Crawling does not only help a baby get from one point to another, but contributes largely in brain and body development which in turn is very important to reach further milestones.
To crawl a baby needs to master control over movements as well as control over their limbs, for this to happen both hemispheres are exchanging information. While the art of crawling is being mastered, the baby will develop skills that are essential in later life and very necessary for performing daily tasks eg. walking, running, taking notes in class, maths, driving etc.
The benefits and importance of crawling:
- Critical and very important milestone as it forms neural pathways in the brain that is needed to master daily tasks
- Plays a link between physical and neurological development
- Forms links between cerebral hemispheres
- Developing an infant’s muscle strength and muscle endurance
- Improves balance, crawling stimulates the inner ear as hundreds of touch and position messages are signaled to the brain.
- Helps to develop arches in hands, which influence fine motor skills such as in-hand manipulation and writing
- Influence visual skills. Improves distance vision and depth perception as the baby needs to look up, and refocus eyes when looking down again, these adjustments are good for training binocular vision which will be necessary for future skills such as reading and writing.
- Helps with the development of motor skills as well as eye-hand coordination
- Babies learn about spatial concepts such as under and over
- Improves left and right brain coordination as opposite limbs need to work together
- Socio-emotional development
- Important for spinal development
If your baby skips crawling:
- May lack strength and muscle endurance
- May have poor shoulder stability which in turn affects fine motor coordination
- He/she might struggle with everyday activities such as walking, running, taking class notes etc.
- May experience difficulties with eye-hand coordination (ball catching)
- Difficulty copying from the black board in class as he/she lacks binocular vision
- Lack skills needed to solve math equations and problems (vertical tracking)
- Problems with activities that need upper and lower part of body to work together (swimming, driving etc.)
Why babies skip or don’t crawl:
- They may be tactile sensitive
- Spending time in walking rings/jolly jumpers
- Not enough time spend on the floor/tummy time
- Weak neck, core and back muscles
- May have planning difficulties
How to encourage your baby to crawl:
- Spend time on the floor/tummy time
- Making use of toys or objects that encourage crawling eg. push along toys
- Mimicking crawling
- Building a cardboard box tunnel through which he/she can crawl
- Plenty of floor space to move around
- Place a rolled up blanket underneath the baby to encourage weight-bearing on all four limbs, if he/she struggles to push him/herself of the ground
Different crawling styles:
- Traditional crawling, moves on all fours
- Backwards crawling
- Bear walking, straight arms and legs
- Bum shuffling, using their feet and bum cheeks
- Commando crawling, shuffles forward on midriff using forearms, knees and lower legs
If your baby skipped crawling, encourage your toddler to still play games which involves crawling or bearing weight on his/her shoulders and knees.
Activity ideas:
- Animal walks eg. crab walking, bear walking, leopard crawling
- Wheelbarrow walking
- Crawling through the house
- Obstacle courses
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