Why can't children crawl?

Parents who have raised babies know that babies can slowly learn to crawl at 6 months old, and can crawl very skillfully in a short period of time. This is an inevitable stage in the baby's growth. However, some parents find that their babies cannot crawl, always lie down for a long time, and have a relatively small range of motion. If the baby still cannot crawl, parents should take the baby for a thorough check-up. So, what is the reason why children can’t crawl?

Baby can't crawl

Most babies learn to crawl between 6 and 10 months. If your baby can't crawl, you need to find out the reason, because every baby must learn to crawl to grow healthily.

Crawling is a whole-body exercise for children. In addition to the participation of large muscle groups, the small hands and feet must support the body to move forward. The small muscle groups of the child's limbs are also exercised and developed, providing conditions for the further development of fine motor skills in the future. Crawling also allows babies to develop their perceptual intentions, directional reasoning abilities, and target-seeking activities in advance. It also promotes children's spirit of exploration and deepens their interactions with others.

A normal baby can crawl at 8 months old. The development of the baby's crawling movement includes the following processes: the hips are higher than the head, the lower limbs are flexed in place, and the hips and head are at the same height; the baby supports with both hands and the chest leaves the bed; the upper body moves forward and crawls backward; the lower body moves forward, gradually transitioning from crawling on the belly to crawling on the hands and knees; standard crawling, with one upper limb and the opposite lower limb alternatingly extending and flexing on the diagonal line; flexible forward movement, and the baby can crawl at will with two hands and two knees, two hands and one knee, or two hands and two feet. Completion of two-hand support (two-elbow support and head lifting are prerequisites for two-hand support); realization of hand and knee crawling; further improvement of uprightness and balance reaction; ability to change posture from abdominal crawling position to four-legged crawling position and then to abdominal crawling position; completion of four-limb interactive movement pattern; completion of single elbow support in side-lying position.

The mother needs to train the baby slowly. She can set up some games and provide the baby with a space suitable for crawling, or the baby will gradually like crawling.

Reasons why babies can't crawl

Some mothers are worried: My baby just refuses to crawl and sits there motionless. No matter how you tease him, he remains indifferent. What should I do? In fact, the baby refuses to crawl mostly because the mother is lacking in care or has abnormal physical development. Let’s learn more about it below.

Mother's reasons:

1. Not providing the baby with the opportunity to crawl

Some mothers are afraid that their babies will get dirty or hurt, so they let their babies stay in the crib, sit in the stroller, or be held in the arms of adults all day. The baby's legs are "idle" all day long and have no chance to be "used". He doesn't know how to crawl and doesn't know how to crawl, and his legs and feet are weak and powerless.

2. Not creating conditions for babies to learn to crawl

When babies are just learning to crawl, they have relatively high requirements for the "climbing surface": the mat is too soft and the baby can't crawl up at all; the tiles are too hard and the floor is rough, and the baby is afraid of knee pain and dare not crawl; the tiles are too cold and the mat is too slippery, and the baby doesn't like it; the clothes the baby wears are too thick and too many, the styles are not suitable, and the hands and feet are hung, making it inconvenient for the baby to crawl up, and naturally he has little interest in crawling.

3. Adults lack patience and think crawling is not important

The baby is just learning to crawl, and his movements are clumsy and timid. The mother, instead of patiently guiding him, looks impatient. Looking at the mother's expression, the baby doesn't think crawling is a happy thing, so naturally he doesn't want to crawl anymore.

4. Adults think learning to walk is more important than crawling

Many mothers attach great importance to their children learning to walk. They force their babies to learn to stand and sit in a walker to learn to walk starting from 7 months old. As a result, the babies cannot crawl but have already learned to walk. In fact, such "skipping grades" is harmful rather than beneficial to the baby's motor and mental development.

Baby's physical problems:...

What to do if your baby can't crawl

Most babies learn to crawl between 6 and 10 months. However, your baby may also adopt other activities during this period, such as: moving on the bottom (one hand behind the body, one foot in front of the body, and moving the bottom around), crawling on the belly, or rolling over. Some babies skip the crawling stage entirely and go straight to learning to stand, stand, and walk. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about your baby’s specific way of moving, because no matter what method your baby uses, the most important thing is that the child can move.

1. Provide more opportunities: When the baby is three or four months old, if you always put the baby in the stroller, the baby will hardly have the opportunity to crawl actively.

2. Imitate crawling: Some babies cannot crawl, probably because they don’t know how to do it. Babies have a strong ability to imitate, so you can find a child who can crawl to play with them. Put the two babies together and encourage them to crawl. When the baby sees other children crawling, he will imitate them and quickly learn to crawl.

3. Appropriate assistance: When some babies cannot crawl, parents need to help a little! The biggest problem for babies is how to coordinate the movements of their limbs when crawling. They often can take care of their hands but not their feet. At this time, parents can stand behind the baby, put both palms on the soles of the baby's feet, push one of the baby's feet, and when he crawls forward a little, push the other foot. This way, help him through the crawling stage.