Do babies have to crawl?

[penstamon]

I know the answer is "no" but I want some more reassurance. DS is almost 9 mo and ever since 5 mo he can get on all fours and rock, but never developed actual cross-crawling. He will get from place to place by a mixture of rolling, pushing up, pulling forward while pushing off with his legs, scooting on his butt, etc. and generally he is content to stay put. He actually is way more focused on pulling up and cruising and walking with assistance. In general he is just not a very motivated baby when it comes to mobility (except walking).

I am not concerned except our PT (DS has torticollis that he has just about grown out of) keeps mentioning that he should be crawling and all these other babies have crawled by now or well before. He has had plenty of tummy time (slept on his tummy since 3.5 mo) and we encourage him to crawl constantly but he is just not too interested. We get so many questions from relatives -why isnt he crawling yet- or -x's baby crawled at 6 mo- and it is starting to irk me. Most of our baby group babies are crawling too, even some of the younger ones. DH seems upset about it too. However DS is very verbal, met most other milestones early, has very good fine motor skills and is developing fast in so many other ways that I think this emphasis on crawling is obnoxious.

Any thoughts wise mamas? How do I counter this constant emphasis on crawling being the pinnacle of baby development?

[Pepper44]

My DD never crawled. She never even rocked on all fours! She hated tummy time and never wanted to roll. She preferred to stand and cruise as soon as her legs were sturdy enough.

One day at the end of 9 months she just stood up out of my lap and walked away. I'm pretty sure she hasn't stopped moving since.

I think (in my unprofessional opinion of course) if your DS is able to sit up on his own, and obviously is developing a lot of gross motor skills, then he's probably fine. Maybe he's just another strange baby who is too good for crawling.

[ChristaN]

How about input from a mom of an 11.5 y/o who was a lot like you describe your ds as a baby (except she wasn't a very content little thing -- she was intense). My dd never crawled and I disagree with people saying that he should have started crawling well before 9 months. I believe that 9 months is perfectly avg to start crawling. My understanding was that it is only a problem if the baby/child cannot coordinate movements across the body or arms with legs.

My dd11 did the butt scootching thing. She also didn't learn that until 11 months. She started walking at 15.5 months -- by which point she was speaking in short sentences. She also had great small motor skills. We used to joke that she was going to be a neurosurgeon. As an 11 y/o she is still cautious person and not an athlete, but she also isn't a clutz and has nothing wrong with her. She's a bright, nice kid.

[ann_of_loxley]

My son didn't crawl until he was a year old. For quite awhile there I figured he was going the way of his father - who didn't crawl at all! He was a bum shuffler and just took off walking at 18 months.
My son too took off walking at 18 months (so another 'late' milestone) - but he did eventually crawl and never bum shuffled!
They all get there in their own time. I think boys just tend to be lazy too lmao ...they need a good reason to get moving. My son crawled for the tele remote because those buttons are oh so fun to push! lol

[EFmom]

My dd never crawled. She'd sit on her butt and do this scootching along thing by putting her legs out in front of her and pulling her feet in. It actually was more efficient than crawling. She could get around pretty fast, plus she was looking ahead and had her hands free to explore.

She went from that to cruising and then to walking with no crawling at all. She's now in jr. high and is just fine physicially and psychologically. I think for a while there was some fear that a lack of crawling signified some sort of developmental problem, but I'm pretty sure there have been studies disproving that.

[BlueWolf]

OP described my DD who is 9 months old. Zero interest in crawling. All she wants to do is stand, and practice walking with assistance. I think she'll be walking by 12 months. At that point, she might go back and learn the crawling, but who knows.

I've gotten a lot of comments, "is she crawling yet?". It's frustrating to have to say, no.. walking is her priority. Because then that person feels like they need to tell me that my DD HAS TO crawl. Like it's the end of the world that she doesn't. DHs grandmother even argues with me about it, saying my ped is wrong.. blah blah blah. Drives me up the wall.

[dahlialia]

DD2 has just started being able to crawl properly at 8 months. But, it seems she needed to learn how to walk (with assistance) before she could figure out crawling. And now, if I leave her to crawl she acts like she is being tortured. ALL she wants to do is hold hands and walk. I don't get a lot else done these days...

For those of you who are/were in similar situations, what did you do? Indulge the walking? That's what I have been doing, in part b/c she is teething something fierce and unhappy to begin with. But she doesn't nap much, so I'm finding the adjustment hard. She used to be more independent.

[just_lily]

It is my understanding that the problem lies not if your child doesn't crawl before they walk, but if they never learn to crawl at all. Crawling is actually a pretty advanced skill and involves a lot of control and coordination, so it is important that they figure it out - eventually. Whether or not they do it as a primary mode of locomotion before learning to walk is neither here nor there.

If you have a 2yo that can't crawl on the floor pretending to be a doggie, I think that would be an issue that I would investigate. But a 9mo? No worries here.

[newmothermary]

Miles (13 mos) crawled at 10.5 mos. (yes, I worried) then walked at 11 mos. Just when I thought he was not going to crawl, and he crawled well too! He went from crawling really well to walking really well, really soon.

So the moral of the story is, you just never know. Crawling may very well be lurking around the corner.

[Kelly1101]

My older sister never crawled. She went straight to walking at 10 months. Actually my mom says she went straight to RUNNING at 10 months.

I, on the other hand, started crawling at the normal age, and then was WELL over a year before I started walking (have a feeling it will be the same for my baby, she's a year old tomorrow and not showing any signs of walking).


No, your baby doesn't HAVE to crawl. Tons of babies never crawl. Nothing is wrong with them.

[Asiago]

I was reading that in some cultures, infants don't crawl but go straight to walking, crawling is not always the norm in all places of the world.

[Carlin]

I think it depends a lot on the surfaces in your house too. My baby started crawling right around 9 months, but she also does a weird, hybrid scoot/crawl combo that works better on our hard floors. If she's on carpet, or has to go over something that she can't slide on, she crawls, but scooting is faster on smooth floors.

I agree with the pp who said that not crawling is only an issue if they can never figure out how to cross crawl. There's no reason they have to crawl as part of the progression towards walking.

I think it's bizarre that your PT thinks it's a problem already too. 9 months is still well within the normal range of when infants learn to crawl.

[mama2toomany]

With all of my kids it has been different, and I remember worrying about it forever!

ds1 crawled normal and walked super early, like 9 months lol

ds2 never crawled at all, he didn't scoot either, one day at around 11 months (super late i thought). He got up and stood, and walked on his first birthday.

dd didn't crawl at all, she didn't even sit up until she was 9 months old. she didn't walk until 16 months.

dss never crawled either, he scooted on his butt.

[LindsC]

My DD is almost 10 months old and not crawling. She has zero interest in it or being anywhere near her tummy. She can sit up and stands unassisted for short periods of time and seems like she will be cruising/walking any time. I think that it is perfectly normal for some babies to not crawl.

I swore DS would never crawl since he too hated tummy time, but one day at around 7 months old, I left him sitting and playing on the living room floor while I went to get something from the kitchen and when I turned around, he was right next to me. He just decided he wanted to do it and did.

[JennTheMomma]

Some babies just don't like it and prefer to walk instead. My brother never crawled, he went to walking before a year.

[samy23]

My dd never crawled. She did some of that butt suffling about, then went straight to walking.

[amydiane]

My cousin's PT told her that crawling isn't an actual milestone anyway, and not to worry about it when her DS was delayed. He ended up crawling before my DS (they're the same age), and only then was my DS inspired to crawl (he had to in order to have a fair shot at the toys!).

I'm surprised your PT is so worried about it at not even 9 months. My very smart, very active nephew didn't crawl until around 10 months and no one thought it was unusual. And like a lot of PPs, I also have a friend who never crawled and he's probably one of the smartest people I know.

[Friendlee]

.

[Friendlee]

I'd always heard it could be problematic (not dire, though, by any means) to skip crawling. This article explains why:
http://www.minti.com/parenting-advic...e-of-Crawling/

I have a feeling my daughter is going to skip crawling too. We have a lot of ADD in our family. My brother (1 of 3 children) skipped crawling and certainy has his fair share of struggles. My sister and I (both crawlers) don't struggle the way he does. I'm pretty sure he can't blame all of his life's struggles on skipping crawling though! ha! But it's food for thought anyway.

[ellairiesmom]

DD1 never crawled or even came close to do anything like a crawl. She was a butt scooter & a late walker & there were never any concerns about her development at all. In fact, she could scoot so well & fast that she would often keep up with kids walking. She is now 2.5 & perfect in every way .

I always wondered if it was because our entire home is hardwood/tile floors?? I wouldn't want to crawl on that either! It will be interesting to see what DD2 does.