The Crawling Milestone: How Important Is It?

As parents, we almost all have a tendency to worry-- at times to excess. If your baby seems to be slow to reach milestones or simply doesn't seem to behave or think like his peers, it's likely that you've become a nervous wreck over the possibility that there may be something "wrong". In the vast majority of cases, the normal variations in infant development that parents perceive as flaws are nothing to worry about. Your child's developmental pattern is as unique as his fingerprint.

However, this reassurance sometimes fails to stop parents from worrying when the crawling "milestone" isn't acheived at the expected time. Parents may be concerned about the possibility that the child has a serious cognitive or motor delay if the baby is late to crawl, or if he is one of the many babies who never crawls at all. This perceived delay in crawling is rarely a sign of any disease or condition.

Since the "back to sleep" campaign began, and successfully reduced the incidence of SIDS by encouraging parents to place babies on their backs to sleep, many babies have been reaching the crawling milestone much later-- or never at all. Babies who sleep on their backs do not exercise the muscles necessary to coordinate crawling because they do not push themselves up when they awaken at night. While this shift in infant development may be upsetting to some parents, the crawling milestone is not important enough to warrant risking a baby's life by placing him on his stomach.

To determine whether or not the crawling milestone actually holds any real importance in determining a child's overall cognitive or physical health, one group of scientists observed a group of 20 babies who moved themselves around by scooting, or "bottom shuffling" rather than crawling. When the children were between four and eight years of age, the scientists reevaluated their health and motor development, and found no statistical difference between them and their peers who had crawled. Even those who had received therapy for their crawling "delays" had no motor skill advantages over thsoe who hadn't.

Some developmental milestones for babies actually do hold critical importance. Rolling over, sitting without support, cruising, and walking are all considered to be hallmarks for healthy infant development. However, the crawling "milestone" itself holds very little general importance in the development of an otherwise healthy child. Pediatricians are now becoming so aware of its lack of importance that it has been removed from many infant milestone charts.

As always, talk to your pediatrician if you have any questions regarding your baby's developmental milestones. Only a qualified doctor who knows your child can make a complete and accurate determination regarding your child's wellbeing as it relates to motor skill milestones.