About half of all babies crawl by 8 or 9 months, but for others, it takes longer—and some skip the crawling stage altogether. Experts recommend encouraging this motor skill that requires both sides of your baby’s brain and body to work in sync.

In this post:

• Activity: An important skill for crawling
• Article: Helping your baby crawl—and why it’s important
• Ask & Learn: My baby crawls on his hands and just one leg instead. Should I worry about him developing uneven muscle tone?

“Some babies skip crawling, but it’s important to make sure they don’t or they’ll miss important foundational strengths and skills.”

-Rachel Coley, pediatric occupational therapist

An important skill for crawling

Before your little one can crawl, they need to learn how to shift their weight onto one arm as they reach forward with the other. Get them practicing with this activity 🙂

• Lay your baby on their tummy on a rug or the Play Mat.
• Place the Felt Ball Set in front of them, almost out of their reach.
• Draw their attention to the ball, so they can lift one arm to reach and grasp it.

Helping your baby crawl—and why it’s important

Your baby may prefer that you remain in a bent-over, back-breaking stoop, holding both hands so they can practice walking, but don’t let them give up on belly-scooting or crawling just yet.

Lovevery’s pediatric occupational therapist Rachel Coley explains: “Crawling is important for many reasons, including building hand-eye coordination and learning to coordinate movements where the two sides of the body are doing different things.”

5 stages of crawling

There are a number of stages your baby will go through while building up to crawling:

Learning to scoot on belly backward: 7 to 8 months on average

Around 8 months, with their belly on the floor, your baby will likely start to scoot backward. Backward scooting usually comes before forward scooting.

Learning to sit and twist, hands-free: 8 to 9 months on average

Before crawling, your baby will work on sitting without hand support, twisting their body and reaching for toys while balancing. This happens around 8 to 9 months for most babies. You can help your baby work on hands-free sitting by enticing them with the dangling toys on The Play Gym.

Learning to scoot on belly forward: 8 to 9.5 months on average

While on their belly, your baby will move forward by pulling with their arms and pushing with their legs. You can help them get a better grip by putting them in a short-sleeved onesie with their bare legs on a hard floor. On average, babies start moving forward on their bellies somewhere between 8 and 9.5 months. You can encourage your baby to scoot forward on their belly by placing an interesting plaything like the Stainless Steel Jingle Keys just out of reach during tummy time to see if they are able to move toward you.

Learning to self-support on hands and knees, belly off the floor: 8 to 9 months on average

Somewhere between 8 and 9 months, your baby will likely be able to get into the hands and knees position with their belly off the floor. If your baby is scooting, but not yet getting into the crawling position, you can help them learn to put weight on their hands.

Place your baby belly-down on a rolled up blanket or towel positioned underneath them at chest level, below the armpits. Make sure the support is high enough so that their arms are straight. Give your baby opportunities to explore lots of different textures while they are bearing weight on their hands.

Learning to crawl forward with belly off the floor: 9 to 11 months on average

Once your baby is on their hands and knees, you can encourage them to hit a ball or reach for a toy with one hand while putting weight on the other one. Stay close for support if they lose their balance.

What parents are asking our experts…

“My baby crawls on his hands and just one leg instead. Should I worry about him developing uneven muscle tone?”

Answer:

I’m impressed that you immediately noticed his crawling asymmetry. Now is a perfect time to intervene and help your son solidify a muscle memory for using his legs equally when crawling. 

Whenever possible, try to follow your baby around as he crawls and keep a hand on the back of the leg he tends to not use. Do this for one week or so to remind him to keep both knees on the floor.  It may sound a little crazy, but I’ve seen it work time and again.

Also, once he is crawling on all fours, help him continue to strengthen his muscles and begin to work on balance. For example, you can have him work on crawling over obstacles, like pillows and blankets or your outstretched legs as you sit on the floor. Have fun with it!

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