Crawling

Encyclopedia of Childhood and Adolescence, Apr 06, 2001

Crawling is the primary form of mobility achieved by infants before they learn to walk. Babies have a primitive crawling reflex at birth, which is instinctively activated when they are placed on their abdomens. Their legs flex, and they move forward, raising their heads to free them for motion. However, this reflex disappears during the early weeks of life, and true crawling is not learned until the second six months, normally around the same time that an infant is able to sit up alone for extended periods of time. The learning process, which occurs gradually, is usually completed by the age of nine to ten months.

Even before they can crawl, infants find other methods of moving about. For most babies, creeping--wriggling or slithering forward on one's stomach--comes before crawling, typically by the age of seven months. Infants also find that they can cover quite a bit of distance simply by rolling from place to place. Especially on smooth floors, it is fairly easy for them to move forward using only their arms or elbows and pulling their legs along, which are held out straight behind them. Infants can also get around while remaining in a seated position and pulling themselves along with one or both arms, a form of mobility sometimes called "hitching" or "bottom shuffling." From the infant's perspective, it actually has several advantages over crawling: it can leave one arm free, it allows better visibility, and the baby is already in a sitting position when she reaches her destination. In many cases, these alternate means of mobility are so convenient that the child never learns to crawl, proceeding directly to pulling herself upright and learning to walk. This is perfectly normal and not a cause for concern. T. Berry Brazelton discounts as myth the idea that a failure to crawl is associated with later coordination problems. He stresses the fact that crawling is not one of the necessary developmental milestones.

Learning to crawl involves a gradual trial-and-error learning process. When infants first get up on their hands and knees, they will make modest attempts at movement, rocking or swaying in the direction they want to go. When they try to move, their balance is unstable and they have trouble coordinating their movements, frequently moving an arm or leg and toppling over. One source of difficulty is the fact that, neurologically, control over the arms and shoulders develops faster than control of the legs. This is also the reason that once the infant is finally able to make real progress, it is often in a backwards direction, because she is able to push harder with her hands and arms than with her feet. To her dismay, the newly crawling infant may find that the toy she is going after is actually getting farther and farther away. Although parents can provide temporary assistance by firmly placing their hands against the baby's feet, propelling them into forward motion in spite of themselves, backwards crawling typically persists for several weeks until the infant's coordination is better developed.

Once an infant can crawl, the parent needs to provide a safe, spacious area for her to explore. The baby is at the beginning of one of the most intense periods of educational development of her life and needs to satisfy her natural curiosity and her enormous capacity to learn by exploring. Rather than restrict her to a small area, it is recommended that parents "childproof" the home and keep it that way for the next two to three years. The greatest dangers to an inquisitive infant include uncovered electrical outlets, ungated stairways, and household cleaners, medications, and other potentially toxic substances. Other childproofing precautions include eliminating or securely anchoring light-weight furniture, hiding or securing electrical cords that could be pulled on, keeping valuable items or small objects that could be ingested on high shelves out of the baby's reach, keeping crib bars raised as high as possible, and strapping the infant securely into high chairs and strollers.

Even in a safe environment, expert opinion varies on whether a crawling infant should be left unsupervised at any time.

• Eckert, Helen M. Motor Development. 3rd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Benchmark Press, 1987.
• Thomas, Jerry R., ed. Motor Development in Childhood and Adolescence. Minneapolis, MN: Burgess Publishing Co., 1984.