Crawling

The Importance of Crawling

A child’s natural curiosity and need to explore his environment leads to learning new, effective means of moving. As a child learns to crawl about his environment on his own he:

• Gains skills necessary for standing and walking
• Develops a new sense of independence
• Develops decision making skills as he can now decide where he wants to go 
• Develops motor planning skills as he learns how to navigate his environment

Developmental Milestones

Before your child takes his first steps there are several motor milestones and skills that need to develop in preparation for crawling. 

0-3 months:

• Pushes up on arms while lying on tummy
• Lifts and holds head up while on tummy

4-6 months:

• Starts to become comfortable on tummy 
• Lifts up head/chest and turns side-to-side
• Reaches for nearby toys while on tummy
• Rolls back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back

7-9 months:

• Greater ability to move against gravity 
• Can support weight on hands-and-knees
• Moves from tummy or back into sitting
• Starts to move with alternate leg and arm movements (creeping or crawling)
• Develops new strength and muscle control
• Learns to shift body weight forward and backwards

Once a child learns the combined balance, stability, and movement of his body he will begin to learn how to crawl, providing more opportunity to explore his environment.

Sensory Benefits

Crawling allows your child to have a larger picture of his environment and provides new opportunities to process and integrate new sensory information. 

Vision

Since the child’s body is off the ground he is able to see more of his surroundings and develop new visual skills. Crawling promotes strengthening of the neck muscles allowing him to control his head and stabilize the image he is seeing. The child will then have greater control of his eyes and promote development of visual skills. 

Body Awareness

Crawling also provides new opportunities for a child to learn concepts of size and spatial perception, like where he is in relation to objects around him (under, over, around, or through). He is able to discover that things exist far away from him and gain the experience necessary to calibrate the distance an object is away from him, developing visual-perceptual skills.

Other Sensory Benefits

• Prone extension is an important movement pattern for sensory integration by contributing many sensations to be integrated.
• Crawling activates the brain stem for increased self-regulation.
• Facilitates motor planning by learning about space and distances as he crawls from one place to another in a way that helps him navigate the world around him.
• Crawling is calming and organizing by providing proprioceptive input.
• Weight-bearing through crawling facilitates motor development and body awareness.

Gross Motor Benefits

Crawling can help your child develop strong head, neck, shoulder, and core muscles while also promoting necessary motor skills.

Proximal Joint Stability

Crawling helps to strengthen the muscles and joints near the center of the body. As the joints and muscles strengthen, especially surrounding the shoulder, they provide a stable base to support development of gross motor and fine motor skills. A stable base of support may translate to improved pencil grasp, handwriting, shoe-tying, and other fine motor skills.

Postural Control

Postural control is the ability to maintain body alignment while upright in space, and is more than simply having strong muscles. Crawling on hands and knees requires a blend of stability (of the torso and core muscles) and movement of each limb. 

Bilateral Coordination

Bilateral coordination is the ability of the opposite sides of the body to work together in a coordinated way and requires the left and right hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other to coordinate movements. Crawling helps develop bilateral coordination because the right and left arms, legs, and eyes have to work in synchronization with each other to produce movement. The more that a child practices this cross-lateral movement pattern the stronger the pathway and communication between the left and right sides of the brain becomes. This left-right brain communication developed during crawling can help your child prepare for skills such as walking, catching a ball, dressing, cutting, clapping, reading and writing. 

Fine Motor Benefits

When a child shifts their weight forward, backwards, and side-to-side on his hands and knees it not only helps to develop postural control and joint stability, but also to develop skilled movements of the hand and fingers. Crawling helps to develop the arches of the hand necessary for grasping and manipulating objects and creates a stable base to promote movement of the fingers. This new stability of the palm and mobility of the fingers allows new skills in grasping and manipulating objects such as toys, crayons, or eating utensils.

Helping Your Child to Crawl

If your child doesn’t show interest in crawling then there are several strategies you can use to entice and encourage your child to crawl. 

Tips

• Place toys just out of his reach, place a mirror in front of him, or call out to him to encourage movement
• Lay down on the floor with him. Lay him down on his stomach and assume the same position in front of him and facing him.
• You can never have too much tummy time. Try to incorporate it into your day such as after every nap, diaper change, and feeding.
• Place toys in a circle around your child. Reaching to different points in the circle will help him to develop the appropriate muscles to roll over, scoot on his belly, and crawl.

Tummy Time

Tummy time is any time a baby spends in the tummy-down (prone) position while awake and supervised. This provides opportunities for your child to develop head, neck, and upper body strength by practicing pushing up with his arms in preparation for movement. Your child may not enjoy being in the prone position at first but will eventually enjoy it as he gets stronger and develops new motor skills.

Newborns

• Perform 2-3 times a day for 3-5 minutes
• Start by laying your newborn on his tummy across your lap 
• Another option is to lie on your back and place the baby on your chest. The baby will lift their head and use their arms to try to see your face.
• As your baby grows stronger, place him tummy-down on a blanket

Babies (3+ months)

• As your baby gets used to tummy time place your baby on his or her stomach more frequently or for longer periods of time.
• Performat least 20 minutes of tummy time a day

Using a Therapy Ball 

Use an exercise ball as a fun alternative to tummy time.

• Maintain a good grip on your child and place tummy-down on the exercise ball
• Begin to slowly roll your child forward and backward while maintaining a good grip
• A greater incline is easier whereas a flatter surface is more challenging, so start out slowly and only roll them forward as far as he can tolerate.

Optimal Crawling Position

• Head in line with the body, chin tucked slightly
• Body straight
• Wrists under shoulders and hands open
• Knees under hips, legs parallel

Handling Techniques 

Hands and knees position

• Sit on the floor with your back supported. Put your child on their hands-and-knees in front of you.
• Put one hand under your child’s stomach and the other hand on their hips.
• Bend his hips and knees with one hand as you lift his body up and bring his knees under his hips with the other hand. 
• Help him to shift his body weight forward and backwards using your hands to rock him.

Laying over your thigh: 

• Sit on the floor with your legs straight. Place your child on his stomach across your thigh.
• Bring your child’s arms forward over your thighs so he can touch the floor.

• One hand supports the shoulders and the other brings his knees directly under the hip joints. 

Propped on a pillow:

• Put a pillow or couch cushion on the floor and lay your child on his tummy on top of the cushion.
• Legs should be parallel, knees on the floor, and hips directly over the knees. 
• Elbows are directly under shoulders and hands going forward.
• Support the child at the hips or shoulders as needed.

Supported Kneeling:

• Lie down on the floor or bed and have your child kneel next to your body
• His knees, legs, and body should be against your body as close as possible for support
• His arms and hands are forward and can push up on your stomach
• Provide support at your child’s hips with one hand to keep alignment, hold a toy with the other.

References

Diamant, R. (1992). Therapy skills builder.

Hoeker, J. (2014). What’s The Importance of Tummy Time for A Baby? Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/expert-answers/tummy-time/faq-20057755

Kiley, C. (2015, May 19). Does Crawling Matter?: An Occupational Therapist Explores the Benefits of Crawling.  [weblog]. Retrieved from http://mamaot.com/does-crawling-matter-occupational-therapist-explores-benefits-of-crawling/