When do babies crawl?

Crawling is an important skill for your baby to learn and is a big milestone in their development. Your baby will crawl when they’re ready, with their own unique style. Babies usually start crawling between 6 and 13 months old. They are usually able to get into a crawling position on their hands and knees between 6 and 9 months, and will probably be rolling around and crawling on their tummies, called ‘commando crawling’, by around 8 months, though this varies. Approximately 10% of babies will never crawl and skip crawling altogether!

As with most developmental milestones, it is “normal” for crawling to happen at any point across a fairly wide span of time—anywhere from 6 to 10 months of age. Also, if a child is a bit bigger or heavier than is typical for his age, he may crawl later as it is more challenging for babies to push up onto all fours and move their extra body weight. Babies who were born prematurely may also crawl later.

Your baby will probably crawl on their hands and knees, but not all babies crawl the same way, and that’s OK. There are some other crawling styles you might notice, such as shuffling on the tummy ‘commando-style’, sliding along on their bottom (‘bum-shuffling’), or crawling backwards instead of forwards.

At 6 months old, babies will rock back and forth on hands and knees. This is a building block to crawling. As the child rocks, he may start to crawl backward before moving forward. By 9 months old, babies typically creep and crawl. Some babies do a commando-type crawl, pulling themselves along the floor by their arms.

To encourage a child’s crawling development, allow your baby to play on the floor in a safe area away from stairs. Place favorite toys just out of reach as the baby is rocking back and forth. Encourage him/her to reach for his/her toy.

As your baby becomes more mobile, it’s important to childproof your home. Lock up household cleaning, laundry, lawn care and car care products. Use safety gates and lock doors to outside and the basement.

There are many things you can do to help your baby learn to crawl:

• Do tummy time together — tummy time is when you place your baby on their stomach as part of their daily play routine. This helps strengthen and prepare your baby’s head, neck, back and leg muscles for crawling when they’re older. Try tummy time in different locations, such as indoors on a mat or outdoors on a blanket, and talk and sing while you do it. Always supervise your baby during tummy time.
• Play on the floor together — play is how your baby learns and playing with you is fun for your baby. Incorporating movement during your play, such as moving objects from side to side in front of their face or turning pages of a picture book, can help build your baby’s physical skills.
• Encourage reaching — place a favorite object or toy or even you just out of your baby’s reach, to get them reaching and moving. Reaching across the midline is particularly good for their motor development.
• Make your home safe — move any obstacles (such as furniture) out of the way so your baby can crawl around without the risk of getting injured.
• Avoid baby walkers — these do not help your baby’s crawling or movement and can actually delay their crawling. They also result in thousands of injuries every year in the US.

Is crawling an important milestone?

Researchers agree that crawling is an important milestone in terms of a baby learning to independently move around for the first time. For many infants it’s their first opportunity to be able to move by themselves to reach for toys, people or other objects in their environment. This in turn is thought to help with other areas of development such as cognitive (thinking) and behavioral (socio-emotional) development. Crawling enables an infant to learn how to co-ordinate their arms and legs and spatial awareness.

Crawling is a new skill for your baby to learn. Each new skill your baby develops builds on all the previous skills they have learnt, with each one being more complex than the last. Before crawling, your baby has been busy developing skills like controlling their head, moving their arms, sitting up with and without support, rolling over from front to back and back to front, and holding their own weight through their arms and legs. All of these things are important for developing their strength and ability to start crawling and, later, walking. Approximately 10% of babies will never crawl.

In the last two decades, researchers have found that babies are crawling later and later. In 1994, the Back-to-Sleep campaign was launched to place babies to sleep on their backs in a successful effort to reduce the rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

In 1998, two separate studies from the United Kingdom and United States ¹⁾ were conducted to assess the impact of babies sleeping on their backs and their motor development.

The studies found that babies who followed the important safe sleep guidelines and slept on their backs in line with the SIDS campaign had a slight delay in sitting, rolling and crawling. However, by 18 months, the delay was no longer relevant. In other words, the toddlers showed no delay and had caught up with their tummy sleeping peers.

The research shows the age a baby starts to crawl (if they even do) and the length of time spent crawling isn’t significant. However, if a baby does crawl, crawling on all fours (hands and knees) as opposed to the ‘bum shuffle’ is considered better. Bottom shuffling babies can be very determined, and sometimes there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. But bottom shuffling is probably the least desirable method of locomotion for a baby, predominantly because it is inefficient compared to four-point crawling, but also because the baby doesn’t get the opportunity to bear weight through their upper limbs for that period in their development.

In 2005, a study ²⁾ noted that back sleeping babies with limited tummy time while they were awake, were more likely to have developmental delays, than back sleepers with plenty of tummy time.

Many scientists believe that crawling is important to develop strength around the shoulders and hips, along with learning to move the arms and legs in a reciprocal motion (one side, then the other side). But, there are many other creative ways an infant can learn to do this, such as climbing, pulling to stand and eventually walking.

How can I encourage my baby to crawl?

1. Give your baby plenty of tummy time, starting from birth. By playing on their bellies, babies develop the muscle strength in their shoulders, arms, back and trunk (torso) that helps them learn to crawl.
2. Encourage your baby to reach for the toys she is interested in. Lay interesting toys at just a short distance from your almost-crawler. See if she is able to move herself toward these objects.
3. Make sure your baby has space to explore that is safe and supervised. Now is the time to begin child-proofing your home. Take a walk through (or better yet, a crawl-through) your home and see what potential hazards may be at your baby’s level.
4. Place the palms of your hands behind your child’s feet when he is on all fours. This stabilizes him and gives him something to “push off” from when he is just learning to crawl.

Parents can start tummy time from as soon as their baby comes home from hospital as a newborn. Parents, siblings and other carers should get down on the ground with their baby and play with them. Take your baby out of the ‘containers’ that restrict his/her movement. Containers are things such as rockers, baby capsules, bouncers, activity centers and jumpers. Containers are lovely baby sitters for short periods (like when you need a shower) but it is so tempting to leave babies in them for long periods. And that’s where babies of today get into trouble.

However, if you feel like something is wrong with your baby and their development, then never be embarrassed to seek help.

Your doctor or physiotherapists are there to support you and even if it is just for reassurance, then that is perfectly okay.

What to avoid

• Baby walkers. Not only are they potentially dangerous, they limit practice time on the floor learning to crawl. Walkers can also hamper muscle development.
• Spending lots of time in baby seats and baby carriers. Babies learn how to crawl, and later pull up to stand and then walk, when they have plenty of time each day to play, move, and explore.
• Pushing your child to learn to crawl. Pressing a child to develop a skill he isn’t ready for can actually slow the learning process.

What if my child is part of the 10% who skip crawling?

For parents concerned about their baby not crawling, it is important to look at the big picture. What is far more important is to consider the wider pattern of development for the baby.

• Was your child late to achieve other gross motor milestones such as head control and sitting? A baby should have developed head control by four months and be sitting independently by nine months.
• What is his/her social development and communication like compared to other babies of the same age?
• Is your child demonstrating an interest in toys that other babies of the same age are playing with? Are they using both sides of their body equally?

Skipping crawling alone is certainly not an indicator of future developmental delay, but if it is combined with other concerns in a baby’s development then it is certainly worth talking to your doctor about.

For babies that do decide to skip crawling and show no other development delays, expert recommends climbing. Climbing is like a big kid form of crawling, with a similar reciprocal pattern of the arms and legs required. Start by encouraging a baby to climb on and off the couch, progress to steps and stairs, and work towards climbing at a playground, on a rock-climbing wall, or climbing a tree.

Expert also recommends playing games like animal walks and races (where children walk or race like an animal would) for children who have skipped crawling. Think dog, bear, rabbit, frog and lizard. They are perfect for simulating crawling and really challenge a young child’s coordination and body awareness.

Another series of activities is ‘heavy work’ activities – like pushing, pulling, loading and lifting. This could mean digging in the sand pit with a shovel, squishing big piles of play dough, ‘helping’ with the groceries or vacuuming, packing up ‘heavy’ toys such as books, tearing up cardboard, playing tug-o-war, or even play wrestling.

These activities all activate the deep receptors in the muscles and joints, something that happens naturally with the crawling process.

Drawing or painting on an upright blackboard or easel is also a good activity as it works the postural muscles around the shoulder and upper back, and gets the elbow, wrist and finger joints and muscles active – a perfect pre-writing activity.

How to child-proof your home for crawling

Now that your baby is crawling, she will soon be pulling up as she prepares to walk. This means she will be able to get to get her hands on objects that had previously been unreachable and are potentially dangerous.

And remember, even though babies are moving around fairly well on their own, they still aren’t able to follow rules about what to touch or not to touch. So it is very important to make sure your home is child-proofed so that your baby has a safe place to play and explore.

Take a walk through (or better yet, a crawl-through) your home and see what potential hazards may be at your baby’s level.

Some obvious things to take notice of:

• Electrical outlets
• Electrical cords
• Baby gates on all stairs—top and bottom
• Toilet seat locks
• Plant stands (as well as other “tippy” tables)
• Houseplants within baby’s reach
• Poisonous home cleaning supplies within baby’s reach
• Sharp corners on coffee tables and end tables
• Fragile knick-knacks that can be grabbed or knocked over

By making your baby’s environment as safe as possible, you are creating the perfect space to support her growing skills and healthy development.

What are physical developmental delays?

Physical developmental delays are when children aren’t doing activities (like rolling over, sitting without support, or walking) that other children their age are doing. Developmental delays can be a sign of a serious health condition, so it’s important to talk with your child’s pediatrician about them.

When parents first notice signs of physical developmental delays, they include worries like:

• My child doesn’t seem to be growing the way he should.
• My child seems very stiff and tight in the way she moves.
• My child is weak and limp like a rag doll.
• My child isn’t keeping up with children of the same age when they play together.
• My child seems to get tired very quickly.

If these worries sound familiar, it’s important to talk with your child’s pediatrician about signs of physical developmental delay.

If you’re worried about other developmental issues, like social, emotional, communication, or learning, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics Learn the Signs. Act Early. for free an interactive online tool that can help parents of children ages 5 and under to use when they are concerned about their child’s motor development (https://www.healthychildren.org/English/MotorDelay/Pages/default.aspx). This online tool only focuses on a child’s physical development. The tool lists physical activities by the age at which they are typically performed. If you are concerned that your child has not achieved a certain milestone or if there have been setbacks, you can click on boxes included next to activity descriptions (https://www.healthychildren.org/English/MotorDelay/Pages/default.aspx). This creates a list – with space for notes – that can be taken to the next pediatrician appointment.

Motor developmental milestones for children from baby to 5 years of age

Newborn

• Turns head easily from side to side. When lying on back, moves head one way and then another.
• Comforts self by bringing hands to face to suck on fingers or fist.
• Keeps hands mostly closed and fisted.
• Blinks at bright lights.

1 Month

• Raises head slightly off floor when lying on stomach.
• Holds head up momentarily when supported.
• Keeps hands in closed fists.
• Comforts self by sucking on fist or fingers.

2 Months

• Holds head up and begins to push up with arms when lying on stomach.
• Makes smoother movements with arms and legs.
• Moves both arms and both legs equally well.
• Brings hands to mouth.

3 Months

• Lifts head and chest when lying on stomach.
• Moves arms and legs easily and vigorously.
• Shows improved head control.

4 Months

• Holds head steady without support.
• Grabs and shakes toys, brings hands to mouth.
• Pushes down on legs when feet are placed on a hard surface.
• Pushes up to elbows when lying on stomach.
• Rocks from side to side and may roll over from tummy to back.

6 Months

• Rolls over in both directions.
• Begins to sit with a little help.
• Supports weight on both legs when standing, and might bounce.
• Rocks back and forth on hands and knees, may crawl backward before moving forward.

9 Months

• Gets in and out of sitting position, and sits well without support.
  Creeps or crawls.
• Pulls to stand and stands, holding on.
• Begins to take steps while holding on to furniture (cruising).

12 Months

• Pulls to stand and walks holding on to furniture.
• Gets into sitting position without help.
• Begins to stand alone.
• Begins to take steps alone.

18 Months

• Walks alone, and begins to run and walk up steps.
• Walks backward pulling toy.
• Feeds self with spoon and drinks with cup.
• Helps dress and undress self.

2 Years

• Kicks a ball forward.
• Throws a ball overhand.
• Walks up and down stairs holding on.
• Stands on tiptoes.
• Begins to run.
• Climbs on and off furniture without help.
• Puts simple puzzles together.

3 Years

• Climbs and runs well.
• Walks up and down stairs, with one foot on each step.
• Jumps with both feet, and may hop on one foot.
• Pedals tricycle or three-wheel bike.

4 Years

• Catches a bounced ball most of the time.
• Hops and stands on one foot for a few seconds.
• Pours beverages, cuts with supervision and mashes own food.

5 Years

• Hops and may be able to skip.
• Does somersaults.
• Uses a fork and spoon, and sometimes a table knife.
• Stands on one foot for at least 10 seconds.
• Uses the toilet independently.
• Swings and climbs.

If my child isn’t doing activities by a certain age, does that mean he or she has a physical developmental delay?

Probably not, but it’s important to find out for sure. Usually a child who is late doing certain activities will catch up to other children. But sometimes developing late is the sign of a health condition. Spotting these signs and finding the health condition as early as possible will help your child get the care he or she needs to grow and develop.

My child was born prematurely (before 37 weeks of pregnancy). Do I need to wait until he’s older to worry about physical developmental delays?

If your child was born prematurely, it’s important to know that your child may develop later than other children of the same age. For example, if your child was born 2 months early, he may be 14 months old before he meets the milestones for a 12 month old born at term. Talk to your child’s pediatrician about what to expect from your child’s physical development.

How babies learn to crawl

A baby’s first jump forward might actually be a scoot backward. As babies figure out how to do that arm-leg-arm-leg crawling movement, they sometimes go backward first, and then learn how to crawl forward. So, for a while, babies might cry in frustration as they somehow finds themselves scooting away from the very object or person they are so determined to reach.

The process of learning to crawl differs among babies as they work out a way to move that is unique to them. Some ways babies learn to move:

• The “I’ll Have the Usual”: This is the classic crawl—alternating hand on one side and knee on the other to go, go, go.
• The “Crab”: Just like at the beach, the “crab” bends one knee and extends the opposite leg to scoot forward.
• The “Commando”: This crawler lies flat on her belly and drags herself forward using her arms.
• The “Rolling Wonder”: Who needs to crawl when rolling gets me where I need to go?
• The “Take It in Stride” Kid: Some children skip crawling and go right to walking. No time to waste—here I come.

There’s no right or wrong way to crawl. As long as a baby is making progress in his ability to use his body to get around, that’s what is important.

When do babies sit up?

Babies must be able to hold their heads up without support and have enough upper body strength before being able to sit up on their own. Babies often can hold their heads up around 2 months, and begin to push up with their arms while lying on their stomachs.

At 4 months, a baby typically can hold his/her head steady without support, and at 6 months, he/she begins to sit with a little help. At 9 months he/she sits well without support, and gets in and out of a sitting position but may require help. At 12 months, he/she gets into the sitting position without help.

Tummy time helps strengthen the upper body and neck muscles that your baby needs to sit up. Around 6 months, encourage sitting up by helping your baby to sit or support him/her with pillows to allow him/her to look around.

When do babies roll over?

Babies start rolling over as early as 4 months old. They will rock from side to side, a motion that is the foundation for rolling over. They may also roll over from tummy to back. At 6 months old, babies will typically roll over in both directions. It’s common for babies to roll over from tummy to back for a month or two before rolling over from their back to front.

To encourage rolling over, place your baby on a blanket on the floor with a toy or book to one side near him/her to reach toward with her arms.