Anyone who has witnessed the development of a baby from a helpless, immobile infant to independently crawling can understand the many stages and phases of independent crawling.

Babies don’t just go from helpless babe to crawling – a lot of behind the scenes development goes into a young one’s motor skills developing to an actual crawl.

Crawling incorporates neurological involvement, development of vision and cognitive patterns, in addition to gross motor skills they are developing. For some kids, crawling is essential and even critical for their early development. It could mean the difference between them holding a pencil later in school, having the right upper body strength to pull themselves up from the floor, or getting that lateral movement the brain needs to eventually read, write, and comprehend.

Expected pre-crawling milestones:

• Prone Position Pushing Chest off Surface Weight Bearing through Hands: 6-8 months

• Prone Position Pushing Up and Shifting Weight to One Hand to Reach with Other Hand: 6-8 months

• Belly Crawling: 7-9 months

• Maintain Quadruped Position: 9-11 months

• Commando Crawling: 8-9 months

• Independent Reciprocal Crawling: 9-11 months

These standards are used as a guideline for Physical Therapists to monitor progress to independent crawling! A PT’s rule of thumb before diagnosing a delay in crawling is monitoring for about 2 months without seeing any progression toward a certain milestone. The primary concern around crawling milestones is if an infant is not showing any signs of emerging or developing the crawling skill any time soon.

Stay tuned for more on variations of crawling and how to help!

If you are concerned that your baby hasn’t been progressing towards crawling, reach out to speak to a Physical Therapist! Early intervention works!