11 months old, not crawling or pulling up?

Question

my son is 11 months old and he does not yet crawl. he gets on his hands and knees and rocks foward and back but no crawling yet. he is very frustrated. he can stand when i hold his hands but he doesn't pull up yet. he's a pro at rolling though, and he can get anywhere he wants by rolling (well, if he fits) but whenever he tries and fails at crawling he cries and i try to encourage him and help him but he just can't. i didn't walk until i was 15 months old and i'm not in any particular hurry for him to crawl, but he really is taking his time. any thoughts?

Answer 1

It is true that every child is different and will develop at their own pace and given that you didn't walk til 15 months old, it may well be that your child could be a late walker as well. However to be able to offer you any concrete advice on what to do, more information would be needed to make a through assessment of your child's gross motor developmental skills - that is, his sitting, crawling, pull-to-stand, cruising and walking skills, etc. Information such as how was your pregnancy previously, your age, family history - eg. does anyone else in the family have any developmental delay,when did your child' s father walk?, your child's history - how was the delivery and birth,was there any trauma? was he a full term baby? when did he start to roll, sit up? how is he using his hands, and what words or sounds is he making now? etc.

If you are concerned about his development, and especially when you can see that even he is getting frustrated at not being able to move about independently to explore his environment, then i think you have a very valid reason to seek professional advice. Depending on which country you are in, the professional you will seek may vary.Generally you can get your GP to refer you to a Paediatrician, who can then refer you to a Paediatric Physiotherapist, or you may be able to gain access to a Paediatric Physiotherapist directly. Paediatric Physiotherapists are specialized in the gross motor development of children and babies. You would be able to have your baby throughly assessed by a skilled paediatric physiotherapist, who can then offer you specific advice of the type of activity you can carry out with your child during your daily activities of living that will set up the environment as well as position your child and yourself, such as to encourage and enable him to learn the movements required to move from lying to sitting, sitting to play, sitting to kneeling, siting to pull to stand, and eventually to cruise around furniture and to then walk. Each activity is specific to each child, and it is difficult to give you any prescription of activity without assessing your child individually.

The general age range for each gross motor skill milestone is as follows:
MilestoneNormative Age
Rolling 3 - 7 months
Sitting 4 – 7 months
Crawling7 – 9 months
Cruising8 – 10 months
Walking10 – 15 months

Although your child has not started crawling at 11 months,that does not mean that he has any major problems, sometimes the developmental delay could be due to the lack of opportunity to practice. Also if your child was born prematurely, you need to correct his age accordingly. All premature babies should have their age corrected up to 2 years old, so if he was born 2 months premature, then his corrected age is 9 months old.

It is also important to remember that not every child will achieve their milestones in the fixed sequence, some may crawl before they sit, some may never crawl but just start to pull to stand and walk, even within each gross motor skill there are many variations of crawling and pulling to stand, sitting to play, etc.

So before you stress out and think something is seriously wrong, organise for a Paediatric Physiotherapy assessment for your child, and if you can actually get an appointment in a Multi-disciplainary clinic for paediatrics, it would be even better, because then you would in one session be able to have your child assessed by a Developmental Paediatrician (a paedatrician who specializes in child development), Paediatric Occupational therapist (who assesses fine motor skills - that is the use of hands and play skills), Paediatric Physiotherapist, Paediatric Speech Therapist (who assesses speeach and language skills). The result of having a combined assessment is to give you a holist picture of your child's developmental skills and also to offer you therapy to help your child develop his skills if they are delayed.

I hope that the above information is helpful to you. i have also included some helpful website links for you.

Most of all i want to encourage you and commend you on your parenting instinct. Parenting is not easy, but you are doing a great job so far, because you are able to relate with your child and see that he wants to explore but is frustrated by the lack of skill to do so, and has instead cleverly adapted by rolling around to get to places. With some support and advice from skilled professionals, i am sure your child will very quickly achieve his gross motor skills with your help.

Answer 2

Crawling is the one skill that is not indicative of future development, meaning that we would not refer to a baby as being behind when they aren't crawling. This is because not all babies crawl. Other gross motor development that is important at this age is pulling to a stand, and cruising furniture. Is she doing that? If she is, then she's right where she should be developmentally. If not, then maybe a physical therapy evaluation is in indicated. Loose hips can mean a few different things, and a PT should look at her. There are services in every state for children birth-3 years old that are free of charge and mandated by the government. It's called Early Intervention, and you pediatrician should know where to obtain it.

Answer 3

He is happy rolling around and is content with that method. Don't worry, he's just taking his time. If you are truly concerned about his development, see a developmental specialist. Honestly, as a mother of 4, I think you should not over react. My eldest son didn't crawl until he was almost a year and then started walking about a week afterward. I've heard that some kids totally skip crawling and just start walking.

Answer 4

Have you discussed this with your baby's pediatrician? I'm sure your baby will conquer crawling very soon. I really enjoyed your talking about his rolling though. Cute.

I know what you mean about the walking. I was 14 months old and wasn't walking yet. My mom would make two of my brothers (ages 10 and 11 at the time) take me for a walk every day - without a stroller. Decades later, I was sharing with my mom that I got really nervous when driving around railroad tracks and that I almost broke into a cold sweat when I had to drive over them. My mom listened and said, "...that's pretty understandable." When I asked her why, she shared with me that my two "take the baby for a walk brothers" had had an idea as to how to get me to walk one day - by sitting me on the train tracks when a train was coming. (It sounds like it was a slow-moving freight train.) Although they got the spanking of their lives, it worked, because I was walking when they brought me home that day. Ohhhh, well, that explains it.

I'm sure your baby is fine, he's just taking his time. Maybe his crying when he tries to crawl is because he feels unsure of whether he can do it.

Answer 5

Since your baby is rocking back and forth, it will be a very short time before he can actually crawl. It may even be less than a month. Baby has to figure this out and of course it will frustrate him. Just try be there and have lots of encouraging smiles, hugs and praise.

Answer 6

I don't think there is any particular hurry; I didn't begin walking until I was almost 3. Just give him time and keep trying to help him like it sounds like you are already doing. If you really begin to worry just take him to your doctor or call in and ask; I know they get these kind of question all the time.

Answer 7

My daughter never crawled or pulled up. She started taking a few steps on her first birthday, but didn't start walking fully until a few months later. Some kids just don't do it.

Answer 8

I think he is fine, but why not check with the pediatrician. The only thing that bothers me is the frustration he is having. Sometimes this occurs when a baby is ready to do something, but is unable to due to some other issue. Checking with the pediatrician might give you some peace of mind! Good luck.

Answer 9

All kids are different, as others are pointing out.

Your son has a strategy for getting around that works better for him, so he's using that, until he's ready for other, better strategies. Sounds pretty smart, to me!

I disagree with the suggestion to put his hands and legs under him, etc. This is trying to force something on him, rather than accepting him as he is. I don't think forcing things on your kids unnecessarily (as opposed to insisting, for example, on their brushing their teeth) is right. Let him be the person he is. Trying to correct him only tells him he's "wrong" in a matter that doesn't matter.

Answer 10

Apparently as a baby, I didn't sit, crawl or stand till 11 months, when i did all three in one weekend.

Babies develop on their own schedule.

Answer 11

Some kids just develop slower than others. If you are concerned about it ask the doc. Some babies do not crawl, just start walking. I am sure he is fine. Is he a chubby baby? That can make it harder too.