The great things about crawling!

12 Jul The great things about crawling!

Crawling is a big milestone we look for in our babies. It is commonly achieved between 9-12 months of age. In recent times there has been some controversy about how important crawling is. Here at Western Paediatric Physiotherapy, we believe it is an extremely important part of babies development. Below we discuss benefits of crawling, signs you baby is about to crawl and activities to encourage crawling! 

Benefits of crawling 

• Hip strength – Crawling is when your baby starts to put more weight in their hips and therefore helps with strengthening. 
• Arm and hand strength – As above more weight bearing equals more strength! 
• Core strength – We have all seen the Pilates exercises we do on our hands and knees (I.e. bird dogs!). Well crawling is essentially doing these exercises for your baby every time they move. It is brilliant for core strength. 
• Coordination – Walking is the first time your baby needs to learn to move opposite arm and opposite leg (reciprocal pattern) which is important for later walking. 
• Balance – As your baby’s center of mass slowly moves away from the floor their balance is challenged, challenging your balance helps to improve overall strength! 
• Body Awareness – Helps your baby to develop proprioceptive skills which is the ability for your baby to know where their body is in space.  
• Cognitive benefits – As well as physical benefits crawling is the first time your baby can start to really explore their environment, leading to improved cognition.  

Signs to look for in your baby before crawling 

It is really important we do not push babies to do things that they are not ready for. If we do it can lead to injuries and your baby not tolerating the activity you so desperately want them to do. If your baby is not doing the following, they are not ready for crawling.  

• Tummy time – Your baby should be happy to be on the tummy for over 20min 
• Head Control – They need to be able to look up 90 degrees and look side to side 
• Reaching for toys in tummy time and then once can achieve crawling position reaching for toys in this position.  
• Mobile on floor – Your baby should be pivoting, rolling and moving around the floor independently. This is important to show adequate neck, core and back strength! 

How can I encourage my baby to crawl?

Most importantly look at what your child is not doing from the list above. Start by doing activities to encourage your child to achieve the milestones listed above. Sometimes it is as simple as increasing tummy time. If your child does not tolerate tummy time for 20minutes then do frequent bouts of tummy time for as long as they can tolerate it. Place toys out of your child’s reach so they have to start learning to pivot and move around the floor. Play with your child lying on their side can help to encourage rolling. Playing with your child lying on their back and reaching for toys with their hands or reaching for their feet helps to develop neck and core strength.  

Overall Variety in play positions is essential for your baby!  

If, however, you feel your child is still delayed and require further assistance the physiotherapists at Western Paediatrics Physiotherapy can help to assess what your child might require encouraging them to start crawling and help you and your family on your way!