First let me say that I know all children develop at their own pace! My son is 8 1/2 mos, and isn't crawling. He never enjoyed tummy time, so I am sure that is the reason he is taking so long. I was just wondering when other babies starting crawling, or if anyone has children who went straight to walking?
Oh and he also has no teeth!!! Is it true that the longer they wait to get teeth, the worse the whole process is on them?

By Eight_Kids on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 12:31 am:

I have 5 kids....one of my twins (they're 13 now) didn't start talking until REALLY late. I don't remember when he started crawling but I know he didn't start walking until he was 17 months old. He always did things later than any of the other kids. Now at the age of 13, he is the only one of them in the jr. nat'l honor society and he picks up on everything. I always called him the watcher...i think he still is.
I might mention it to his doctor at his next visit and until then I wouldn't worry about it! My baby brother (22 now) did everything late to...we have since found out he just has a really big problem with change!!

By My2cuties on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 01:54 am:

I wouldn't worry about it unless he couldn't even hold his head up or sit up. If he can do those things, then I am assuming he is (as mentioned above) "watching". DOn't worry he will make his move when he is ready and it is possible that he could go straight to walking. If everything else looks good and that is the only thing he is lagging on, just sit back and enjoy it, my girls were both crawling at the age of 6 months...and walking at 10 months...and I have been on the run after them ever since..lol. I think that most pediatricians go by the standard; 3 month- head support, 6 month- sitting up, 9 month- crawling, and 12 month- walking, (give or take a little) At least that is what I have ALWAYS heard. I am sure all is fine.

By Amyk on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 06:24 am:

My DS started crawling at 9mo and started walking at 11.5mo. They learn fast!!! Also, a 11.5mo in my playgroup is just getting teeth and is already walking.

HTH.

Amy

By Tunnia on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 08:32 am:

I don't remember when my ds started crawling, but I do remember that it was a bit later than my dd who barely crawled at all, but went straight to pulling up and cruising at 6 months. About the teeth - my ds got his first two teeth the week of his first birthday. We never knew when he was cutting teeth until they popped through. He had no drooling, no crankyness, no swelling of his gums, and no pain. I have never seen a baby cut teeth so effortlessly. I would brush his teeth and find a new one that had popped through every once in a while. So, at least for my child, cutting teeth later than usual was not a problem at all

By Pamt on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 10:15 am:

My oldest never crawled. He rolled over and over and then would pivot on his tummy to change directions. At about 11 months he began to army crawl, but never got up on his hands and knees, He also hated tummy time (made him do it anyway) and didn't walk until he was almost 16 months old. In hindsight I wish I would have taken him to a physical therapist and had him evaluated. Since I work in a pediatric therapy clinic now, I see a lot of kids come in who look like he did. Nothing horribly wrong, but just need a little push in the gross motor department. FYI, my son was a very early talker and had excellent fine motor skills. I just think he had some overall trunk weakness and could have been helped out with a little formal training. Crawling per se is not a developmental milestone. The key is that the child has some type of locomotion whether it is crawling, butt scooting, etc. However, research has shown that crawling is important to overall development. I never crawled either (butt-scooter here) and I am hopelessly unathletic. All in all, trust your mommy gut. And no...there is no connection at all between when a child cuts teeth and developmental milestones. No worries there.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 11:00 am:

First dd didn't actually "crawl" until she was a year old and then she walked at 13-1/2 months. My second daughter crawled at 10 months and walked at 13.

My oldest daughter definitely got around, but she did the belly crawl! All of her shirts from that stage of her life were all pilled on the front from rubbing on the floor all the time!

By Marcia on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 11:02 am:

Nicole crawled at 11 months, Meghan at 5 and Kayla at about 16 months. They're all so different!!

By Marcia on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 11:03 am:

Oops, didn't answser the teething question. Two of mine didn't start til almost a year, and neither had a problem with it. Kayla joined the family at 17 months, and she had all of her teeth by that time.

By Melanie on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 11:34 am:

If you look in the "What to Expect the First Year" book you will notice they never even list crawling in the "what your child should be doing this month" section. That's because, like Pam said, it's not a developmental milestone. Our oldest never crawled on his hands and knees. He did the army crawl thing to get where he wanted to go and then he was up and walking at 12 months. (I think he was doing this around 8 or 9 months). He's 8.5 now and is very athletic-he skis, wakeboards, plays baseball, soccer, football, etc. Mention it to the doctor at your next visit, but honestly, I wouldn't worry about it.

As for teeth, dd was around 11 months or so when she got her first tooth and it was definitely no harder than ds who cut his first tooth at 4 months.

By Jelygu on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 12:48 pm:

Thanks for making me feel better!
I guess it bothers me more because a friend of mine has a baby about the same age, and he is doing everything! He gets around so well and has 4 teeth! I know you shouldn't compare, but sometimes it is so hard not to!

By Cocoabutter on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 01:14 pm:

My son never liked tummy time either, at least not on the floor. So I played a game with him.

I used to lie on the floor on my back and put him on my tummy so we were tummy to tummy. He did everything he could to pull, climb, and crawl up to my face. I made a game out of it and I'd pull him back down to my groin and he'd climb up my body again til he got to my face. Before I knew it, he was 8 months old and crawling everywhere.

Maybe he just needed a little bit of motivation!

By Joshuasmom on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 05:12 pm:

Hi

At about 9months babies crawl, though every baby is different. I would not worry about that.

I did not get teeth til almost 12months, teething is horrible for babies at any stage whether 6motnhs or 12.

The effect of no teeth yet does contribute to speech as some sounds a baby (or anyone) cant make without some teeth(not sure which ones exactly)

Children vary a lot some babies walk at 10months and some not til sixteen or eighteen months

I would not worry, also boys (on average) walk later than girls and bigger babies walk a bit later too.

By Kaye on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 05:32 pm:

A different perspective from me. Typically as a mother if you really have concerns, you usually have a valid reason. No it isnt' abnormal to not be crawling by then, but it also doesn't mean all things are normal either. I don't know your child or your situation, but if you still are worried it wouldn't hurt mentioning it to the doc. I have three kids and although they all did different things, those milestones and comparing to others do help check the progress. One of the benefits of our society is we have several checkpoints along the way and lots of information that if something is a little off we can get help early and fix it. As for teeth, my oldest didn't cut her first tooth till 15 months and the first batch (3 molars) caused a bad weekend (easter) after that we never knew she was teething, we just saw new teeth.

One more thing I think someone said on average boys walk later, I think that is backwards, I think on average they walk earlier and talk later, but I am not sure.

By Truestori on Saturday, August 21, 2004 - 10:05 pm:

I have known quite a few friends that had babies that didn't crawl. They just got up and walked one day! Some babies never crawl. I don't think there is anything to worry about. If you are still concerned asking your pediatrician could certainly help ease that.

By Mommmie on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 04:00 pm:

My son never crawled.

By Joshuasmom on Sunday, August 22, 2004 - 08:58 pm:

Kaye, I just said on average and sometimes, meaning the average walking time of boys is a little higher than girls.

Now you may know plenty of little boys who walked before girls, I am not saying its a set thing.

I am doing a degree in childcare and child development so I was just passing on some info I had. This baby boy in question seems to be within the norms of development

Take Care

By Kaye on Monday, August 23, 2004 - 03:15 am:

Liz, I also was just passing on info I had. I have a degree in special education and have also taken several child development classes. In general boys develop gross motor skills earlier than girls, girls develop language skills earlier, it has to with the sides of the frontal lobes. But that being said it average. I agree that not crawling by 8 months is not a big deal, but I still stand by my response, if you have any concerns take them to your doc. Of my three children age 10, 8 and 6 I have learned that mommy intution is really important. My youngest although according to the books was not really behind, I still *knew* he was off, I couldn't pin point it, neither could his highly certified preschool teachers, he had a major trunk strength issue that we were able to get treatment for and get him back on track. We have professionals for just that reason. Trust your instincts and ask questions is the only way for me.