Do babies have to crawl? - Page 2

[Anastasiya]

DS1 never crawled either. He was walking by 9 months and running by almost 10 months. I still can't keep up with him!

DS2 was a late crawler - he started crawling at 11 months and didn't walk till 14 months.

[CookAMH]

This doesn't answer your actual question, but my almost 1yo only started crawling about a month ago, if that. I knew he'd get there.

[half-pigeon]

my son is 9 months & also not crawling. never liked tummy time, started rolling about a month ago, but still doesn't roll much. he is quite content to sit & play. he is just figuring out that he can scoot around & is reaching forward for things & ends up on his hands & legs (not so much knees). he does prefer to stand up & walk around with assistance.

my ped. wasn't concerned last week at 9 mos wbv. he mentioned that charlie has the strength in his legs & arms, but he knees tend to flop out, like frog legs. he suggested that i help charlie get his legs in the position by holding them to prevent flopping out.

9 mos is not late in the game at all. it is hard to relax about this when you hear about all the other babies who were already crawling at 6 months, but try. your child will figure it out some mode of transport soon.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by half-pigeon

my son is 9 months & also not crawling. never liked tummy time, started rolling about a month ago, but still doesn't roll much. he is quite content to sit & play. he is just figuring out that he can scoot around & is reaching forward for things & ends up on his hands & legs (not so much knees). he does prefer to stand up & walk around with assistance.

Thanks for your comment! Our son is 5 1/2 months old, never really liked tommy time either; sometimes he tolerates it a bit and he was turning over a couple times a day with huge efforts a week back, but now is back to hating tummy time the instant we put him down.

He has zero interest in crawling so far. But he can sit by himself when put in a sitting position since he is 4 months old and since 5 days he walks through the house supported.

I am a bit worried, as his development seems so unusual and this is my first, so it is really nice to hear, that other babies are doing the same

Thank you

[Rico'sAlice]

Originally Posted by penstamon

I 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 don't believe the not crawling yet is a huge problem or anything, nor do I believe that the interest in walking is bad. However, you might want to consider not providing any walking assistance. Not like it is causing the not crawling or anything that extreme. But AFAIK there's no good reason to do it and that way you know DS is only doing exactly as much as he can in his own time, and it might increase his motivation to crawl. Again, I mean this in a totally gentle, non-blaming way- just something to think about.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by Rico'sAlice

However, you might want to consider not providing any walking assistance. Not like it is causing the not crawling or anything that extreme. But AFAIK there's no good reason to do it and that way you know DS is only doing exactly as much as he can in his own time, and it might increase his motivation to crawl. Again, I mean this in a totally gentle, non-blaming way- just something to think about.

You just have not met my son. He makes himself stiff and wants to stand up, there is no way not to let him and once he stands off he goes. I encourage him to hold himself onto furniture or I form an arch with my arms so he learns how to balance. But I have no idea how not to let him walk if has his mind set to it.

[Ms. Cellaneous]

For the record, I never crawled, and I turned out perfectly normal.
Well, normal enough, anyway.
At some point, I think around a year, according to my mom I just stood up and started walking. I've heard that most pediatricians don't consider crawling a true developmental milestone anymore (since clearly many babies skip over it and do fine). So don't worry about what your PT or anyone else says... your baby just marches (not crawls!) to the beat of his own drummer!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by penstamon

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

I wouldn't call it the pinnacle of baby development, but I think it was very important for my second child. DS would get up on all fours, but couldn't coordinate his movements to get anywhere, and for a long time did an odd army crawl/shuffle--no cross-crawl movement in it.

Originally Posted by ChristaN

My understanding was that it is only a problem if the baby/child cannot coordinate movements across the body or arms with legs.

I think this was the issue with my son. I think his strength in all his limbs was fine, his muscle tone seemed fine, his fine motor skills (for an infant) seemed fine, but the coordination left-to-right and arms-to-legs seemed really lacking. And teaching him to cross-crawl (combo of bicycle exercises, obviously for very short time periods, plus modelling crawling because he had a very high drive to imitate, much more than my 1st child), changed him from a clumsy baby, with frequent bruises on his forehead, to a kid who learned to walk without getting bruised at all.

When he was watching us (DD and me) crawl, and he was on his knees--it was almost painful to watch him try to figure out what to move and how to make it happen.

He's 4 now, he seems at least comparable in coordination compared to his peers now, but I think, for him, cross-crawling really _was_ important. He got 3 months of practice before he started walking, plus the normal crawling as play since then.

[Rico'sAlice]

Originally Posted by belltree

You just have not met my son. He makes himself stiff and wants to stand up, there is no way not to let him and once he stands off he goes. I encourage him to hold himself onto furniture or I form an arch with my arms so he learns how to balance. But I have no idea how not to let him walk if has his mind set to it.

No, I don't think there is any way to "not let him" walk. Kids want to do what they want to do. When you said "assisted walking" I was picturing you holding his hands while he walked, kwim? My DS was also dying to walk at that age (and actually was the next) and I certainly didn't try to hold him back at all! I just never helped him with it (other than moving stuff so that when he inevitably toppled over he wouldn't split his head open).