The Importance of Crawling.

I talked yesterday about the importance of tummy time.  Today I want to share some information on crawling.  There have been some studies that indicate that late walkers score better later in life on academic achievement tests.  It is hypothesized that because of the use of alternating sides of the body (e.g., right arm and left leg, then vica  versa), there is increase communication between the two sides of the brain thus enhancing learning. 

There also is an interesting theory out there about a link between crawling and ADD/ADHD.  Before talking about this possible link, however, you need a little background on the basis of this theory. 

It all has to do with an innate reflex called the symmetric tonic neck reflex.  This reflex tells the neck and arms to work in opposition to our legs.  If the arms bend, the legs want to be straight and if the arms are straight, the legs want to bend.  So in a nutshell, they are learning to operate the upper and lower body independent of each other. 

This reflex emerges between six and nine months and should be inhibited between nine and twelve months.  This reflex dissipates as the child learns to stand and walk.

In addition, crawling requires that our little ones learn to lift the body off the floor while on all fours.  This helps align the spinal cord for standing and walking later on.

Another important piece of development that occurs during the crawling stage is binocular vision.  This involves training the eyes to look off into the distance and then back at the hands while creeping.  This helps integrate the vestibular, proprioceptive and visual senses (if you don't know what these are, see my post "Our Seven Senses") for the first time.  The integration of these senses helps the sense of balance as well as space and depth perception.

It appears that for some kids where this reflex does not dissipate.  The cause could be genetics, little time spent crawling or extended periods of time spent in walkers or exersaucer.  Whatever the cause, there are some hypothesized negative outcomes for some kids when this reflex does not subside:

• Sitting at a desk becomes uncomfortable
• Poor eye-hand coordination
• Difficulty copying from a blackboard while at a desk
• Slowness at copying
• Difficulty with vertical tracking (needed for math equations!)
• Difficulty with activities where the upper and lower parts of the body have to work independently, e.g., swimming, etc.
• Poor attention

Can you see the correlation between crawling and the above mentioned activities?  Sitting at a desk requires the upper and lower parts of our body to be working independently.  Kids where this reflex is still prevalent may slump at their desk or display poor posture.  In addition, copying from a blackboard requires binocular vision (look down at the paper and then looking up at the far away blackboard).

As with the discussion about walkers exersaucers, I share this information with you as something to consider.  There is no definitive research out there to say that absolutely without a doubt if you child doesn't crawl he is destined to have ADHD.  There may be plenty of children out there that skip crawling without any negative effects later on.  Again, this is just some information for you to tuck in your parenting tool box.

So how do you encourage crawling in a little one who has already taken to walking?  Get a tunnel for them to crawl through.  Play pretend games like being a dog or a horse and chase them around while they are on all fours.

For more information on the theory between the symmetric tonic reflex and ADHD, you can check out the book Stopping ADHD by Nancy O'Dell and Patricia Cook. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on this as it is a somewhat controversial topic.  Post any questions or comments you might have!

Comments

[Mrs. Chicky]

Funny you should write this, because I was just having this conversation the other day. I was talking with someone about my child (a 'late' walker at almost 15 months, though it doesn't seem that late to me) and how when she was just learning to crawl at 8 months there was a small time when we thought she'd go quickly to walking. When my in-laws heard this they got very agitated and told us (my husband and I) that we must make sure our daughter crawled for a while first. Then they started sending us links to baby development websites that talked about what you already mentioned, that a child needs to crawl first. We had no idea!

As a matter of fact, when my husband was an infant his parents devised this aparatus that they called the "alligator", which was basically a skateboard with straps. My husband was having difficulty crawling so his parents strapped him on the gator to encourage his crawling skills. Must have worked because his hand-eye coordination is stellar!

[Jill Urbane, The Mentor Mom]

Sounds like your in-laws are well informed! I love the "alligator"...very clever :)

[JENNIFER]

This is an interesting topic. However, one cannot stop their child from progressing at their own pace. You cannot force a child to crawl when all they want to do is get up and walk. My son crawled around 6 months and walked before he was 9 months. Was I going to discourage him from doing this? Heavens NO! He crawled. It was only for a short time but he crawled. I gave him equal amounts of tummy time and exersaucer time. He's now 11 months and seems perfectly normal. A lot of children dislike tummy time. But I believe it must be done several times a day to develop the muscles. But a child will do things at their own pace. To try to force your child to crawl longer is basically impossible and kind of absurd. If they are as determined as mine was to walk then good luck keeping them from crawling up the furniture to stand and making the natural steps of growing up.

[The Mentor Mom]

Thanks for sharing your opinion on this topic, Jennifer. I agree with you that children will do things at there own pace and as I said in the post, there is no definitive research that says skipping the crawling stage will cause difficulties later on. Again, this is just some information for parents to consider :)

[Doula Jane]

What if your baby has absolutely NO interest in crawling? I have tried many techniques, but so far my 8 month old isn't interested. She can sit beautifully, and is able to reach for things and regain her sitting position. We've tried tummy time daily, but she regards it as torture. I'd appreciate any insights, especially if someone has experienced this. This is my 4th child, and all the others adored crawling, so I am mystified!

[The Mentor Mom]

It can be frustrating when they have no interest, can't it?! Have you tried making tummy time more interesting for her by getting right down on your tummy in front of her? Maybe trying a shatterproof mirror where you can both look at each other. Encourage her to try to touch it and slowly move it back as she reaches for it so she has to move forward. Also, you can try rolling up a towel like a bolster and put it under her arms or belly so she is in hands and knees. Again, get down on the floor in front of her. Try singing songs in front of her which always sustains their attention. and see if she will tolerate several minutes of this. If you are able to do activities like this at least twice a day for as long as you can, hopefully she will start finding tummy time or time on hands and knees less aversive. Sometimes the missing ingredient is us! I really hope this helps and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions are would like any other suggestions :)

[Mandy]

I have a 10 month old baby. He refuses to crawl. We have tried several things: we crawl around him, put toys out of reach, coax him with the cell phone, remote control, dog, etc. I have really been worried about him now crawling and I am not sure if I should be. Recently he has started a strange half walk/half crawl where he crawls on one knee and one foot. He LOVES to stand and be walked around the house. I don't know what to think????

[Arieh]

To Mandy and all,

Hi, I don't know how to help you to get him crawl right now. There are some babies that prefer to skip crawling even in cases that their environment makes crawling convenient (genetics ??)

When my kids were infants, there was a theory, at least in my country, to put babies to sleep on the side. 2 of our kids were OK with this, but 3rd refused to sleep on the side and ALWAYS turned on his back.

Now, I've read that if baby sleeps on a back, it is hard for her/him to turn around to the tummy to start crawling. Anyway, we tried, but without success. He crawled less than 6 months, as needed. Now he has ADHD.

If baby not crawls enough as infant, it can be fixed later, after age 5, by doing crawling exercises from the book "Stopping ADHD". I do these exercises now with my son. I run a blog with our crawling videos:

http://crawlingclub.org/

You are welcome to visit. Please leave a comment. I am trying to organize a community around the importance of crawling.

Arieh
CrawlingClub.org

P.S. I am not OT or professional in child development or related, I am just a father of ADHD child and I do crawling exercises with him.

[frazzled mom]

We thought my daughter was physically advanced: she could sit up by herself at four months, and she was walking by nine months. She crawled for less than a week. Now she's 11, has been diagnosed with ADHD, and we're starting to wonder if the lack of time spent crawling had something to do with it. I'm going to read "Stopping ADHD" but I hope it's not too late!

[PG]

I am quite concerned about all the assumptions that tonic neck reflex seems to have generated. My little one is nearly 13 months and only just starting to get on all fours. I get very sick of all the comments like "you know that they need to crawl first, or they might have trouble reading later on", which is exactly what a stressed out mother needs to hear, right? I have seen the Early Childhood Nurse and GP who say my baby is fine. It seems to me from my own research that there is a definite disorder associated with symmetrical tonic neck reflex (and asymmetrical tonic neck reflex). Babies who are just taking their time, but are developing beautifully in all other areas, should not be subjected to forced crawling exercises that they hate. Sorry to sound negative, but I'm feeling very frustrated with the myth that appears to have arisen from this and I would like to clear it up.

[Not Buying Link between reading/ADHD and crawling]

This sounds like total crap to me--just more to freak out moms and make them feel anxious, worried and guilty. A child will develop at his or her own rate according to genetically determined factors.

[Not Buying Link between reading/ADHD and crawling]

And, for the record, everyone in my family has some degree of ADHD and we were all early/on-time crawlers!

[Bettina]

Though years late in replying, I still believe in this crawling a lot before walking. Because of certain circumstances, I let my son crawl until he was a year and half or less. He started playing football/soccer at 3 until this summer(our summer is April to June) and switched to Tennis which he absolutely enjoys. He has been at the top of his class all these years without much of my help. He adapts very very well with all sorts of people young and old. He is musically inclined too. Glad to have found this site. Keep up the good work. Cheers.

[mommaash]

Thanks for this, I have a friend that won't let her daughter crawl. I know from being in child development that this wasn't good but didn't know how to pass that on.(I've mentioned things before and she got very upset) Also I would just like to say to the people that are getting angry to look again. It does not say don't let them walk, nor does it say when they need to learn to crawl. It says: "So how do you encourage crawling in a little one who has already taken to walking? Get a tunnel for them to crawl through. Play pretend games like being a dog or a horse and chase them around while they are on all fours." Thank you Mentor Mom.

[Not giving in]

Thank you! My daughter was recently diagnosed with ADHD. As I began to do my own research to be better informed it quickly became apparent that this is an overwhelming task. And even more difficult is trying to come up with non-drug related solution that fits for my child! My daughter never crawled but scooted in a sitting position until she walked at 14 mos. After meeting with doctors, a pyschologist, pediatric nuerologist and chiropractor I mentioned this behavior and none of them acknowledged a link between crawling and ADHD. I am now reading "Stopping ADHD". This gives me hope.

[mom of 3]

Is it possibile that ADHD is genetic and that not crawling could be genectic also. Maybe that gene causes or co exists with a gene that causes ADHD. Not crawling could possibly not be the cause of ADHD, but the other way around. Maybe for some kids, not crawling is an indicator for ADHD, or maybe an indicator of sensory issues which can go along with ADHD. A gene most likely causes it and may or may not be a common gene seen with ADHD. I could be wrong, but makes more sense to me to focus more time and effort on treating/learning skills to function better w/ADHD than trying to make it go away. Good luck though. I must admit, I intend on looking up info on the books mentioned here. Be careful though, stopping ADHD may also be stopping the wonderful differences that come along with it. :)