Crawling is something that comes up very often with our early childhood population and our babies. But it also comes up in our older kiddos, too, when we do our intake history. It’s a common conversation, and as a mom of four, I also see it coming up very often amongst my peers and in various Facebook groups or other forums. The questions I typically hear are, “Is crawling important? Is it okay if my baby skips crawling?” And, “How do I encourage crawling?”
My name is Sara Pereira, I’m an occupational therapist and co-owner of Sensational Development Occupational Therapy located in New York on Long Island. And today, I wanted to take a little bit of time to talk to you about crawling.
I want babies doing all of that preparatory work before they become active crawlers. Because before you know it, they do become active crawlers and climbers. Then they’re up on their feet and walking, and that becomes their primary mode of mobility. So that early mobility of crawling doesn’t last long, and we want to facilitate it.
It’s also something you can absolutely work on with pediatric physical and occupational therapists.
Crawling Is a Key Building Block for Your Baby’s Development
Crawling has so many benefits that go beyond strength. As babies develop, if they’re given the opportunity, they’re on the floor doing tummy time and pushing up onto all fours. They’re slowly starting to push up on their arms and getting their body moving against gravity. From a sensory system development standpoint, this starts to become really important for developing body awareness. When babies are working against gravity and pushing with their muscles, how hard do they have to push? That brings into play their proprioceptive system (sense of body awareness) and their vestibular system (sense of balance and coordination). Another important aspect of crawling is reflex integration. When you’re starting to move the body, turn the head, utilize your vision, you’re integrating reflexes as we move through those developmental milestones.Crawling Develops Balance and Early Mobility Skills
As they keep going, they’re moving their head. They’re starting to pick themselves up and realize that they are a separate entity from the floor, where their body ends and the rest of the world begins. As they get a little bit bigger, they start getting up onto all fours. They start rocking. They start trying to balance a little bit more before they actually become mobile. So crawling serves a purpose for mobility and getting from point A to point B. But crawling is doing so much more than just that. It helps babies to:- Build strength in their proximal joints, hips, and shoulders
- Develop postural control
- Stretch and strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the hands through weight bearing
- Builds the foundation needed for fine motor skills in preschool and beyond
Crawling Encourages Independence, Coordination, and Exploration
In addition, once babies get mobile and start moving throughout their environment, they’re building bilateral coordination, or using two sides of the body together, (right and left or upper and lower). They’re driven by vision and moving. They might see a ball; now they’re able to get it. They’ve got independence, there’s fun happening. They can explore their environment and aren’t 100% reliant on their caregivers to help them with that. Their environment all of a sudden becomes so much more than it was when they were on the floor. As infants, you’re bound to where you are: what’s on your playmat, what’s on the floor, what’s available to you. But once you’re mobile, you can go get the dog, you can go get the toy, you can chase after your siblings. There’s a lot of social development that happens with crawling as well.When Should a Baby Start Crawling?
For me, as an occupational therapist, I’m not as concerned about when a child starts crawling. There’s a really big range of what is typical, what is normal, what is expected. You can look those up or talk to your pediatrician about that. For me, I just like to see children spend time in those milestones. Don’t skip crawling to go right to walking. I want to see you get on the floor. I want to see you:- Using the right and left sides of your body together
- Weightbearing
- Picking your head up
- Exploring your environment
- Rocking back and forth on all fours
I want babies doing all of that preparatory work before they become active crawlers. Because before you know it, they do become active crawlers and climbers. Then they’re up on their feet and walking, and that becomes their primary mode of mobility. So that early mobility of crawling doesn’t last long, and we want to facilitate it.
Encouraging Crawling Through Play Builds a Strong Foundation
There are a lot of things we can do to encourage kiddos to start crawling:- Using tunnels
- Playing with balls and toys placed just out of reach
- Helping position a child over your knee or a therapy ball to bring knees under hips
It’s also something you can absolutely work on with pediatric physical and occupational therapists.
How Pediatric Therapist Can Help Your Child with Crawling
Pediatric therapy for infants can feel unfamiliar, especially if parents haven’t experienced it with older children. Many parents are unsure what to expect, and they may feel nervous or wonder, “Is something wrong? Is my baby delayed?” Pediatric therapy is not invasive. It is play-based. We use both your child’s natural environment and our supportive gym environment. Caregivers—mom, dad, grandparents—are right on the floor with us. We are playing together. Therapy is family-centered and child-centered. We try to make it fun and engaging by using toys, lights, cause-and-effect activities, and other things children naturally enjoy. This play encourages babies to move through their developmental milestones in a playful way. That’s why getting babies out of containers and giving them time to explore on the floor, work against gravity, and experience movement is so important during infancy.Early Intervention Is Important to Ensure Long-Term Success
If you have concerns about your child’s development in the early months, early intervention is key. The sooner you address those concerns, the better the child’s outcomes will be. Because trust me, it’s a little tricky to start working on crawling when a child is six or seven years old. At that point, you’re doing wheelbarrow walks or other activities in order to integrate those reflexes, build that shoulder stability, and work on all the skills that crawling would naturally build. But now that they’re older, they can talk and protest, and they can avoid it a little bit better than when they were infants.Reach Out to Sensational Development for Expert Support
If you’re concerned about your child’s development, listen to your mom gut. I always say that to everybody after going through the infant stages four times now with my own kids and watching them reach those little levels of independence at different times each and every time. And our company is more than happy to do consults with parents. Our occupational therapists at Sensational Development are available to talk to you about your child’s development. You can call our office at any time, and we would be happy to help you determine if an evaluation is warranted.
Sara Pereira, MS OTR/L
Sara graduated from Quinnipiac University in 2004 with a Bachelor’s in Health Science before earning her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy in 2005. She has continued to pursue knowledge to deliver exceptional care to children and has completed training in:
Level 1 Mentorship in Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD Foundation),
Advanced Therapeutic,
Listening Provider certification,
Kay Toomey’s S.O.S. Approach to Feeding,
Visual and Vestibular Intervention.
Sara’s contributions to her community and the field of occupational therapy were celebrated in 2022 when she was inducted into Massapequa High School’s Hall of Fame.