Paranoid parent time: should I worry that my daughter isn't crawling?

I’m not sure if this counts as medical advice - it’s more neurotic dad advice.

My daughter is just over 14 months old and shows absolutely no sign of crawling. She was born almost 10 weeks premature (based on her due date she would have just turned one year old) but was a very healthy weight (5lb) and was very well developed and healthy. After a spell in the special care unit she was back home with us 5 weeks before she was due.

She eats really well (we won’t mention sleep!), she babbles and says “Dada” like she should, she’s alert and active and smiley and is putting on weight as she should (now about 20lb) - she just doesn’t seem to entertain the possibility of moving to somewhere other than where she’s sitting. She’ll sit on the floor quite happily playing with toys, and will reach for things that are just out of reach, but that’s as far as it goes. If you put her on her stomach, she’ll usually roll straight over onto her back, or occasionally just stay there until she gets tired of holding her head up, then get cross.

From an early age she has been able to support her weight on her legs, and she seems to like standing up if someone holds her to keep her balanced, but she’s never pulled herself up to a standing position either.

My wife says it’s perfectly fine and nothing to worry about, but at all the recent 1st birthday parties off the babies from our ante-natal class, it strikes me as odd that although she was the first to arrive by several weeks, she’s now sitting on the floor while the others are mostly running around the room.

Any thoughts from Doper parents?

I’m not a parent, but to me it does seem a little weird that she’s not at least crawling at her age. The babies I’ve known have been pulling themselves around the floor before nine months and pulling themselves up to stand, or walking, by a year. Premature babies often hit the big milestones a little later, so maybe that’s all it is, but what does your pediatrician have to say about it?

Last time she saw a doctor was at one year old (August) when she was signed off as fit and well by the neonatal doctor who was assigned to her on the special care ward. He didn’t seem concerned and said he thought she would start soon, but that was over two months ago. Since then she has had her jabs and a couple of weigh-ins and I’ve mentioned it in passing to the nurses and they didn’t seem to concerned either.

My wife’s theory is that she is just lazy (I have no idea where she would get those genes from :wink: ). She seems, if anything, more “chatty” and more engaged with her surroundings than the other babies who are walking, and she seems to have plenty of strength in her legs, e.g. she’ll jump around for ages in a door bouncer, but she just seems content to sit where she’s put down, apart from occasionally rolling over.

One of my cousins wasn’t walking by 20 months, I understand his parents were pretty freaked out when his almost-one-year younger cousin and brother were crawling like rockets and the eldest wasn’t.

That’s the one who years later made a living as a mountaineer… walking up and down mountains all day. Dude had legs like oak trunks, too.

Maybe call the pediatrician and ask when should you be worried.

My oldest child was similar in timing - she was so interested in the small things that were near her (like her hands and toes…) that she just saw no reason to be mobile. She didn’t walk until almost two years old. I did get a bit concerned and talked to our pediatricians about it. Since everything else was normal, they told us not to fuss. But we did take to putting interesting things just out of reach…

Good idea! My son (born exactly on the due date) did not start moving until he was 12 months, and then it wasn’t crawling, but rolling. He’d eyeball where he wanted to go, and roll until he got there. He crawled a couple of months later, and walked a couple of months after that. I didn’t worry about it because it was normal for him - like your daughter, he enjoyed things around him and didn’t seem fussed about seeking out other things.

When you say she’s sitting up - is she doing so unsupported, or does she need help to stay in an upright position? What does she do if you help her stand up? Does she have floppy legs, or does she support her weight a bit? Does she lift one foot, then put it down and lift the other? What does she do if something is out of reach, say, on the couch but she’s on the floor? Will she reach for it or try to pull herself up on the couch?

It sounds like she’s a lovely social butterfly. I have seen kids who aren’t neccessarily “lazy”, but who haven’t had to figure out how to do things for themselves because they’re so cute and charming and good at making their needs known that people around them hand them what they need. That cuts down on the motivation to move, for sure.

Crawling is a funny thing…many kids don’t do it at all. Since we’ve been putting kids on their backs to sleep more routinely, fewer infants are crawling than in years past. There was some concern for a while that a lack of crawling was correlated with later reading difficulties, but I don’t think that research was really supported as time went on, and efforts at forcing babies to crawl didn’t boost reading skills, so even if there is a connection, it doesn’t seem to be a causative one. (I only mention this because in your googling to find out more, you’re bound to come across it - it’s become something of an urban legend on parenting boards.)

If your doctor is unconcerned and is a decent doctor, I would try not to worry about it. Her adjusted age certainly puts her in a place where I’m not terribly concerned about not *walking *yet. I would expect her to be pulling up on couches and the like to explore what’s up there, but again, there’s a very wide window of “normal.”

I do wonder if she’s getting physical therapy. I vaguely remember you don’t live in the US, but here most states have a program to provide in home physical therapy to premature infants, and it’s really helpful. It’s not just great for the kids, but it’s great for the parents to have a specialist to ask these question of, and to have an expert eye on your kid weekly and in her home environment, not just in the doctor’s office. In my state, it’s called Early Intervention, and it was worth every penny we didn’t have to pay (if insurance doesn’t cover it, the state does!)

If there’s a way to get her a Physical Therapist to at least do an evaluation, it would probably do wonders for your peace of mind (says the mom of the former micropreemie).

She has a 15 month checkup coming up. I would ask your doctor at that time.

Thanks for the input, everyone.

She will sit unsupported just fine. In fact as long as she has something to occupy her and she’s not tired and ratty, she will happily sit on the floor playing for half an hour or more. She will very occasionally topple over, for example if she’s reaching for something or otherwise distracted, but that’s pretty rare. However she won’t sit herself up from lying down, at least not when lying flat on the floor (she’ll sit herself up from lying propped up a bit on a bed, say).

She’s been happy “standing” from a very early age - even at four or five months she would take her weight on her legs if she was held upright. Now, she will stand pretty much unsupported, with just a hand on her to stop her toppling, and if you hold her by the arms and “walk” with her she will sometimes take a step. I’ve never seen her spontaneously pull herself up e.g. to a couch, but if you start lifting her she quickly takes the weight on her legs and pushes up.

You might have a point about her being passed toys etc and not having to work for them, although we do try to make a point of spreading toys out of reach etc. She’s just recently learnt to pass toys to other people, which is a favourite game, but even when she passes me a toy and I then put it out of reach instead of giving it back she gives up after stretching for it.

I’m in the UK, by the way. I’m not sure when her next check-up is due (that’s my wife’s area of expertise!). We do have an assigned health visitor though, so maybe I should call her. My wife tells me I’m just being a worrier, though.

Anecdotal evidence only but my best friend’s daughter never crawled, she went straight to walking - can’t remember at what age… We joke that it was because she didn’t want to get her hands dirty - she’s the neatest kid ever. I wouldn’t worry yet but you might feel better if you ask your doctor.

All of that sounds right on target, so take some deep breaths, Dad! Yes, I think asking the assigned health visitor for her opinion is a great idea.

The problem with asking doctors when you’re at the doctor’s office is…at least here in the US…most doctors’ offices aren’t exactly places where the kiddo can demonstrate her skillz. You don’t want to put them on the dirty floor, there’s not much room on the table, there’s only so much one can do sitting on mom’s lap. And even if you throw down a blanket on the filthy floor, the kid’s likely to be terrified and just sit there frozen in fear due to the unusual environment or cry to be picked up again.

This is why I love home nursing. People act themselves at home. :slight_smile:

This may not apply, but my wife was seriously worried that our younger son wasn’t walking as early as the older one. Then one day he stood up and started running. Barely stopped at all for the next 15 years. Same kind of thing with talking.

Anyway, it does sound a little unusual, but unless someone can identify this as a symptom of a specific problem, you’ll just have to wait and see anyway. Odds are this will turn out to be nothing.

Hmm, does she have other children to play with?

Premies are often behind on everything. I would certainly check with the doctor to make sure its nothing more than that. If everything is normal be thankful. Both of my daughters were sprinting around the house doing their best to commit suicide by 10 months. It was a nightmare.

She’s our first (as you may have guessed from the neurotic questions!) but my wife regularly takes her out to meet other mums she knows from the antenatal classes who have babies of the same age. Plus she goes to play sessions etc at the local community centre. She seems to thrive on meeting new people and is always happier when there are others around to look at and show off to.

Loach, yes I realise that as soon as she starts crawling I will wish she went back to staying where she is put. Maybe I should just enjoy it while it lasts!

Yep. According to Mom and Dad, neither little brother or I crawled at all. I took my first steps at 10 months, his were at 14 months. The biggest difference is my parents didn’t encourage him to try to walk at all (they already knew he’d get into everything like I had) so maybe that’s what’s going on with your girl, OP. Are you putting her on her feet, and helping her walk so she gets the idea that you’re eager for her to be up and about?

Did you try putting boots on her? Sometimes their ankles need support.

There is a percentage of kids that don’t crawl and go from sitting and scooting to walking.

Is your child’s core trunk strength fine? That’s a challenge to crawling if it’s an issue.