Hello...
I'm new to this site and came across it while researching developmental milestones for my son. He's 9.5 months old and still isn't crawling (or even trying to!) nor does he try too hard to get to toys out of his reach. He's not pulling up either but will stand unassisted and play at our coffee table for long periods of time with some attempts at cruising. He's in the 97th percentile for height and weight and he was also colick for a solid 6 months where I seldom ever put him on his tummy for tummy time for fear of making him cry more than he already did each day. I wonder if I may have created a situation where he's slightly behind in mobility simply because I was fearful of doing anything else to make him cry when he was so colicky for so long. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? Anyone else have a baby who's had delayed developmental milestones that turned out to be ok? I'm feeling neurotic but just want to see what others' experiences are. Thanks!

By Cat on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 02:53 pm:

I've been reading up on tummy time and such lately (have a 4mo daycare girl who isn't rolling over yet) and have read that lack of tummy time in recent years (because of the Back to Sleep and sids issues) is causing skills such as rolling over and crawling to be more delayed than they used to be. I also think that your son's size may have something to do with his lack of crawling. I met an almost 10mo boy about a week and a half ago who weighed almost 30lbs and he wasn't crawling, either. What will your son do now if you put him on his tummy? I really believe crawling is an important skill for fine motor development later. Some kids that never crawl (go straight to walking) never have any problems. Others, like my youngest, end up with fine motor delays. Randy (my 9yo) had the hardest time gripping a pencil and had awful handwriting (still isn't the best). He never really crawled. He just went straight to walking at 9 months. He's pretty much caught up now, but I often wonder if he'd crawled before walking if we could have avoided those problems. There's something with crawling that gets the right and left sides of the brain working together. I'd suggest you keep on encouraging him to crawl and bring it up to your ped at his next visit. Also, are there any kids aroung (between about 2-10) that could get on the floor with your son and crawl with him? I'm a family child care provider and my older kids can get the babies to do things that I can't. My boys LOVE getting babies to crawl and then teaching them to walk. The babies love the attention, too. Good luck, WELCOME to MomsView and keep us updated!

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 03:02 pm:

Knowing that he didn't have tummy time early on makes a big difference. I would keep encouraging LOTS of tummy and also standing. Some kids never crawl and did you know that because of that crawling is not really a developmental milestone? Lots of kids skip crawling altogether, or just creep some and go right to cruising. I would suggest giving him lots of t-time over the next month and see how much he improves. You may really be surprised! If you're really concerned, check with your ped or check around locally for a developmental test. Usually they are free and can sometimes just make you feel better. Also remember that kids develop SO differently. My dd didn't roll over until around 6 mths, but she was sitting independently at exactly 5 mths and standing well at 4mths. She just did things in a different order. I have a friend whose 10mth old cannot sit up on his own but can cruise. Go figure! Good luck!

By Emdee on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 03:09 pm:

My dd didn't roll over until 9-10 months and then crawled after that (we started her in physical therapy due to not being able to go from laying to sitting position on her own). Anyway, the crawling happened quite quickly after therapy--she showed us how to put her knees under her and get her in the crawling position and rock her back and forth. After a few weeks she was crawling. Tummy time is good, even now, in my opinion. BTW, my dd is now 21 months and doesn't have any developmental delays, so being late didn't really affect her.

By Chicagorn2 on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 03:24 pm:

Cat,
My pediatrician stated my son's size was also the reason he was slower to roll over (5 months). He stated "the big guys are a little slower at things". Still to this day my son really only rolls to one direction and can roll back onto his back from his tummy. He doesn't mind tummy time as much now as long as it's not too prolonged. To me he almost seems lazy. He tries to reach for toys while either sitting or on his tummy but if it takes too much effort he just says "nah". When sitting on his butt and all toys end up out of reach, rather than try too hard to get to a toy, he pulls his socks off his feet and shakes both of them up in the air. There is only 1 toy I have that I can even hope to coerce him to go after and that takes quite a bit of effort on my part to make it happen. On the other hand, he'll stand unsupported at my coffee table for 40-50 minutes at a time turning all the pages to his board books and playing with the TV remote. I've even gotten him to start cruising by putting the TV remote just out of his reach while he's standing at the table. He doesn't try to pull himself up at all, but my house layout really doesn't give the best environment to allow him to attempt that on his own. Great idea about the other kids...but so far he hasn't been around other babies or kids. I'm looking into finding a playgroup for us to go to. I guess my concern is whether this could be a possible developmental delay or whether I created this by trying to hard to avoid any unnecessary crying back in his colick days that I now just have to help him work hard to catch up to the others. It's so good to hear some your ages/milestones with your kids and helps me to realize mine isn't super out of the ballpark. I read online that doctors get concerned if a child isn't trying to get from point A to B by some method (rolling, crawling, creeping, etc.) by 9 months. Since we're past that mark, it's kind of consuming me now to ensure I'm doing all I can on my part.

By Feona on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 07:34 am:

I would ask the pediatrician what he/she thinks. Whether to get free pt from early intervention or not.

By Jann on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 07:45 am:

I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. IF it did cause a delay, what difference does that make now? You can't go back and change anything.
I would just start from here. Check with your pedicatrician again. I think it's GREAT that he will stand and look at a book for that long! When he starts to get more curious he will start looking for more things.

By Feona on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 08:28 am:

Oh he is standing and cruising? Some kids never crawl. Just start walking..

By Dana on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 08:39 am:

This is pretty common for the bigger kids. They have a lot more weight to lift. In my point of view, he has not had the oppertunity to use those muscles from tummy time, they just are not strong enough yet. Get him on his tummy more each day. Make him reach for things. Make him use his neck muscles to lift that head and look around, get those arms lifting his upper body.

Also, purchase a cylinder blow up toy. Place your son tummy down on the toy. Then roll him gently while holding his legs. Have his arms catch his weight as you roll his head towards the ground. There are some other exercises for strengthing the muscles in crawling, but I can't remember them. If you can meet with an early intervention therapist, even if it is just once for testing, they can tell you lots of things you can do to help him along. If you don't know how to reach this program, ask your ped or call the local children's hospital and ask them.

Good luck, and don't stress over it. It really is pretty common. All children have different rates of development. There are lots of things you can do to help him get stronger

By Amecmom on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 08:52 am:

Don't worry, but do have him evaluated. It costs you nothing but some time and will give you some answers. Ask your pediatrician's office for the telephone number for Early Intervention and schedule an eval. It can't hurt, and it may put your mind at ease.

BTW - My son was not a crawler either. He was also heavy.

Ame

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 08:56 am:

To echo the others... I don't think you should be too concerned. My DS was in the 95th% for height and weight and didn't crawl until he was 10 or 11 mos.. He walked at 13.5 mos.. As mentioned, some kids never do crawl. It's a good sign that your DS is standing and playing at the coffee table and starting to cruise.