Reassurance about crawling please....

[Mopey]

The Miss is farther along the development curve than most it would seem. I didn't think it was so bad or anything but I attended a workshop with a friend and our daughters yesterday on helping development with play. I thought it would be interesting, and frankly Mopey and I do a lot of snuggling and reading so I thought it would be fun to learn games to play (for some reason it never occurs to me to play peekaboo, etc. Have to work on that!).

The OT/PT who ran the class were great and most of the babies were younger. They mentioned the importance about crawling A BUNCH so I finally raised my hand to ask how to encourage that. Miss Mopey has always been strong in her legs and has been pulling up and trying to cruise (pretty successfully) for the last two weeks at least. She is 7.5 months old.

They said she should really be crawling, said to put her back down and told me things to do to interest her. But they were really surprised when I said her age. I do understand the physical/developmental reasons for the importance of crawling btw. She's just tough to fight when you turn your back and she's up!

So immediately we were doing things last night and she was motoring along very well - she just gets sidetracked because we live in a tiny apartment with lots of available surfaces on which to pull up (I mean, on the third try she figured out how to balance her weight so that the folding chair she was pulling up on wouldn't slide and impede her. I watched!).

Sorry to ramble but please tell me it's not SO awful that she'd prefer to just walk off and join the circus?

:o:bag

[lhafer]

I never crawled. I scooted around and such, but never actually crawled. Then one day my mom said I just stood up and ran across the room, and that was that.

Crawling is not a developmental milestone. Most babies do crawl, but quite a few don't.

The only fear you may have is that the leg bones may not be developed enough to hold her weight and support her yet.

[123LuckyMom]

They do say that crawling is a very important developmental stage. However, I never crawled properly. I went straight to walking. I was an extremely bright and capable child both physically and mentally. Crawling may be important, but if your beautiful Miss Mopey goes straight to walking, that's not a problem unless there are other problematic issues. The only thing you can really do to encourage crawling is to keep sticking her on her belly and put tempting things just out of her reach. Tummy time galore may help, but she may never crawl, and that's true of lots of children. I would mention it to your ped the next time you go. I bet s/he'll reassure you.

[Philly Mom]

I find that to be very strange advice. First, DD did not crawl at all until 9 months so if Mopey is crawling now, that is on the early end. But more importantly, LOTS of kids never crawl, DH being one of them. I think he is ok developmentally. He rolled everywhere and then started walking. I know multiple kids who only ever scooted on their behinds and then started walking. Crawling is not on the developmental charts even. The only problem I have heard about lack of crawling is that those kids take longer to climb stairs. Climbing stairs though is a 15 month milestone. I would not worry at all about crawling and concentrate on walking safely.

[MelissaTC]

M did the army crawl. He would go up on his elbows and knees like he would do it but then he would revert to his arms and drag his lower half. He began to cruise and then eventually walk by 12 months. Once he started to run at 13 months, he got back on the floor and then he crawled! He is a bright, articulate kid and all is well so I would guess your little one is just fine too. :)

[weech]

My DS didn't crawl until his early intervention evaluation at 16 months. haha! He started walking at 12 months, but never crawled. The therapists said that as long as he was doing other things normally it was fine, he had just decided he wanted to walk and not crawl. Don't stress!

[infocrazy]

Supposedly, crawling helps use a certain part of your brain. I'm sure there is someone who can give more info or link it, but even if she goes straight to walking, you can play games in the future to crawl to get the same effect. Also, my kids love the tunnel!

[MSWR0319]

DS1 didn't crawl until two weeks after his first birthday. He walked two weeks before his birthday. If he wanted to go somewhere he would roll, then sit up. I asked our ped about it and she said crawling isn't a milestone they worry about. As a first time mom, I was worried so I did some research and found the same thing. At 4, he most definitely didn't suffer from not crawling. He's very bright for his age. So I wouldn't worry about her not crawling. DS2 is 6.5 months and army crawling, which DS1 never even tried. So I find it interesting how each child develops differently in this area!

[AnnieW625]

I never crawled. I scooted around and such, but never actually crawled. Then one day my mom said I just stood up and ran across the room, and that was that.

Crawling is not a developmental milestone. Most babies do crawl, but quite a few don't.

The only fear you may have is that the leg bones may not be developed enough to hold her weight and support her yet.

according to my mom this was me too, I scooted around on my butt.

DD1 started crawling a week or two before she turned 9 months old. I thought she was a lost cause, but I didn't stress about it too much.

DD2 crawled at right 8 months as well.

[mommylamb]

Well, my 9 month old DS2 isn't crawling yet. He rolls all over the place and crawls backwards, but not forwards yet. We had his 9 month appointment yesterday and the doctor wasn't the slightest bit worried. She said most babies crawl by 10 months, but that crawling isn't even considered a milestone any more because so many babies don't do it ever.

DS1 started crawling about a week before he turned 9 months, so DS2 is tracking a little further behind him.

I'm not worried at all.

[gatorsmom]

Cha Cha did the army crawl until he was 14 months old. He would just drag his legs behind him and maneuvered with his elbows. He looked like he was dodging bullets.

At about 14 mo he got up on his hands and knees and crawled regularly for about a week. Then he started walking. He is the smartest kid in his class. His teacher has said he is very bright and creative.

In my experience all kids are different and I really have my doubts that for normally developing kids, when's and how a kid crawls signifies anything significant. Unless there is a physical or motor issue. Greenbean had low muscle tone and didnt even sit up until he was 9mo. He needed physical therapy for that as well as delayed crawling. But it was pretty clear then, that there was a problem.

[BabyBearsMom]

I know a bunch of kids who never crawled and just went straight to walking and they are all fine and normal kids.

All kids develop at their own rate and in their own way. Whenever an "expert" starts saying that kids "must" do things in a certain order, I become suspicious. The order and timing of task mastery is a large range. If your DD likes cruising, let her cruise. I would not worry about it at all.

[Moneypenny]

DD never crawled, she just scooted on her butt until she walked. Her ped wasn't worried and said he wanted to be sure she had the motivation and capability to be mobile, but it didn't have to be a traditional crawl. She is now a perfectly normal 8 year old (well, as normal as 8 year olds can be, lol!).

[vonfirmath]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Even when she's cruising/walking she'll still find times she'll crawl. And if it becomes a problem, when she's MUCH older, she can get back down on her hands and knees and crawl. They had my friend's son do this when he was 11 or 12 years old. He got down and crawled all the time at home. Its MUCh easier to convince a kid that old to crawl than trying to teach a little one that is barely understanding what you want:)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i'm surprised they said she should be crawling at 7.5 months! crawling isn't even a real miilestone since many kids do not crawl at all (go straight from scooting to walking). my ds (who is crazy ahead of the curve in everything) did not start crawling until 7 months (he scooted and dragged, army-crawled for a month or two before actual crawling). he started walking at 10 months and that was the end of that.

my dd did not crawl until maybe 11 or 12 months? she scooted starting at 10 mo.

[twowhat?]

Wow, really? I don't think that's great advice. My DDs (not preemies) didn't crawl until 10.5 months. Pediatrician wasn't concerned at all. I have friends whose kids skipped crawling and went straight to walking instead. If there aren't any other red flags, I wouldn't even be a lick of worried right now.

[MamaMolly]

Oh please. If she's cruising she's doing fine. Ignore the know-it-all haters.

FWIW DH never crawled. My MIL is really into child development, and she said that research shows that crawling encourages the mid-brain development, which has to do with attention to detail later in life. Attention to detail is NOT one of DH's gifts ;) but he's a successful professional adult.

[mikeys_mom]

I never crawled. I walked at 9 months. I'm just fine :).

DS never crawled. He walked at 9.5 months. When I asked my Dr about it she said that crawling is not a developmental milestone and that clearly he did not have any muscle tone issues so not to worry. He has actually been tested in the superior intelligence range so the lack of crawling did not seem to affect his intelligence.

I think that's really strange advice to be giving out. I would continue to encourage her to cruise around and don't try to force her to crawl.

[daniele_ut]

Seriously? Just like Mommylamb's ped my pediatrician just told me 2 months ago that crawling isn't even used as a developmental milestone anymore. So many babies never crawl or crawl differently that it just isn't relevant.

This is my 3rd baby and what I can tell you from experience - they are ALL different. DS1 crawled at 8 months, first Army crawling and then speed crawling on all fours, and then he walked at 13 months. DD didn't crawl until almost 11 months and didn't walk until she was 16 months old. DS2 is now 11 months old and has been crawling since 9 months. He only Army crawls, though. He doesn't even pull up to a stand yet. I'm not worried about him in the least.

[Philly Mom]

FWIW DH never crawled. My MIL is really into child development, and she said that research shows that crawling encourages the mid-brain development, which has to do with attention to detail later in life.

FWIW, as I said above, DH never crawled (he also did not nap after 8 weeks) and he has exceptional attention to detail. He spends all day looking at detail and discerning what the details mean. He sees things others in his profession do not. Everyone develops their own way and I would not place too much worth on crawling.

[Indianamom2]

DD didn't crawl, she just cruised on the furniture and walked just shy of 1 year.

I wouldn't worry about it even a tiny bit, to be honest. There will be plenty of other much more important things to worry about over the years, IMHO.

She sounds bright and capable and lovely!

[edurnemk]

My oldest brother and I never crawled and we're absolutely 100% fine, we never had any coordination or motor problems. For example, we both play sports and musical instruments and you really could never tell the difference between us and the brother who did crawl.

DS started crawling late and then only for a VERY short period before walking.

[Tinochka]

My 1st one didn’t crawl that much, he loved to play with the “piano” while standing up, then he went straight walking. My second one was crawling like crazy, didn’t want to walk, because he was so fast crawling, started to walk later than usual, but within 2 weeks he started to.... run! The fist one was walking like man under drinking condition, so, we had a few bumps, 2nd one didn’t have bumps.

[codex57]

DS never really crawled. Well, he military crawled in that he pulled himself along with his arms. His legs never quite got the crawling bit down.

I think he went like this until about 13 months. THen, in literally a week (or 5 days), he went from military crawl to running.

[echoesofspring]

Is she big for her size? DS pretty much learned to walk and crawl at the same time, about a year. But he was pretty chubby, and had smaller friends who were mobile earlier. I wasn't really worried about it, and then my PT aunt told me that sometimes it takes bigger babies longer to get mobile, there's just more of them. Now if he'd only learn to walk instead of running everywhere....

[khalloc]

My DD crawled when she was 2 weeks PAST her 1st birthday.

DS crawled 2 weeks BEFORE his 1st birthday.

They both started walking within a few months. DD walked probably around 15 months. DS was about the same I think. I was never worried about it. Actually I was THANKFUL since I didnt have to babyproof the house early.

[trcy]

I have always heard crawling was not an important milestone and some babies skip it and go straight to walking. DD didn’t crawl until 10 months. I wouldn't worry.

[Tenasparkl]

I wouldn't worry at all!

My DD crawled at about 8 (or maybe 8 1/2 months) and then walked the day she turned 10 months. Some kids just want to stand up and walk!

My DS is 6 months and just started sitting up. I don't think he'll crawl for a while.

[sntm]

Don't have the link, but a friend posted a journal article in an anthropology journal that disputed that all babies go through crawling stage. In this society, no babies crawl. They are not put down until they can sit up, and they either go straight to walking or scoot on their butts first. Talked about how it would actually be unsafe to have them face down in the dirt.

In other words, don't sweat it. She is obviously too impatient to deal with crawling and wants to get right to the big girl stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if DS2 does this as well.

[Mopey]

Yowza!! Thanks so much for all the stories and advice everyone!

I am glad to know that being mellow thus far and encouraging what she seems to want to do (stand up and walk) should not make me worry.

I have always heard that emotionally/psychologically crawling is very important. For me, I want her to know she has recourse when she gets frustrated that she cannot just let go and walk where she wants to yet - that she can get down and get over there. But I''ll continue to let her cruise and encourage more crawling too.

To a PP - Santa is bringing her a tunnel!! (And a Radio Flyer walker wagon!)

And to another - she is average weight but TALL. Like, 29.5" tall.

Thanks again everyone. Yay relief :jammin:

[Melaine]

I have heard it is NOT an important milestone and a friend's daughter did the butt scoot and never crawled and she is perfectly fine and hit all her other milestones.

But, regardless, I think it is completely bizarre that they impressed upon you that she should be crawling at 7.5 months. That seems early to me, certainly NOT late. DS is just starting to crawl at almost 7 months and I'm surprised and was not expecting it this soon.

[Mopey]

MOPEY STOOD UP!!!! Yesterday in her crib for almost five seconds when she let go of the side. And then fell splat on her fanny with the best proud smile on her face :D

Apparently she is doing things her own way. My kind of girl :jammin:

[roseyloxs]

My kids never truly crawled for any significant period. Didn't concern me at all. They were both strong and spent plenty of time on the ground just were not into crawling. They were more interested in learning how to stand and how to cruise. Both were cruising really well by 8.5/9 months. DS walked at 10 months and DD being my very cautious one walked at 14.5 months.