When will my child crawl?

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Crawling is an exciting milestone for parents and infants. It is the first physical milestone when a child has full independent freedom in mobility. There is a lot of confusing and conflicting information online as to when – and if – a child will crawl which can be overwhelming for parents. Children can be observed to crawl as young as 6 months and other children may take longer. To reassure concerned parents, rather than setting an expected age for a child to crawl, this blog will outline the different skills and activities infants engage in to prepare them for crawling.

How does a child crawl?

Crawling is a physical, cognitive and emotional task for a child. It requires the physical ability to lift their head to look where they are going, the strength in their arms to push up and the coordination of their limbs to propel themselves forward. A child slowly develops this physical strength in different ways such as when they build their neck muscles looking up at you during tummy time or when they build their upper body endurance reaching and grabbing for toys. A child’s emotional connection to their caregiver may also provide them with the motivation to move forward and to interact with the world around them through crawling.

All of this is to say that crawling is a very difficult task for a young body and brain, which is why it may take time for a child to crawl at a certain age. This is also why there could be various reasons why a child may take longer to crawl, for example, they do not have the neck strength to lift their head which impedes their ability to push up with their arms and hold a 4-point position. Or, a child does not yet have the cognition to coordinate their limbs well enough to successfully crawl. When we identify the reason why an infant is struggling to crawl it is easier to address the issue whether that is with physiotherapy, occupational therapy, more task-specific activities or simply more time for the child to be physically, cognitive and emotionally ready to crawl.

Some children find crawling easy, some children take longer to be ready to crawl and other children never crawl at all. Knowing if your child is taking too long to crawl is a decision only you can make as a parent because you are an expert of your child. However, to alleviate some concerns, or perhaps help you identify the reason they are struggling to crawl, here is a list of things children do to prepare themselves to crawl:

Things children can do to prepare themselves to crawl

Lift their head up and look around on their belly or in a seated position
Reaching out for toys on their belly or in a seated position
Using their arms to prop themselves up
Hold a 4-point position in play
Sway back and forwards in a 4-point position
Propel themselves forward on the floor using their arms, legs or both in collaboration

How do developmental delays or disabilities impact children learning to crawl?

When a child experiences a developmental delay or has a disability, it impacts several areas of life. One of the biggest impacts a developmental delay or disability has on a child is limiting their opportunities for development. For example, if a child has an extended stay in hospital they are missing key opportunities to engage in activities where they traditionally would develop the necessary skills for crawling. This could look like a child in NICU who must lay on their back with wires and tubes which reduce the time they would have traditionally been on their belly learning to lift their head and build the muscle tone in their neck.

Another example is a child with Cerebral Palsy who has high muscle tone which makes it harder for them to use their arms. As a result, they are unable to independently prop themselves up with as many repetitions as a child without Cerebral Palsy. This means that their opportunity to develop their strength in this movement takes more energy and repetitions for them to prepare themselves for more complex skills such as crawling. This is the reason why many children with developmental delays or disabilities seek support from Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy or Exercise Physiology.

Who do I see if I have concerns?

At Strong and Courageous Kids, we support families to better understand a child’s strengths and provide effective evidence-based interventions to support a child’s development. Our therapists are specially qualified to help identify reasons as to why a child is struggling to crawl and address it through modalities such as TASES, Spider Cage, Dynamic Movement Intervention, Reflex Integration, and much much more.