OP again. Thanks for the wide range of responses - good food for thought. I will discuss w/ my pediatrician at our 12-mo checkup in a few weeks & take it from there.

As an aside, DD stood up all by herself for a good 10 seconds about 3 separate times today, walked around with her push walker thingy, and she is climbing on everything like a little monkey, so I just don't get why she's not crawling. She doesn't seem to have muscle tone issues (to my untrained eye) & I'm watching for a side preference and I haven't seen that either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true!

There are two schools, one says it's not another says it is.

We went all the way to find a PT in the "crawling is important" school to help our LO to develop her potential. DC had low muscle tone and w/o PT I can't imagine where we would be now. DC walked a few weeks after the 12 months appointment and is still working on the skills needed to crawl.

The crawling position helps with the development of important muscles on their shoulders, back and neck.

I'd advise you to seek professional help.

OP here. Interesting. Your child walks fine but still needs PT for low muscle tone? How did you know s/he had low muscle tone? My pediatrician never mentioned that and it's not something I would think she has, but maybe I don't know what to look for. She can get up on all fours, she just doesn't crawl like that; she flattens back out onto her belly when she wants to go somewhere.

I got concerned because I have training in child development and I'm from the second school of thought. I insisted with the doctor - and saw other signs the doctor dismissed like a side preference and more use of feet than hands. Doctor finally got me a referral and turns out DC was indeed delayed.

Was this with early intervention? Why did you need a referral to get her checked out?

Because I was ignorant and didn't know I could call EI w/o a doctor's referral.

And, you are from the wrong school of thought. There have been no long term studies done on children who have skipped crawling that show any long term effects of never having crawled. There is a slight correlation between learning disabilities and never crawling. There is even a greater correlation between learning disabilities and being left-handed. Hmm, do we force children to use their non-dominant hand? No, because correlation does not equal causation. And, as another PP said, crawling is great, and is evidence of proper brain development, but the lack of crawling is not evidence of improper brain development.

Side preference and low tone are signs of CP. But it sounds like your DC has finally learned how to walk which is wonderful. I have heard horror stories of CP patients being forced to crawl with no results. none. It is quackery.

My kid did a weird crab crawl starting at 8 months where he kind of half walked (used one knee to scoot with the other foot on the ground). He walked at 13 months, and interestingly, then would crawl occasionally - totally normally. Weird, but doctor was not in the least concerned, and he has had no delays at all thus far. Kids crawl in different ways. Ask your doc about it of course though. I did.

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of older, wiser, mothers have been through this, and they are telling you it is not a problem. I think everyone knows of brothers or uncles that never crawled, and most are perfectly normal. However, if your child has CP or low tone, and they are not crawling, well, then they should be receiving therapy for their neurological conditions, but not for the lack of crawling. And, not crawling by itself, is not enough reason to suspect a condition.

Now, in my experience, I have only ever heard of forcing child to crawl when they are already walking in new age practices that think they can cure, ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia, by getting the child to "work" on crawling correctly.

That is what? A busy body nosy mom posting on an anonymous forum at 9pm instead of spending time with their loved ones... hm... awwwwrite!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of older, wiser, mothers have been through this, and they are telling you it is not a problem. I think everyone knows of brothers or uncles that never crawled, and most are perfectly normal. However, if your child has CP or low tone, and they are not crawling, well, then they should be receiving therapy for their neurological conditions, but not for the lack of crawling. And, not crawling by itself, is not enough reason to suspect a condition.

Now, in my experience, I have only ever heard of forcing child to crawl when they are already walking in new age practices that think they can cure, ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia, by getting the child to "work" on crawling correctly.

Another bad advice.


At least you got a few accurate responses, OP.

You are the only one that has put your DD through this. Everyone else is saying they did/would not.

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of older, wiser, mothers have been through this, and they are telling you it is not a problem. I think everyone knows of brothers or uncles that never crawled, and most are perfectly normal. However, if your child has CP or low tone, and they are not crawling, well, then they should be receiving therapy for their neurological conditions, but not for the lack of crawling. And, not crawling by itself, is not enough reason to suspect a condition.

Now, in my experience, I have only ever heard of forcing child to crawl when they are already walking in new age practices that think they can cure, ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia, by getting the child to "work" on crawling correctly.

Another bad advice.


At least you got a few accurate responses, OP.

It sounds like a lot of older, wiser, mothers have been through this, and they are telling you it is not a problem. I think everyone knows of brothers or uncles that never crawled, and most are perfectly normal. However, if your child has CP or low tone, and they are not crawling, well, then they should be receiving therapy for their neurological conditions, but not for the lack of crawling. And, not crawling by itself, is not enough reason to suspect a condition.

Now, in my experience, I have only ever heard of forcing child to crawl when they are already walking in new age practices that think they can cure, ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia, by getting the child to "work" on crawling correctly.

My DS scooted on his but. At 12 months He was not crawling but was scooting. He could not roll over either. Got him evaluated by a neuroPhysician. He wAs diagnosed with low muscle tone. He started OT at 16 months. Through therapy he learned to crawl and walked at around 18 Months. He is now 3 and has no gross motor issues. The therapy definitely helped. Be aware though that our iNsurance company did not cover the cost of the therapy.

As long as the child is mobile by any means around the age of 12 months, there is no delay. They can roll around, scootch, or skip to walking. It is not a problem. Crawling is not a milestone for a reason. If you want to shop around for someone to work with your child to learn how to crawl, that is your prerogative, but I don't think that is healthy. Your DD sounds perfectly normal

Another thread where so many posters don't know what they're talking about (see Advice from Nurse Practictioner thread). Two of my three kids have SN and those were the two that scooted on their bottoms rather than crawled. With the first, the pediatrician pretty much said what you are saying - as long as he's mobile and going from point A to B, he's fine. When the last child came along and was also scooting, we didn't think too much about it until a different pediatrician in the same practice indicated that crawling IS an important developmental milestone and research is indicating that a number of kids who don't crawl are later found to have developmental issues. At his recommendation, we contact Early Intervention. We're very grateful we did. What we learned from the evaluations and through therapy caused us to have our first bottom scooter evaluated and he, too, had delays. They're not apparent to most people because the kids are good at compensating but as they get older, it becomes more difficult for them. It most certainly has impacted their handwriting. They also have motor planning/coordination challenges that we are addressing through PT and OT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true!

There are two schools, one says it's not another says it is.

We went all the way to find a PT in the "crawling is important" school to help our LO to develop her potential. DC had low muscle tone and w/o PT I can't imagine where we would be now. DC walked a few weeks after the 12 months appointment and is still working on the skills needed to crawl.

The crawling position helps with the development of important muscles on their shoulders, back and neck.

I'd advise you to seek professional help.

OP here. Interesting. Your child walks fine but still needs PT for low muscle tone? How did you know s/he had low muscle tone? My pediatrician never mentioned that and it's not something I would think she has, but maybe I don't know what to look for. She can get up on all fours, she just doesn't crawl like that; she flattens back out onto her belly when she wants to go somewhere.

I got concerned because I have training in child development and I'm from the second school of thought. I insisted with the doctor - and saw other signs the doctor dismissed like a side preference and more use of feet than hands. Doctor finally got me a referral and turns out DC was indeed delayed.

Was this with early intervention? Why did you need a referral to get her checked out?

Because I was ignorant and didn't know I could call EI w/o a doctor's referral.

OP, No harm in getting an eval with a PT. Your insurance should cover treatment if an issue is found. We were given exercises to do for a similar issue and between appointments and working at home, DD's issue resolved in a few weeks. There is research that shows that there are important benefits to crawling. If there is a problem with something like tone the earlier you catch it the better.

A good friend (who is now in his 40's), didn't walk until he was 3. Nothing wrong with him at all, just didn't want to walk for some reason.

He has 3 children, the oldest skipped crawling and walked around 13 months, the middle crawled around 8 months, and the youngest (currently 8 months) has no interest in any movement that isn't her being carried. Of the 3 the oldest is the one with development delays/issues due to a disorder (didn't crawl b/c he lacks upper body strength).

Every child is different, as long as your kid is attempting to be mobile in some way I wouldn't worry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true!

There are two schools, one says it's not another says it is.

We went all the way to find a PT in the "crawling is important" school to help our LO to develop her potential. DC had low muscle tone and w/o PT I can't imagine where we would be now. DC walked a few weeks after the 12 months appointment and is still working on the skills needed to crawl.

The crawling position helps with the development of important muscles on their shoulders, back and neck.

I'd advise you to seek professional help.

OP here. Interesting. Your child walks fine but still needs PT for low muscle tone? How did you know s/he had low muscle tone? My pediatrician never mentioned that and it's not something I would think she has, but maybe I don't know what to look for. She can get up on all fours, she just doesn't crawl like that; she flattens back out onto her belly when she wants to go somewhere.

I got concerned because I have training in child development and I'm from the second school of thought. I insisted with the doctor - and saw other signs the doctor dismissed like a side preference and more use of feet than hands. Doctor finally got me a referral and turns out DC was indeed delayed.

Was this with early intervention? Why did you need a referral to get her checked out?

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true!

There are two schools, one says it's not another says it is.

We went all the way to find a PT in the "crawling is important" school to help our LO to develop her potential. DC had low muscle tone and w/o PT I can't imagine where we would be now. DC walked a few weeks after the 12 months appointment and is still working on the skills needed to crawl.

The crawling position helps with the development of important muscles on their shoulders, back and neck.

I'd advise you to seek professional help.

OP here. Interesting. Your child walks fine but still needs PT for low muscle tone? How did you know s/he had low muscle tone? My pediatrician never mentioned that and it's not something I would think she has, but maybe I don't know what to look for. She can get up on all fours, she just doesn't crawl like that; she flattens back out onto her belly when she wants to go somewhere.

I got concerned because I have training in child development and I'm from the second school of thought. I insisted with the doctor - and saw other signs the doctor dismissed like a side preference and more use of feet than hands. Doctor finally got me a referral and turns out DC was indeed delayed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is not true!

There are two schools, one says it's not another says it is.

We went all the way to find a PT in the "crawling is important" school to help our LO to develop her potential. DC had low muscle tone and w/o PT I can't imagine where we would be now. DC walked a few weeks after the 12 months appointment and is still working on the skills needed to crawl.

The crawling position helps with the development of important muscles on their shoulders, back and neck.

I'd advise you to seek professional help.

OP here. Interesting. Your child walks fine but still needs PT for low muscle tone? How did you know s/he had low muscle tone? My pediatrician never mentioned that and it's not something I would think she has, but maybe I don't know what to look for. She can get up on all fours, she just doesn't crawl like that; she flattens back out onto her belly when she wants to go somewhere.

As long as the child is mobile by any means around the age of 12 months, there is no delay. They can roll around, scootch, or skip to walking. It is not a problem. Crawling is not a milestone for a reason. If you want to shop around for someone to work with your child to learn how to crawl, that is your prerogative, but I don't think that is healthy. Your DD sounds perfectly normal.

This is NOT true!