9 mo not crawling, not even close. normal?

[alisoninparis]

DS is a happy healthy baby who has been breastfed since birth. I work at home and have always been his primary caretaker. It was the same scenario for DD who is now 4, and she was scooting around by 7-8 months and properly crawling by 9. But DS shows absolutely no interest in being mobile whatsoever. He also sat up late as well, around 8 months (and still has a hard time not tipping over.) He likes being on his tummy and can roll forwards and backwards, but has never tried to scoot himself. If I sit him down and put a toy just out of his reach, he'll either give up or tip over trying to grab it. At our last pedi visit a couple weeks ago the doc said something like "every baby is different, give him time" but now I'm really starting to worry. Anyone else have a baby who doesn't or didn't move around at 9 months? Should I be worried? My mom keeps telling me that babies who never crawl are likely to have developmental problems later....

[betsyj]

Take my opinion for what its worth (free and probably nothing ) but I would be a bit worried. Missing/being delayed with two important developmental milestones would have me pressing my ped a lot more.

I would definitely ask for a referral to a developmental ped to see what s/he thinks.

IMO it is always better to be safe then sorry. I want to know about issues as early as possible ya know?

[Pandme]

Early Intervention isn't going to be concerned until 12 months. I've been there.

My son at 9 months was a fabulous sitter. He just started rolling tummy to back at 8 months and didn't go back to tummy until the day before he turned 10 months. He didn't seem interested in being mobile at ALL. I called EI but he didn't qualify for services. And sure enough at 10.5 months he was scooting (never did cross crawl, does it now when he's playing around), going up stairs, pulling up and cruising. All in 2 weeks.

He did start an inchworm-y type thing at 9 months, IIRC.

If you're worried, call EI for an eval. Won't cost and certainly won't hurt. But I doubt there's anything wrong.

[HoldensMama]

My son started crawling at 10 months and I think it was because he was held nearly all the time and when he was on the floor playing I was down there with him passing him toys. He just didn't need to get around. He walked at 14 months and now he's a perfectly normal 3 year old who runs, jumps and climbs.

Unless you have other reasons to worry about his development, just wait and see how it goes. It still sounds within the "normal" range to me.

[TexasG]

My son just turned 9 months and is on hands and knees and can go backwards a little, but cannot crawl forward. I was very concerned because my first son was standing at 9 months and walking at 10 months! So, needless to say I was freaked, but I have heard of some kids skipping crawling altogether and I have to keep telling myself that all babies are different and that he will do it eventually (I hope)

[Bokonon]

There is no harm in getting an evaluation. If there truly is a problem, early intervention is in your best interests. And FWIW, Early Intervention (capitalized) varies widely from state to state. My 10mo has an eval with EI scheduled because she isn't crawling, was a preemie, and my son has/had delays. They had no problem with seeing her at this age, and she's not even technically delayed yet.

[betsyj]

Yes EI varies by state and there is no need to wait till 12 mos. We were referred and accepted at 5 mos.

Here is a link that has all the coodinators by state:

http://www.nectac.org/contact/ptccoord.asp

I would absolutely contact someone. It can't hurt and if there is an issue, can only help.

Good luck and hopefully it is worry for nothing.

[ShwarmaQueen]

Originally Posted by alisoninparis

My mom keeps telling me that babies who never crawl are likely to have developmental problems later....

I never crawled and I'm not really 'normal' per say , but we make due.

[KempsMama]

Another No crawler here. Never crawled, walked at 13 months.

My DS didn't crawl until 10 1/2 months, walked at 13 months. My pedi was never concerned.

Each child IS different. My DS was much more concerned with his cognitive stuff-he said his first words at 5 months for example. He has always been ahead of the curve with the cognitive stuff and just a tich behind on the physical.

[KristaDJ]

Everything I have read says not crawling until 12mo is perfectly normal and IME babies can learn REALLY fast and go from not crawling to crawling, cruising and walking with a few weeks. I'd try not to worry, mama as long as you don't really *feel* like something is off and he could benefit from help.

[Youngfrankenstein]

Three of my brother's 5 kids didn't crawl and are totally " normal".

[MaryMarg]

Contacting your local Early Intervention agency is a great option. They come to your home and do an evaluation and if your child is 25-30% delayed in motor skills, he should qualify for in-home therapy. As a therapist on an outpatient ped rehab team, I'd encourage you to call just to see. PT couldn't hurt if warranted and may give some new ideas. Sometimes it's just nice to have someone to be a "watchful eye" with you. Now as a mom of a 32week preemie who didn't crawl until 12 mos, I also encourage you to continue to see that every child is different. At least having another opinion can be reassuring. Best wishes!

[Abraisme]

From my experience it's totally normal. My DS didn't crawl until 10mo and 2 other 9mo that I know now aren't crawling. I'm pretty sure you have until 12mo before any medical professional will get concerned.

[phrogger]

I could have written that word for word with my oldest son and now my 9 month old baby. The baby has no interest, but he is talking/very vocal as was my oldest son. My son who started all the physical stuff early was a late talker. Most kids are usually one or the other and that is totally normal. I wouldn't worry at this point at all. But that is just me. My 13 year old didn't walk until he was 17months and he is totally fine.

[snoopy5386]

my DD didn't really roll until 8-9 months, didn't crawl until 10.5 months and didn't walk until 14.5 months. She is now a perfectly normal almost 4 year old. Granted she is no future Olympian but she can do all of the normal physical stuff.

[alisoninparis]

Thanks to all the mamas who chimed in here! We live in Paris and I'm not aware of any EI like service. I'm sure if my pedi thinks there is cause for worry she can refer us to a specialist, but they tend to hold off on those kinds of things here unless truly warranted. We have checkup scheduled next week so I'll bring it up again. I'm so glad to hear about lots of "normal" babies who never crawled, or crawled late. If you Google babies who don't crawl, you come up with all sort of scary things (can even be a sign of cerebral palsy) so I have to keep reminding myself that DS seems like a healthy baby to me. I think he's possibly just very content to sit in one place. And it's true that most of the time he sits on his play mat, I put all his toys right next to him so he doesn't need to move around. Before that I'd put him on his tummy and the toys right within arm's reach. That being said, my friend's DD who is the same age started being mobile around 6-7 months because she was very motivated to get moving, regardless of whether or not she could reach her toys.

I guess this will be the crucial month. All of the sources I read say that "normal" babies crawl between 7-10 months. Most of the babies who never "crawl" do, however, find some way of being mobile, be it squirming, rolling, or scooting. What worries me is that DS has never once tried to actually move from one place to another.

[Ms. Cellaneous]

Sounds like you have a happy, healthy baby!
I kind of think that "milestones" are evil -- yes, it's good to know of them and good to be able to address delays early on if they exist, yadda yadda yadda, but really the "normal" range is so wide and knowing what our babies "should" be doing at x months can cause a lot of unnecessary stress.
Just wanted to let you know I'm another non-crawler. Just got up and walked at some point, not sure what age. But imho I turned out pretty well. Ivy League grad and gainfully employed, can't complain!

[alisoninparis]

Hi everyone, just an update that we saw the pedi today and she asked me a few questions about the various things he can do, and then reassured me that there is nothing to worry about at this stage and that all babies have different rhythms. She said it's very likely that his personality is laid back and he's happy to stay immobile for the time being. I told her that my gut feeling was that he was normal but I perhaps I'm biased.... Anyway I'll update again if/when DS does actually begin to crawl!