I’m talking about babies that can crawl well but are just taking their first tentative steps. At that point, they crawl a lot better and faster than they walk, and when they do walk they fall down every few steps. And yet, they keep at it.
It’s a good thing they do, because otherwise they might never learn to walk. But the question is why they do it, from their perspective. Two possibilities suggest themselves:
[ol]
[li]It’s more convenient to walk even at the earliest stage, because they get a better view with their heads held up and it’s more comfortable for their necks to hold them parallel to their bodies. In addition, walking frees up the hands for carrying toys.[/li][li]They see their parents and older siblings walking, and are genetically programmed to try to imitate other people.[/li][/ol]
I don’t have a cite for this, but I heard/read that there’s a little switch in our brains that turns on at the appropriate time that gives us the urge to get up and learn to walk once we have developed to the point where we can.
I don’t necessarily agree that they can crawl faster than they can walk. I think even a toddler realizes that two steps standing up gets you about as far as quickly as four steps on your hands and knees.
And walking is definitely better for the reasons everyone mentioned – better view, leaves the hands free, standing up straight feels more natural, etc.
IME, infants vary a lot in this. Some get fairly good at crawling and stick with it for a good while - probably in large part because it seems to meet their mobility needs. Others tackle the job of hauling themselves to their feet and attempting to walk quite early (say, 8 to 9 months); some of these never get really good at crawling before they are better at getting around on 2 legs.
But the advantages of moving with your hands free, giving the ability to reach into drawers and onto tables where the interesting adult things (like control of food) are happening must soon be evident to most babies, and provide good motivation to rise up from all fours. There must surely be some genetic programming here as well, as there would be a considerable survival advantage to the extra speed possible by walking.
I relentlessly crawled even though I could walk - till the age of 2.5 or so I crawled for 90% of my locomotion. I had tried it, I could do it, I just found crawling was more to my preference. Eventually, crawling became less efficient than walking and I started walking full time.
Similarly, I had a disinclination to talk, until I suddenly began speaking in full sentences.
ETA: Toddlers toddle because they have to. Knees aren’t meant for walking on and as the body becomes heavier, it is needlessly difficult and painful on hard surfaces/streets.
One of the “mobility problems” of my niece is that she seems to have the notion that she should be able to walk - the concept of crawling is the one she hasn’t grasped yet. Of course, since she can’t push with her legs and lift a foot at the same time, there appears to be some refinement needed in the process…
In her case it seems to be a combo of liking to stand up, not having figured out the whole “all fours” thing, and trying to imitate people.
IME, my kids have taken early tentative steps for fun, but then gone back to crawling for a month or two. When they’re still shaky, crawling is much faster than walking.
On a related topic, is the old wive’s tale true? If a child learns to walk before learning to crawl, will it cause some sort of permanent harm - either physical, behavioral, or cognitive?
My Mom says I never really crawled. She swears that’s why my handwriting is so bad. But then, she’s a lunatic, so add salt to taste. . .
Celtling couldn’t wait to walk. Standing was a poor substitute. Once she got upright she could see more, do more, wreak more havoc. Plus, there was the utter delight from everyone in the room each time she did it. Still, she’s pretty self-motivated, and I’m betting on curiosity and havoc wreaking as her primary motivators.
At first she would crawl across any wide-open spaces, then stand when she got within a foot or two of a hand-hold. Then again, hand-holds often coincided with potential havoc, so. . .
I think it’s a combination of things. Kids love to imitate parents. Like when a phone rings. Without ever using one a kid’ll pick it up and start babbling into it. They don’t realize speech has meaning so they see Mommy and Daddy talking into it and babble.
Kids want to use the computers at the library all the time. They seem quite happy just to hit the keyboard at random.
The need to stand upright must be also ingrained for I have seen toddlers use the couch and hold on to it while “walking” across the floor. They could easily crawl but they use the couch to grip while they walk.
I have watch little babies get up walk two steps fall on their butts (well padded by a diaper) get up walk two steps fall down, then repeat it over and over till they get across the room. They know darn well they can crawl, and as long as it doesn’t hurt when they fall they do it.
But it’s not so unusual, I had a cat and whenever there was something to balance on she’d do it. Like you know when you park a car. And they have the raised blocks so you can’t go any farther. Put a cat next to one and chances are Mr Kitty will jump up and walk along it rather than on the ground. They like to balance on things.
I read somewhere that recently some babies never learn to crawl, because parents are now taught not to let them sleep on their stomachs, so they either progress directly to walking or start by moving about on their butts.
Well, it’s “Back to sleep” all the way now, as SIDS has been linked to stomach sleeping. And it’s true that they don’t develop arm strength as quickly because of this. In fact, we were exhorted to put Celtling on her stomach for 20 minutes at least three times per day, while we were watching her. She hated this with a passion, as have all my friends’ children.
They do learn to crawl soon after sitting up though. I think they dislike the stomach position because they can’t see what’s going on around them. Carpet is boring.
Some kids will have funny methods of locomotion regardless. My own youngest preferred sleeping on her tummy after about 7 months (by which time the doc says not to worry if the kid is rolling over on her own). She could crawl, but preferred butt-scooting or a sort of bunny-hopping, which were both hilarious. Butt-scooting allowed her to hold things, and she didn’t bother to walk until 17 months.
I have heard that crawling is considered an essential skill for certain stages of brain development. Quite a few therapists will have an older child learn to crawl and practice it as part of working on learning disabilities and whatnot. Apparently it makes connections in the brain that are important for a bunch of things, but I don’t know anything about it really.