Skip Crawling and Walk…Is it a good idea?

credit: envato images

WAIT!!!  But crawling is so important!  Yes, I am thrilled with every developmental milestone of any kid at any age. Every child has their own developmental path. The time it will take for children to reach certain milestones will vary. And any time a parent is proud of their child is a reason to celebrate.

But…crawling is SO important! I remember when both of my children were in the 10-15 month range; I was constantly asked about walking: “Is he walking yet, is he walking yet?” As a mama with a background in child development, I don’t know how many times I felt my blood pressure rise and the need to bite my tongue, rather than get on my soap box on the importance of crawling. “No, my 10-month-old child is NOT walking yet! And that’s fantastic, because do you have ANY idea how important crawling is? (insert my rolling my eyes here!)

So, here is my soapbox rant on the importance of crawling. In 1994, the American Academy of Pediatrics began their “back to sleep” campaign. SIDS fell by 50%, but numerous studies show that since that time, kids are slower to meet gross motor developmental milestones.Then they added “Back to sleep, prone to play”, but many parents were already so terrified of putting babies on their tummies, that the message did not really hit home. And, it seems like society is so focused on that monumental milestone of when a baby takes her first steps, that we have forgotten the importance of crawling, rolling, dynamic sitting, etc.

Babies who go through the crawling phase will later develop better eye-hand coordination when it comes to handwriting, sports, playing a musical instrument, etc. There is even a link between a lack of crawling and ADHD (but the verdict is still out on which may cause the other, you know…kind of like the chicken and the egg). I see this in my own practice. When a parent brings a child to me for handwriting help, one of the first questions I ask is “Did he crawl as a baby?”  More often than not, the answer is “No, but he was walking by 11 months!”

Why is crawling so important?

It strengthens the whole upper extremity. In laymen’s terms this means the whole shoulder, arm, and hand, down to the finger tips.  Even better, when a baby crawls while holding an object (think a toy car, rattle, etc) this strengthens all of the tiny intrinsic muscles of the hand, which are so vital for handwriting skills later on.

It improves eye-hand coordination. When crawling, a baby often looks toward the object as she is crawling to it, or looks to the object, then to her hands, then to the object. This switching back and forth between near/far vision helps develop a child’s eye hand coordination and visual perception skills. When do we see this in big kids? Looking at the classroom board, then looking at the paper on the desk, and back again. Same thing. Babies who crawled have an advantage when it comes to having the eye hand coordination needed in school settings later on.

It improves coordination of the right and left sides of the body. Walking primarily involves the weight shift of the right and left sides of the lower body. This is especially true when a baby is walking using push toys. In crawling, FOUR different sections of the body must all work together in unison. Right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg…it’s very complicated to get all 4 areas working together in a rhythmic pattern. As a therapist, it definitely sets off red flags when a child consistently uses atypical movement patterns as a primary means for locomotion. An example of an atypical pattern is when a child sits and scoots on her bottom using one hand on the ground for support. Another example is when a child “crawls” but the legs don’t take turns moving in a back and forth pattern. Rather, they move forward together in a singular motion similar to a “bunny hop”.

It improves sensory development. As a child crawls with her hands open she naturally will encounter many different textures on her hands. Smooth, cold tile. Fuzzy carpet. Big brother’s prickly bristle block that was left on the floor. You get the idea. Again, it is hard to know which one came first, but it is common for children who skip crawling to later have tactile sensory defensiveness, especially on their hands, such as resisting nail grooming, hand washing, finger paint, sand play, lotion, etc.

Worried your baby may skip crawling and move straight to walking? 
Here are my top four tips:
1) Get on the floor with your baby! She may not want to be on the floor by herself. Get down on the floor and play with your baby. At times, model crawling yourself.
2) Try to gently put your child on her hands and knees. Again, model this together. Siblings present? Make it a family affair! You can even put her on her tummy over a Boppy pillow for support if her arms/legs are not quite strong enough to support her yet.
3) Make it a fun environment. Make sure that there is an open space for crawling. When next to furniture the child will tend to pull herself up and walk while holding on. Provide toys on the floor and spread them out to promote crawling from one toy to the next.
4) Practice, practice, practice. If your baby has started to crawl in the past few days, but she looks like she may want to take off walking already, get as much crawling in as you can. This was the situation with my daughter, and we would pretend to be puppies (barking and all!) as we crawled the full length of the house, from one room to the other. Has your baby already started to prefer walking? No worries! You can still encourage additional crawling practice through crawling under chairs, under the coffee table, through tunnels, and…it’s always fun to pretend to be puppies/kitties!