11 month old not crawling?

Question

Hello - I am new to this board and would truly value anyone's input on my issue. My 11 month old is extremely social & has great fine motor skills. She has no problems with her pincer grasp and can easily use her hands to transfer toys or hold on to me. She recognizes familiar faces and is very animated. Very early on, I noticed that she never liked tummy time and still does not. She had previously been referred for testing on her "loose" hips, but the test indicated that they were normal. I am extremely concerned that she does not crawl. Any ideas?
PS - She does not hold her bottle either. She can at times hold a sippy cup when she wants to. Thank you for any feedback you could give me.

Just to add some details to help clarify:
- She can pull up on furniture and can take some steps assisted
- She learned to sit up and support her weight at about 6-7 months
- When she learned how to roll over, she did it very rarely
May thanks for some excellent suggestions!

- She is tall/thinner for her age range

Further details:
- She is pulling up all by herself and standing and leaning against furniture withour holding on
- She is really trying to crawl now - we use a rolled up towel to support her torso

Answer 1

Strange as it may sound to us, crawling is not considered a developmental milestone and many babies never crawl at all. Sitting unassisted, standing, cruising from object to object...these are milestones, but some pediatric books don't even both to discuss crawling. What matters is that a baby finds a way to get around -- some babies scoot on their butts, some wriggle on the floor, some roll over to get around. (Some get around with a variant on hands-and-knees, belly-off-the-floor crawling, called "army crawling" or "commando crawling," when they lie on their belly and use their arms to pull themselves while essentially dragging their legs.) That your baby isn't crawling isn't a concern, but if she's not working on some way to move around on the floor at this point I would consult your pediatrician and ask for a referral to a pediatric physical therapist, for an assessment. (I assume she's sitting up unassisted at this point -- is that correct?)

That said, 11 months is hardly off the charts for starting to move around; nonetheless, if there is no progress in that area I would proceed with consulting a physical therapist. I would also continue to spend "tummy time" with her -- have you tried using a boppy or other "raised" object to help with that? My own babies hated tummy time but I found propping them up on a boppy pillow worked wonders. Other things you can do to help: encourage exploring of her surroundings on the floor by placing toys she enjoys just a bit out of her reach...not so far away so as to discourage her, but rather, close enough to entice her to find a way to get the toy.

The downside with the back-to-sleep campaign is that babies have been spending less time on their bellies. It's actually reached a point where the American Academy of Pediatrics if working on revising the schedule of milestones because of the numbers of babies now considered "delayed" -- in other words, the norms have shifted. (But, as I said, crawling is not even considered a developmental milestone.) They are also refining the slogan so that the importance of tummy time is drilled into parents' heads ("back to sleep, prone to play").

As far as the bottle, neither of my babies ever held their own bottles. (They are 15 months now). Many babies don't. And for many that do, I've watched their parents work hard at teaching them that particular skill, or else they won't bother. My daughter did fine with a sippy cup but my son didn't seem to. With sippies, you'll find that a child may like one and dislike the next, etc. -- it can take several purchases of several different kinds of transitional/sippy cups until a parent finds one that her/his child will use. Also, your child may simply not want to -- I was convinced my son was capable, but either not interested or just lazy about it. Sure enough, when he caught a stomach bug and couldn't hold anything down for a day -- and, consequently, was absolutely starving the next morning when I handed him a sippy cup -- he downed the liquid like he'd been using the sippy all his life. Proving that he just wasn't interested....but was absolutely on the ball with what to do and how to do it. As for the bottle....I didn't bother with trying to force them to hold the bottles -- they were independent in other ways and there was no question about it reflecting any kind of delay or disability.....plus I felt better when I learned that so many many babies never hold their own bottles anyway....and with pediatricians generally wanting parents to stop with bottles when a baby is 12 months it made a heck of a lot more sense to focus on other things! (In other words, please don't listen to anyone who rudely answers you that "it's outragous" that you don't force your baby to hold her own bottle at 11 months.)

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Baby Not Crawling At 10 Months

Answer 3

10 Month Old Not Crawling

Answer 4

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 5

While it may seem like she is 'behind' the guidelines doctors give for crawling, walking, etc are just that. Guidelines. Some babies crawl early and some late. It may help to stop carrying her at home. Put snacks, toys etc just out of her reach, and let her get them herself. Itll help build her confidence and may facilitate her crawling. With regards to the bottle, she is eleven months old. She no longer needs it. So if she can hold a sippy cup, give her that. Most babies prefer the faster flow to the bottle anyway. Is this your first child? It sounds like she may just need a little less babying, and more incentive to do things on her own. Good luck!

Answer 6

My son is a little over 9 months and isnt crawling yet either. All the books and my pediatrician all say this is no big deal at all. The range for when kids start crawling is huge, and some kids never crawl, they just get up and start walking instead. The lack of crawling doesnt mean anything bad at all- it does NOT indicate a learning disability or anything like that, it just shows how everyone is different. My son didnt like tummy time either by the way :)

Answer 7

Dont worry you have nothing to be concerned about. All babies learn at different paces. She will do it when she is ready, dont force or push her, instead encourage her. Put toys at a distance so she tries to reach out. She could just be a late developer but thats not a bad thing, infact my son was the same. He started crawling backwards at 10 months all of a sudden it was a shock then the next month got the hang of crawling forward. Your daughter will get the hang of it. I know it can be frustrating i am the same as you but realised it will all happen in time.

Answer 8

I am sure your child is perfectly fine. I have four children and never encouraged them to hold their own bottles and they never wanted to. When it came to the sippy cup they held that themselves. When they are at the age of bottle feeding I believe the personal contact of holding them while feeding is very important to their development. I've never believed in putting a baby to bed with a bottle or letting them run around with one as I have seen many do. Neither one is healthy for the child.
One of my children never crawled either, he went right to climbing. Later I did encourage additional crawling with the use of small toys like weebles. Another of my children rolled to get around, rather then crawl. Two of my children did crawl a lot and always had to be watched closely. Each child can be so different but as long as you have covered all the medical reasons that could prevent your child from crawling, I would not worry. You can always encourage additional crawling when your baby is ready.

Answer 9

I have a 11 month old too, so I understand you are very concerned about this. But I have heard that there are many babies that dont crawl at all, and go right to walking. My cousins baby was actually one of those babies that done that. So if her pediatrician knows about this and have done test and if she is trying to walk and is taking steps then I would not worry about her. And about the bottle thing. My baby is the same way there is so many times that she dont want to hold her bottle either. When she goes to bed at night there are many times I have to hold it for her or prop it up. I seriously think your baby is fine.

Answer 10

Relax! Not all babies do crawl. My youngest son never did. He also hated tummy time. He developed his own scooch where he would sit up with one leg Indian Style and one straight out. He would use his hands on the side of him to push his body. He got along this way for a few months before he learned how to walk. He got real fast at his scooching too. She sounds like a strong-willed child like my son. Maybe she just chose not to crawl. If she can pull up then nothing is wrong with her development.

Answer 11

my daughter never held her own bottle and didnt fully crawl till after 10 months but shortly after walked, some babies skip crawling, she hated tummy as well but was advnaced on all the other skills like the pincher grasp and such. as long as your dr isnt worried i wouldnt worry either. my daughter also pulled up to a stand before even attempting to crawl, she would scoot on her bottom to the table or couch lol it was quit commicle. If theres nothing wrong with her in the dr's eyes then take advantage of this time now that u dont have to run around after her, that was always torture lol. also dont listen to ppl who will say ohh my child did this earlier then yours or whatever, becuase in the end as long as she walks she is fine and no one ever askes on a job application when u started walking or crawling