Why won’t he crawl?

Q:My little boy is 10 months old. He reached all his milestones at the expected times, more or less. He rolled over at 5 ½ months and at seven months he was sitting really well independently, but he just doesn’t want to crawl. He does spend a lot of time on his tummy and I’ve tried putting toys in front of him, or even tasty snacks to encourage him and motivate him to start moving, but to no avail. I’m starting to get worried that he doesn’t seem to want to crawl at all.

A:Most babies start crawling somewhere between seven and ten months. Maybe your baby prefers an alternative way of moving, such as sliding on his bum or rolling from place to place. Don’t worry if his crawling style is a little different to the “normal” style of crawling. What is important is that your baby moves and that his previous milestones were reached at more or less the right times. There are babies who skip the whole crawling phase and switch to pulling themselves up, and then standing and walking. Babies use different methods to develop skills and they don’t all develop at exactly the same pace. Give your baby some time. If, by one year old, he shows no interest in any form of movement, doesn’t yet move his arms and legs together in a coordinated way and also doesn’t move both arms and legs equally often, it is time to investigate further.

But in the meantime, you can try to get him in the mood for crawling by doing the following:

Continue with tummy time. Roll a towel into a sausage and put it under his torso so that his elbows rest firmly on the floor. Put toys down just out of reach or put him in front of a mirror.

When you baby is on all fours, put your hands behind his feet. This is to stabilise him and to make sure that he has something to push off against in order to move forward.

Limit the time your baby spends in his cat seat and pram. Rather give him time for free play on the floor where he can play and explore.

Please don’t worry too much about your baby not crawling yet and don’t compare him to other babies. Be patient and have fun together while he learns to master this new skill. YB