Do all babies crawl?

[theresaplaceforus]

My daughter has just turned 8 months old, she sits very well unsupported and has been doing so for about a month.
She doesn’t seem to be showing many signs of crawling at all. She moves across the room by rolling over and over - is this normal and how can I encourage crawling?

My two didn't. They went from sliding on the bum (DS) / moving like a seal (DD) to pulling themselves up and walking.
I tried to encourage crawling as I was told it is important, but they were not cooperative.

Anyone else? What ages did your babies crawl and did anyone’s baby roll and not crawl?

Not all babies crawl, some roll to get around, some bum shuffle. My DD wasn’t showing any signs of crawling at 8 months (she wasn’t even rolling over at that age ) but she started army crawling to my surprise at 10.5 months.

Ds didn't crawl until 10 months. He would link rolls but only really did that if he was playing on a soft surface, not for transport otherwise he would only roll occasionally! He went from going nowhere, to a weird worm crawl to proper hands and knees crawling within a few days though. It was like he knew what to do all along but couldn't be bothered haha

My boy didn't crawl until 11 months

My DS doesn’t show any inclination to move at all and he’s 12 months. He literally just sits, which he has been doing pretty well since 6 months. He has always despised tummy time, so has no notion about crawling. He will only role to escape tummy time - nothing more. He really likes being held in the standing position, will tentatively cruise along the sofa and will take a few supported steps, but is nowhere near walking independently. I’m not concerned. My DM reports my brother and I were similar. I think the best thing to do at 8 months is give her lots of unrestricted floor time to practice. Only 1 or maybe 2 of the babies in my NCT group were crawling at 8 months though - that’s still really young.

DS didn't crawl until 11 months. Seems like a quite sporty and well adjusted teen.

My DS is the same. 10 month olds and despises tummy time. He will cry and then roll around the minute I lay him on his tummy. He does roll around though (not really for travel more just where he has been laid from left to right and back again). He does like to stand and if I hold his hands he will direct me wherever he wants to go and I help him walk there. He can cruise tentatively (few steps) against furniture. He cannot pull himself up to standing on his own yet though so all of this is done with my help but he is getting there slowly. I do not think he will crawl but go straight to walking as it seems he just prefers to be standing. Im trying to put him in the crawling position or on his tummy everyday to encourage him but no luck so far, he still htes it 😂

Oh I would just like to add some things I have been trying.

• putting him on his tummy in my bed before breakfast. He lasts a little longer here and I am assuming because its soft and bothers him less

• laying him across my legs and then holding up his favourite toys to encourage him to reach up.

• lay down on my tummy with him and do silly voices/games/faces. This distracts him a little and he lasts a bit longer on his tummy before crying

• do you have any other kids around? We see a friends little boy who is around 4. My boy loves him so I ask him to show him how to crawl or lay down with him and play and my DS loves that.

• I sit him down and help him go down onto his hands from that position. He is fine and lets me do it until he is actually on his hands and knees and then cries.

• Not sure if this will help with crawling per se but it is just to encourage him to build his strength. I am trying to teach him to pull himself up. So I started with holding him under the arms. Now we have progressed to one hand. If I hold one of his hands thats enough for him to pull himself up

If anyone tries anything else would love to hear it

Try the ikea tunnel and play peekaboo at one end of it? Apparently crawling is an important part of cognitive development so I'd try to avoid helping pull them up to standing too much. The frustration is good for them... they'll keep trying as we're biologically driven to become independent. My son took ages to crawl.