As we all want reassurance that our child is developing normally and that we are parenting properly, it is simple to become engrossed in keeping track of your child’s developmental milestones from the very beginning. But the truth is that, just as there is no one “correct way” to parent, there is no entirely “normal” path when it comes to a child’s growth. At two months old, not every infant will smile. At nine months old, not all babies can crawl. In good taste, too! Milestones are intended to be utilized as broad principles rather than specific regulations.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their list of developmental milestones in February 2022, several child development specialists criticized the fact that certain milestones, like crawling, shouldn’t have been removed from the list. But the timeline for when babies crawl is a bit of a fuzzy benchmark—it can vary a lot, notes pediatrician and parent coach Molly O’Shea, MD, FAAP. According to the previous CDC recommendations, 50% of infants begin to crawl by 9 months. The true range, however, is substantially larger.
Between 6 and 12 months, or after sitting up and before pulling themselves to a standing position, most babies begin to crawl, according to Dr. O’Shea. Yet, some infants never learn to crawl, at least not in the conventional sense.
She continues, “Some may roll, some may use only their arms in an army crawl, and yet others may scoot on their bottoms to get where they want to go. “Crawling doesn’t have to happen as long as your child is pulling to stand and cruising,” the expert said.
According to occupational therapist Brittany Ferri, PhD, a medical adviser at Medical Solutions BCN, it’s completely normal if your child doesn’t crawl.
Each develops at a different rate, and some kids skip crawling and move straight to pulling themselves up to stand and walking, according to Dr. Ferri. The doctor should be informed if a kid is around 9 months old and doesn’t exhibit any indications toward deliberate movement (such as moving the arms by reaching for things, twitching the legs and toes, or trying to push up by bridging).
The fact that your youngster is crawling is also typical. The CDC effectively acknowledged that it’s acceptable for some kids to skip crawling when they removed the milestone for that skill from their list.
