Calling parents whose children who did not crawl

[AtWitsEnd21]

Looking for some experiences of similar

DS 15m never crawled. Bum shuffled briefly and went straight to walking at just over 12m. DS is the most accident prone child I’ve ever met. He falls as typical for his age but does not put his hands to save himself. He has a few really bad falls in the last few weeks. Last week he was taken by ambulance to A&E because of a particularly bad fall on to his head. Yesterday he has cracked a front tooth falling. I have an appointment with a physio in two weeks. No other concerns, gross and fine motor all as expected. Speech typical for age.

Just wondering if anyone else’s non crawling child had similar issues with falling?

Thanks!

I never crawled, neither did my son.
We both are super clumsy and have severe hyper mobility.

Two out of my three DDs did not crawl. It was DD2 and DD3. Both bum-shuffled and walked fairly late at 23 months and 21 months respectively.

Both are now in their twenties and neither have been noticeably more clumsy than any others of their age. DD3 is actually pretty sporty, though DD2 isn't particularly.

My non-crawler was a bum shuffler, not particularly accident prone, walked at 16 months.

My crawler initially bum shuffled and crawled and did a weird version of in between both hah. Eventually committed to the crawling. This is the accident prone child, at 3 they hurt themselves many times a day and have delayed gross motor skills. Didn't walk until 21 months. Still can't confidently navigate stairs and can't stand on one leg or hop. Gets orthotic insoles for his shoes from the hospital. Has a hip condition and widespread joint hypermobility.

So there was no correlation for ours.

Apparently I never crawled and I bum shuffled then walked and constantly tripped over. But one of my feet has to be adjusted slightly and I was fine.

My DS never crawled or bum shuffled. He just cruised and then walked. He bumped his head numerous times and often tripped over.

Not crawling as a baby is heavily linked with retained primative reflexes which can make children clumsy/accident prone. Maybe have a Google and see if it sounds like your son?

If so this is reasonably easily “fixed” by an occupational therapist with exercises for you to do at home to reintegrate the reflexes. Time consuming but not complex.

Thanks for that suggestion. I just had a quick google search and I just don’t feel he is ticking boxes for that either. The retained STNR reflex associated with not crawling mentions poor concentration and poor hand eye coordination neither of which DS struggles with. Some of DS favourite toys are ones that require a lot of hand eye coordination and concentration- he especially loves toys that have screws that need to be put in and removed by turning in different directions

Im very grateful and interested in the replies. I still harbour a belief that he is hyper mobile and that is playing a role but also wonder has he just had a really unlucky run of bad falls.

@AtWitsEnd21 if you have any concerns, ask the physio about hypermobility and / or coordination. One of mine was recognised as hypermobile early on - he was in and out of A&E until he stopped growing! The other was missed and just thought of as clumsy, diagnosed with hypermobility due to other issues as a teenager.

I spent a long time with people asking if my children were okay because of the number of injuries - but I put it down to the fact that unlike many of my friends, I allowed my children to explore / take (calculated!) risks and try new things. Had I wrapped them up in cotton wool and kept them indoors they would have had fewer injuries - but I suspect other problems instead :-)

This - same with my second child. We used to joke that he needed a frequent flyer card at A&E - he was late diagnosed dyspraxic in Y9/10 but his nephew was diagnosed at aged 5

Both husband and I are hyper mobile. I in my hips and DH in hands. DS was relatively early and easy walker (12m) and can run but can’t pull to stand- a reason I think he is hyper mobile (with the associated low muscle tone). DS is adventurous and always in a rush which does not help!! Thank you for your kind reply I feel this is as close as it can get to DS. I will know either way in two weeks when we meet the physio

My eldest didn’t crawl. I think he was too fat. He bum shuffled until he walked (late, at 17 months). He was definitely never a child that fell over and doesn’t have dyspraxia. I’m hyper-mobile but neither of my kids are.

My eldest never crawled, she was a bum shuffler and didn’t walk until she was 22 months. I wouldn’t say she’s accident prone but her younger sister is and she crawled at 7 months and was walking at 11 months 😁

Children that don't crawl often have retained primitive reflexes. Children need to crawl to build some crucial nervous system wiring - it's not a good thing when they skip it altogether and this is probably why your child is clumsy OP.

A paeds occupational therapist will be able to assess for retained reflexes.

Mine didn’t crawl , I was told by an expert
that crawling is important to develop the left right neuro pathways in the brain.
she suggested that I teach them to March
apparently it helps
I could never March easily, left right brain thing
we are all dyslexic, there’s also I seem to remember something called angel exercises which you can teach kids apparently does the same thing

Skipped crawling and went straight to walking at 10 months. Not clumsy but is a dancer which has probably helped. Dyslexia and dysgraphia, adhd but no issues with fine motor skills or concentration once past the procrastination.

We had to take DD to A&E with head injuries 3 times in 2 months. And a few months after that, she broke her arm...

We had a visit after the third head injury... in front of whom DD exhibited her accident prone behaviour. (Fortunately? The nursery accident book was also full!)

She learnt to ride a bike easily and now as a teen enjoys climbing and dancing.

She us also an ambidextrous dyslexic. Which can apparently all be connected with the no crawling!

Neither of mine crawled or bum shuffled, they walked at 10 months and 13 months. They just liked standing up at the furniture and hated being on their tummies. The eldest, who walked at 13 months, attempted it earlier but tried to run and fell so it put him off. Neither had any issues, youngest in particular was very active and an expert in climbing!

One non crawler, like Spiderman and at all not accident prone the other non crawler has frequent flier miles for A&E. Bumps, scrapes and breaks. Not dyspraxia, just rubbish balance for the first 7 years!

My DD now 15 never crawled. She bum shuffled and didn't walk until 19 months. When she did walk she was hugely accident prone until about 4. She had a constant bruise on her forehead from falling. At one point I seriously considered a helmet!

She is fine now, though not terribly sporty and mildly dyslexic. I think encouraging crawling (and later climbing) is a great idea if you can get him to do it

Exactly the same for my DD. As an adult she is exceptionally clever with a creative career, so more cerebral than physical, but never especially accident prone.

My eldest didn’t crawl, is not hyper mobile, neurodivergent or clumsy.

younger siblings DID crawl and ARE hyper mobile, neurodivergent and (more tho not impossibly) clumsy

I had a commando who walked at 16 months. I wouldn't say he was clumsy as such, but his Reception class teacher said she had never had a child who needed so many school 'head' letters.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary after age 10 though he still got a few more bangs on the head, and he is not at all a clumsy adult.

My daughter didn't crawl- and was flagged for gross motor skills at the 9 month check up. Diagnosed with dyspraxia at 6 and ASD/ ADHD at 7. She has retained infant reflexes and these are being treated (privately, by a behavioural optometrist) by gross motor exercises which include crawling. My daughter doesn't have skills to cross the midline, left and right confusion and poor balance. If I had another child I'd really push them to crawl

Thank you so much to everyone who has responded. Such diverse experiences!! I am reading with interest and gratitude. DS has two weeks until his physio appointment where I’m hoping some light can be shed on the no crawling, pulling up to stand but waking and running with gusto situation. As I said I suspect strongly some hyper mobility. I will report back the preliminary assessment in case anyone is interested. In the meantime I will take on board the suggestions and get DS to some soft play and invest in a pop up tunnel.

Mine vary
1 is fairly clumsy. Crawled, walked at 15.

1 is super clumsy by time they started school they've broken bones , had stitches and numerous a&e trips, always coming home from school with the injury slips , crawled , walked at 10 months

1 not clumsy at all , crawled walked at 15m

1 bum shuffled, walked 12m , never had an accident. Rarely even tripped over

Mine never crawled at all, straight to walking at 14 months