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!

Yep and similarly clumsy - turned out he was very hypermobile / dyspraxia 😊

My first DS fell badly once and broke his collar bone but recovered remarkably quickly and well. DS who is 15m has had two very, very bad egg bruises on the head, one that required an ambulance to A&E and literally just days later has fallen and cracked a tooth. He has also had hospital trips for RSV twice, bad tonsillitis, and a viral infection. He’s not even two and the doctor in A&E recognises me!! It is such a different experience from cautious and generally well DS1.

Same, but was clumsy. Now a teen and he’s fine.

My non-crawler has developmental coordination disorder (also know as dyspraxia). It was difficult to determine what was going on with her until she got a bit older, she was diagnosed aged 9. It is quite disabling for her, she's 17 now and still struggles with a lot of basic living skills like cooking.

I don't think there is a connection. DS1 was running at 10 months, mostly into things as he couldn't stop himself yet. He had constant injuries for a while but is an athlete now and always very agile.

DD bum shuffled and is good at dancing and did everything else at a typical time. Ds2 crawled but didn't walk til 18mths, he always struggled a bit with coordination and is poor at sporty and prone to clumsiness.

My DS was a bum shuffler. He eventually walked at 21 months. He was seeing a physiotherapist for a while. He’s three now and his balance is shocking. He was standing still the other day and managed to trip over his feet somehow. Fine motor all ok. He still can’t cycle a bike forwards, only backwards. He does gymnastics classes where he goes on a balance beam etc which hopefully will help him. I’m not concerned, I’m sure he will be fine and there’s no underlying issues

Thank you for this. I actually work in an area in which I come in contact with individuals with a range of conditions including DCD and I would honestly say it’s probably the least understood (by the general public) and can often represent a very hidden disability as mostly people look and behave typically. I don’t think people realise that at its core it’s neurological condition that makes it difficult for the brain to form a meaningful plan across a range of situations (like as you say cooking a meal) I think most people think of it just means John is a bit clumsy and can’t kick a ball well. Anyway I just wanted to say I hope you and your daughter are well and thanks again for replying.

Thank you for this, it sounds like you’ve experienced the full gamut of possible crawling to walking possibilities.

I am hyper mobile and was never ever good at sport (think always last to be chosen during those god awful children pick the teams type events). I genuinely could never run and still can’t really. Terrible at dancing with very poor rhythm and was put into dancing to fix my left right confusion. So perhaps DS just takes after me.

Same with mine and they are also dyspraxic

My ds didn’t crawl or bum shuffle, just walked at 10 months. No issues with coordination or fine motor skills. Very sporty and not clumsy at all.

My youngest never crawled, instead she went straight to walking at 10 months. Meanwhile her older brother crawled from a very young age and started walking at 11 months. Both now teenagers, the non-crawler is very well coordinated and has no issues at all, meanwhile the crawler is severely hypermobile which causes him a lot of difficulties (which he manages very well). Not the way round I'd have predicted!

Like you, I did a lot of reading about the lack of crawling at the time, and got big brother to give his little sister "crawling therapy" where he demonstrated and taught her to go through play tunnels etc - she quickly picked it up a few months after she started walking. I guess I'll never know if it helped, but they had fun together doing it!

DD was a bum shuffler and late walker (16 months.) She still is quite lazy compared to her brother but she’s getting there. I haven’t noticed her be notably clumsy.

Well every day is a school day! I wish I had read this when DD was tiny. Second child, was a non-crawler (unlike her older brother, who couldn’t be seen for dust), she is also autistic. More accident-prone than her brother too, certainly.

I will add that I was always having to retrieve her from soft play tunnels!

DS didn’t crawl due to lack of opportunity (restricted in car seat / pushchair for most of the day in birth family (we are adoptive family). Struggles with fine motor skills, eye to hand coordination, spatial awareness, problem solving, poor core strength, etc. Has made a lot of progress though with lots of crawling around soft play etc. I never realised the benefits of crawling until we realised the impact of not having opportunity to do it. .

You sound like a wonderful mum. I have experience working with families in similar situations, it is heartbreaking.

DS had and still has plenty of opportunities for crawling. He had very bad reflux as a baby, being on his stomach was actual torture for him. It was terrible. Despite his difficulties he met all other milestones on time. This evening we had a lovely time playing that incorporated time on hands and knees, I really must do this more. I am aware of the neurological significance of bilateral crawling it’s just very hard to achieve with a child who screamed when put on stomach. I met a physio for DS1 for some benign issue and she said although they prefer crawling, they like to see at the very least bum shuffling, they only get concerned when there is nothing at all before walking.

I didn’t crawl and apparently it’s an early sign of dyslexia. I am clumsy and struggle to put my hands out when I fall it’s almost like an afterthought even now, I tripped a year ago on a straight pavement and had to have 9 stitches on my face.

DC1. Never crawled. Didn’t move at all until over 1. Just sat on the floor and cried a lot. He just had no idea how to crawl - he couldn’t even tip forward onto all 4s. Didn’t bum shuffle either. Just went from furniture cruising if propped there to walking at 17 months. Totally missed due to pandemic. He’s dyspraxic, hypermobile and autistic.

DC2 started furniture cruising at 7 months, before even rolling both ways if I remember correctly. He pulled from sitting to standing against the sofa. Then walked at 9 months, then crawled at 1 ish. Again never did the classic tipping from sitting onto all 4s and back again. He got into the crawling position from the floor. I think he’s probably dyspraxic as well but no other signs of ND yet.

Two of mine never crawled. One bum shuffled amd walked at around 12 months. One rolled, and walked at around 10 months.

They had no issues with learning to fall and had an average amount of falling until they became steady on their feet.

One was an absolute nincompoop on a bike later on though.

I didn't crawl and I'm quite clumsy (43).
I have sprained my ankle more times than I can count. I also have rubbish co ordination and balance.

I don't know for certain it's related, but I'm definitely accident prone

It's also interesting people mention hyper mobility because I was definitely 'double jointed' as a child and a w sitter. Ive always been pretty flexible. And have a rubbish core (which might be lack of training!).
I had special lessons for co ordination as a child but it didn't help much, I am completely incapable of hitting a tennis ball despite a lot of trying.

1st DC didn't crawl.. walked at 11mths. Autism diagnosed in yr8. Competitive dancer to a v high level.
2nd DC also didn't crawl properly. Crawled with head on floor 🫣. Very late walker and was hyper mobile. Now age 12 is also a competitive dancer. But my gosh is so so clumsy. Teachers comment on this a lot. She tells me she fell over twice today. When she bows at end of a dance she often falls over 🫣 but manages gracefully and beautifully whilst dancing.

One of mine never crawled and was walking at 11 months. He's always been super-agile and coordinated, not at all clumsy. He does have a few accidents but that's because he throws himself at life at breakneck speed, much as he did when learning to walk.

At the time I worried endlessly about poor motor skills, under-developed upper body, dyslexia etc etc but none of that has turned out to be an issue for him. Although he did have quite weedy arms and shoulders as a toddler.

So interesting to see so
many non crawlers. Neither of mine crawled, and people irl always seem surprised whenever I have mentioned it.

DD didn't crawl, she rolled at high speed or bum-shuffled, and then pulled herself up on the furniture and cruised round on tiptoe like that. She walked at about 11 months I think. She's hypermobile. Hopeless on ride-on toys, scooters, bikes etc. Terrible at climbing frames. Couldn't hold a pencil properly till she was about 6. Became a professional ballet dancer though, so not crawling didn't exactly hold her back.
A relative on DH's side is also hypermobile, but with the hyperlaxity as well, and he was very clumsy as a child apparently. Don't know whether he crawled or not. He's middle-aged now and has a lot of joint issues.