter. If you’re ready to figure out why your baby is not performing a motor skill, please reach out to us here All Together Wellness. We can’t wait to help your little one on their unique journey with motor development!
And in the meantime- feel free to check out our Tiny Movers Class - Well Kids: Play Groups — All Together Wellness - for babies 0-18 mos working on rolling, tummy time, crawling, and early walking in a fun and friendly small group setting, led by pediatric physical therapists.
