While some might not be concerned, I can’t help but be concerned that my seven month old is not crawling yet. My first was crawling at five months and walking by seven and half months. My second was crawling at five and half months and walking at nine months. I can not see that I am doing anything different with this child. He has been pushing himself up off the floor, and gets on his knees rarely for less than five seconds. He generally rolls himself around the floor (which my first was doing at three months), and turns himself about on his tummy. He has been doing that for a couple of months, but he hasn’t really progressed at all. I can not seem to entice him forward. Any ideas? I don’t see myself making any crawling contraptions as I didn’t have to do that with my first two, but maybe there is something else that I am missing.
Are third born children generally physically slower paced? Is there really any reason to be worried? Well, I am not worried about him but worried I am not approaching him the right way. I realize some kids are different, so maybe someone can shed light on this.
Corkers4Life-
Do you have a changing mat, similar to this one? http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2574731
There are definitely cheaper versions, especially if you have a resale shop near you. Two of these together make an exceptional crawling track, and connecting with velcro reserves you the right to incline it later as your kiddo progresses! Not to mention the fact that you. An still change your LO and all that…
Sounds like your third child has decided that rolling is an easier way to get around from a-b than crawling. All you need to do is get him up on his knees. You can do this by providing obstacles in his path by putting his favourite toy on the other side of a rolled up towel which he has to pull himself up to get over. The more obstacles that are gee in his way the quicker he will get to crawling.
Third children are usually either quicker ( to join in or escape) or slower (because the siblings provide enough stationary entertainment).
First question is this your only boy? Boys are notoriously slower at most things :yes: Mine was a good example. He was a full month behind his sisters in crawling, finally deciding to try it at 7 months. He also saw no reason to walk after having done it once at 10 months he didn’t bother with it again until 12 months when we were on holidays and by not walking he was missing out on exploring the hotel suite!
Watch the siblings, do they hand him toys? Do they always/mostly play nearby?
When you change him do you immediately carry him back to the social room? Try putting him on the floor out of the play area, all alone for a minute. Give him a reason to crawl. ( he may enjoy the peace and quiet too lol )
Put him outside on the grass, it’s often uncomfortable enough to get kids up on their hands and knees.
Give him obstacles to climb over, cushions, soft balls, rolled towels…it will force him to lift and use those arm muscles.
Realistically even though you think you are doing it all the same, by the time the third one comes we are flat out! So they will miss out on a bit of the walking holding hands and balancing on the lap stuff ( there is always another kid on the lap or holding the hand!) this is the stuff that strengthens the leg muscles and even the arm muscles. You could try a jolly jumper ( I know some don’t agree with them but my girls liked it ALOT)
Oh and definately don’t be worried, you are still likely to have an early crawler and early walker, you are months of average
Dont worry, this is completely normal for many children. It could be due to being the third with many willing helpers to pass the toys and interesting things, but could also just be just one difference between your children. Children do develop many different skills at different ages and in different orders. My second child is not mobile at all at 8 months but he has had all the same opportunities as my first and I do lots of activities to encourage him. He is so laid back and content in his nature I think he just can’t be bothered to move at the moment!! But he is extremely alert and very aware of everything going on around him. And he is doing some signing earlier than #1.
Even though I am medical in background and have worked in paediatrics, it is only when I become part of a group of 9 mums watching our babies develop at the same time over the past 3 years, I really became more aware of the wide variation in the ways that children develop. It has been fascinating to watch such a wide range of different pathways to development between the children, despite many similarities in the type of activities they were being exposed to. I know we can encourage earlier development, and provide an environment that will enable babies to maximise their potential, but I still believe that some things babies will do when they are ready, no matter what stimulation you provide. It is great if we can help our babies to learn and develop as soon as they are able to, but if for some reason they don’t want to, it’s not a major issue (is earlier always better? I’m not sure). For example, my niece and nephews were all bottom shufflers rather than crawlers and were consequently late walkers (over 18 months) this is almost certainly a genetic trait (all the children in my sister in law’s family have done this), but now 8 - 16 they are all three fantastic at sports, highly coordinated and very fit.
So my advice is, offer as much interaction and encouragement as you are able to, and there are some great suggestions in this thread, but don’t worry too much about it either - 7 months is still relatively early for crawling for many children. Maybe he is busy working on learning something different right now and will amaze you with that instead!
He finally got up on his knees all by himself this weekend. Yay…progress. I think it definitely has to do with my willing little helpers who can’t understand why mommy would put the toy out of the baby’s reach. He is my second boy. My oldest boy (4 yrs old) is very involved with his baby brother. It was love at first sight. He drives me crazy because he wants to pick up and hold his brother all the time. If it even appears that the baby is fussing over anything (you know that "I am not really crying but I am about to get bored’ cry), the oldest boy is over there in a flash ready to pick him up even though I have told him a million times he is not big enough to pick him up. Of course, he tells me, “But Mommy I am strong.” :nowink:
Well, its a relief to see progress because its been stagnant for more than a month.
My 4 year old is picking up her sister (I’ve had to give her lessons on how to do it safely and she is pretty good but then I am always with them both so can supervise) and also was taking her everything and now she is translating the babble too. The eldest sat at 4.5 months, crawled at 6 months (on the dot), took forst steps at 8.5 months and was walking well by 10.5 months and running before a year. My second sat at 5.5 months, crawled at 7.5 months and walked at 12.5 months - she has yet to run and she is nearly 14 months old. Personally I think they are just different - my eldest is far more physical and actually struggles to keep still whereas my youngest stares at everything before moving at all taking it all in with her eyes before the rest of her body.
I’d say you just have to wait it out. It may help to get your older children to help with putting the toys out of reach - I did this with my daughter but she took it a bit far and the poor younger one kept having things being taken away from her! I seem to be reteaching my 4 year old all the time!
My first and only db was content to lie in his infant seat at 8 months. By 9 months, he was sitting some, by 10-11 months he was crawling and walking by 13 1/2 months. Some kids just take longer. Later it turned out that my son was intellectually normal or above and started college at 16. Physical skills such as early walking seem to bear little relationship to intellectual skills. If you are worried, or if the baby cries when he tries to crawl or walk, have him checked by a doctor, especially for hip or bone problems. Otherwise he’s probably normal, just doing his own thing, at s slightly slower rate than his siblings.
This is nice to read .
My daughter is 6,5 months and doesn’t want to roll over yet and cries easily when she’s on her belly. It sometimes worried me, but I’ve went to the doctor and she said it was all fine. Still I will be more convinced the moment she is happy on her belly and can roll over.
But as she is doing very well on other areas, it makes up for the staying behind on the mobility part.
Does anybody have some ideas on how I can make the tummy-time more enjoyable? I’ve tried laying down beside her, in front of her, giving all kinds of toys, dancing, singing, doing weird things (all in effort to make her at least laugh a little). It sometimes works for half a minute, but then the crying starts :s
H. skipped crawling completely and started walking around 10 months. E. crawled pretty late, after 7 months, and didn’t start walking a lot until around 13 months. Now he’s a speed demon, climbs on everything, and general menace. I’m not sure why people worry about this.
I can see the point in wanting children to read early, and learn a lot, and develop their minds and bodies…but why think that crawling or walking earlier than normal is an advantage?
With my second one, I applied Doman since his first day. Belly time, balance program. He started to crawl at 7 months, walk at 15 months.
I wondered why he did not start creeping at 2.5 months. And I wondered what doctors are writing so much in their papers. Now I know that he had a kind if dysthonia in his legs, and without Doman he should start to crawl after 12 months.
Now (2 years) he is running faster than my 4 years old. Some kids are more active than others. And it is ok to start later.
In my region it is believed that crawling is good for back development. That it is not good to walk early. Doctors recommend to avoid early standing and walking. My first kid crawled 7 months (from 8 to 14 month age) and my second kid crawled 9 months (7 - 15) and doctors say that it was very good.
Well I don’t want to rock the cart but I am completely convinced in the advantages of early crawling, walking, talking and reading. Yes of course the doctors say it makes no difference, those same doctors also say there is no advantage to early reading too. Apparently it all levels out by 3rd grade. Well yes of course it does it the kids are stuck in a classroom that doesn’t offer work at their level and are expected to re learn what they have known for years!
So think about it, a kid learns to walk earlier than 9 months. That gives them an extra 3-8 months of time in their lives where their sole focus isn’t learning gross motor skills for walking. ( ever seen a kid learning to walk it is truly all they think about!) what could they learn in this extra time? Swimming, summersaults, trampoline, cross pattern running…my daughters learnt all this by the time most kids learn to walk! Now they do summersaults in the air, swim faster than their classmates, win every race long and short and a really quite scary to watch on a trampoline. :yes:
So maybe it doesn’t matter, just like it doesn’t matter if they learn to count or read before school or in school, but I will take any advantage I can get. So yes do encourage your kids to crawl and walk early but remember like a good math program it’s pointless if you stop at addition!
I had initially been a sceptic of physically superb programs, e.g., that of Doman. Afterall, I had read in ‘What to expect the first year’, what children were supposed to do when. And author Murkoff kept saying that kids do these things when they are ‘developmentally ready’, although once in a while she mentions that children placed on their tummies meet milestones earlier. But, all in all she told parents not to worry; the kids would do them when they were ready. So, I took it easy, especially when my child cried during tummy time. I thought to myself ‘He’s not ready yet’. And then my child developed a severe flathead, due to his being on his back all the time. I found it would require a £2000 helmet to fix it. £2000!!! I panicked. Where would I get such amount from? And just to cure a flat head? I started aggressive tummy time, flapping him over every time he swapped on his back. Cos I did not have £2000 to fix a flathead. And NHS does not cover that, you pay from your pocket, and I did not have that.
Long story short. I stumbled on http://domanmom.com/, a blog of Elizabeth, a mom using Doman’s methods with her kids. And when I saw the photo of her son, Damien, crawling at 5 months, I was shocked: http://domanmom.com/2012/01/seven-month-old-developmental-check-in-stage-iii-midbrain-and-subcortical-areas/ (For some strange reasons, the pictures of Damien crawling are no longer on the site). Why was I shocked? Because my son wasn’t even sitting independently at that age, talkless of creeping, talkless of crawling. I contacted her, and she said she had used Doman’s books ‘How smart is your baby’ and ‘How to make your baby physically superb’. I ordered the books, devoured them, and begun to put their ideas into practice. And my son improved so much I was shocked. I did not get the crawling track or ladder, but I used the other ideas in the book. And the improvements were just amazing. And the books are so good. I think they are Doman’s best books, with full pictures on how to carry out the activities.
So, the theory that ‘later is better’ or ‘later makes smarter’ is opposed to everything Doman says in those books. He gives reasons why early mobility, especially crawling, is so important to children’s intellectual development.
Besides, my success with Doman’s physical program has made me a believer in all his other programs. Seriously. This is coming from a previously very sceptical mum. But now I believe.
Plus watch the videos on the IAHP channel on physical mobility, etc., and you’ll be as convinced as I am now. Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/iahpvideos
I have to admit that I was also a bit concerned when my son didn’t show any signs of moving to the crawling stage especially when I saw that other babies his age which were about 7 months who were already crawling. But I had to keep reminding myself to give him time as it’s not a race for babies although I was often tempted to think otherwise. My baby finally decided to show signs of crawling when he was 9 months and then just took off from there. I’ve heard that some babies even skip the crawling stage and just go on to walking straight away.
Whatever it is, pls do just remind yourself that every baby is different.
Someone said something about their child sitting up before they started crawling, and well, none of my children sat up until after they learned to crawl. Is this unusual? I am just curious to know.
Update on progress: At almost a week and half or so away from 8 months, my LO is moving his hands forward and then literally hopping both his legs forward at the same time. So funny and strange. I probably need to help him more with his criss-cross pattern. ???
I agree with Mandabplus3. If we stop at physically developing them after they learn to walk than we are letting them miss out on wonderful opportunities. After seeing a breast crawl, I already want another baby just so that I can have that experience. I think I need a break for the next few years though. lol
My two children both developed in completely different ways. My DD started rolling quite early and then commando crawling and then sat up, followed by normal crawling. My DS had much more core stabilty from earlier and was sitting earlier than DD but completely uninterested in rolling. He is now edging himself around, backwards and in circles on his belly but still no sign of any rolling.
It’s definitely true that many babies are crawling later nowadays due to the ‘Back to sleep’ campaign for preventing cot death, which means many spend more time on their back than in the past.
I do agree that the more encouragement and activities we can do to develop physical and gross motor abilities the better, just like with reading and maths etc. I fully believe in maximizing every child’s potential. Having said that, I believe there will always be a range in terms of what order and stage that different children will learn different skills and it does not necessarily mean a baby who learns to crawl slightly later will have any long term disadvantage if we give them as many activities and as much encouragement as possible.
Corkers sounds like he’s getting close now :yes: I would encourage some cross pattern…you could try simply touching hands to opposite knee, opposite ears, opposite feet…I don’t know if it will help him crawl but it’s good for cross patterning in older children. You could also gently encourage the opposite movement of knees while he is attempting to crawl, being very careful not to have baby fall flat on face, as usually the legs are stronger than the arms.
Most kids sit before they crawl or very close to the same time, often they actuality crawl because they were sitting and fell forward to reach something! Also kids who don’t crawl and head strait to walking have been known to have coordination issues later so it’s goo to crawl for a while.
As an indication of what can be done only, I really didn’t try that hard! obviously some kids will take longer for many different reasons. Bulky clothing, colder weather, all carpeted floors or all smooth floors, furniture placement, time and opportunity spent at home, natural preferences And teperment( those ones that cry during tummy time! Yep I had one!) siblings, safety…endless list really. My kids rolled before they had their first lot of needles ( scared the crap out of the nurse, who turned away while bub was on the bed!), were all sitting before 4 months, crawled around 6 months and walked at 8 to 10 months. They were little but tall kids. Breastfed and not chubby, I think all chubby kids will take a bit longer to defy gravity. And their is nothing wrong with a chubby baby I believe my early movers were a result of increased opportunity to move. I never swaddled, and almost always put the on the ground, I regularly did my activities on the floor with them. Folding washing, reading etc
After they learnt to walk I actively taught them a cross pattern run, I even took them jogging a few times to build up persistence and fitness. And yep they were much fitter than me! lol We used all the climbing equipment at the park, jumped on the bed ;), and I taught them to summersault at 1 ( do be sure they have strong necks before you attempt this and get instructions!) peddling bikes and swimming came next and I wish I had done more ball skills with the girls. use a balloon to start with rather than a ball.
All kids will develop at their own pace yes! But don’t let that stop you speeding it up
It's definitely true that many babies are crawling later nowadays
In my region, kids crawl earlier and walk later. Doctors recommend belly time, floor time, and avoiding vertical elements. “Back to sleep” is not popular here. 20 years ago babies were kept more in cradles and there was nothing else to do than to learn standing and walking. Doctors say that many of them have backaches because of early verticalising. I do not know.
Sitting after the crawling is the usual way (as recommended by our doctors ). My both kids did it.
