Crawling: Why It Matters and How to Help Your Baby Get There

Crawling is the one milestone I simply cannot push to the side. This guide covers why crawling on hands and knees is so essential, what the early signs and progressions look like, how to read your baby's 'creative' ways of moving, and the hands-on techniques I use to help babies get there.

Why crawling matters

Crawling on hands and knees is such an important milestone, and it is probably the one I get asked the most questions about. This milestone usually happens around 6-8 months, and it is essential. Crawling on hands and knees is important for so many brain functions: it allows both hemispheres of the brain to work together, and in doing so a child can gain a wealth of benefits - bilateral coordination, visual perceptual skills, binocular vision, depth perception, spatial awareness, body awareness, reflex integration, muscle balance, strengthening, preparation for fine motor and ADL tasks, problem solving, crossing midline, motor planning, and sensory exploration. Crawling builds strength, posture, symmetry, balance, coordination, vision, and the cross-body patterns needed for later skills like handwriting, reading, and sports.

Crawling sets the tone for many future functions, from grip strength for writing and dressing to core strength for posture and balance, play and exploration, and even speech and social development. And don't buy into the myths that a baby can't crawl because they're too chunky, because you didn't crawl as a baby, because your baby is 'lazy,' or because your doctor isn't concerned.

Don't rush the process of crawling in order to hit the trophy milestone of walking. Crawling allows babies to build developmentally appropriate skills for the future, including hand and core strength, spatial awareness, integration of STNR and ATNR reflexes, bilateral coordination, environmental navigation and social skills, and oculomotor development.