Crawling: The Underrated Milestone

Some babies do not like to crawl. They happily scoot on their bottoms, move asymmetrically using one foot and one knee, or inch along like a caterpillar. Still, other babies skip crawling altogether and start walking right away. This is, of course, super cute, but could it have potential consequences? In this article, I’ll tell you more about the importance of the crawling phase and what you can do to help your baby with it.

Motor development in baby

A baby’s motor development isn’t random. It follows an inner blueprint. Logical, sequential, from head to toe.

First, your baby gains control of their head. Then they push up onto their arms in tummy time, learn to roll, sit up, and move into crawling. Each step prepares the next. Every milestone is the foundation for the one that follows.

What I see again and again in my practice: when a step is skipped or not fully integrated, the next one costs more energy, not just physically, but also for learning, coordination, and concentration.

What crawling actually trains

Crawling is, from a developmental perspective, a masterpiece. Far more is happening than meets the eye.

Cross-lateral coordination. When crawling, both hemispheres of the brain work together: right arm and left knee, left arm and right knee. This cross-pattern movement is the same foundation your child will later need for reading, maths, cycling, and dancing. What gets automated during the crawling phase doesn’t have to be laboriously learned later.

Spatial orientation. A crawling baby learns: how to crawl under the table, climb over a threshold, navigate around the sofa. They begin to understand their body in space. A skill that later plays a major role in problem-solving, orientation, and spatial thinking.

Visual skills. While crawling, your baby alternates between looking at their hands and looking into the distance. They reach for things, estimate distances. This trains visual focusing, a foundation for reading, ball games, and yes, eventually driving.

Strength and stability. The crawling phase strengthens the shoulders, core, hips, and legs. Exactly the structures your child needs later to stand up and walk with confidence.

This doesn’t mean that a baby who doesn’t crawl will inevitably develop difficulties. But certain skills may cost more energy later on, because the groundwork that crawling would have laid is missing.

What can interfere with crawling

When all the right conditions are in place, crawling comes naturally. But sometimes an unusual movement pattern has a physical cause.

A baby who spent a long time in a breech position, or who experienced strong pressure on the sacrum during birth, may have movement restrictions in the hip or spine that only become apparent right when crawling should be getting started.

Blockages higher up, in the thoracic spine, the shoulder girdle, or the neck can make it harder for a baby to push up on their arms. The integration of primitive reflexes also plays an important role: if they haven’t been sufficiently processed, this can disrupt the movement pattern.

The baby then simply does something else. Shuffles. Creeps. Stands up. Not out of stubbornness, but because their system finds another way.

What you can do in everyday life

A few simple things you can support from early on:

Daily tummy time. It’s the precursor to crawling and strengthens exactly the muscles your baby will need later.

Give freedom of movement. Avoid always placing your baby in the same position. Let them explore freely during their wakeful periods.

Invite rolling. Rolling is the transition between lying on the back and crawling. The more your baby rolls, the more naturally crawling will come.

Encourage turning and looking around. Once your baby can sit, playfully invite them to turn to the side or look behind. This activates cross-lateral coordination.

Use a baby carrier. Ergonomic carrying promotes an optimal position for the back, pelvis, and hips, and quietly trains the body’s adaptation to movement in space.

When should you take a closer look?

If you notice that your baby is moving unusually. Asymmetrically, one-sidedly, or barely at all. It’s worth looking into it early.

The longer a child has “mastered” their own way of moving, the harder it becomes to invite them into a different patter, even after restrictions have already been released. The body gets used to what it knows.

The earlier movement restrictions are identified and supported, the more freely your child can develop, ready to discover the world on all fours.