No crawling without rolling/tummy time? Large eight month old baby! 👶🏼

[EIeanor]

DS is very nearly eight months old. He is around 80th percentile for length and weight and around 98th percentile for head measurement. I know there is a correlation between heavy babies with heavy heads and them being delayed with rolling as a result.

He has never liked being on his tummy on the floor and will cry either instantly or after a minute or two. He’s fine being held, lying down on us, being in the carrier etc. It’s just being on his tummy on the floor he’s never liked, but of course it’s only by being on the floor that he’ll learn to crawl, isn’t it!

He’s rolled a couple of times, I can literally count them on one hand, but he simply isn’t bothered about doing it. He’s happy to lie and play on his back. He will turn to his side or reach above his shoulder to get a toy etc but he’s just not fussed about converting that into a roll.

I’m not worried about his development - I have been doing the ASQs with him and all is fine (apart from the rolling and crawling questions on the eight month one!). He sits up unaided very well and he bears his own weight when standing.

The thing is, I can tell he is desperate to be able to move. Often when I’m cuddling him on the sofa he slides down in between my legs so he’s standing on the floor with his arms on my thighs. But he doesn’t know where to go from there! He’s also started doing a sort of ‘horse riding’ motion when he’s sitting up.

So - my question finally - how the bugger do we help him to learn to crawl if he doesn’t like to be on his tummy and isn’t interested in rolling? Are there any other mums of larger babies out there who have been through this? Should we get a push along walker and instead try to encourage walking?!

Bump

Is there a reason that you want him to crawl? I know he's probably frustrated but it’s now been removed from the milestones so there is no problem if he doesn’t do it.

My first didn’t crawl until they were 11.5 months and then walked independently 2 weeks later. They were crushing the furniture for a while though.

Morning 😊

I guess it’s just the sense that he should be doing it… at sensory class all the other little ones are crawling around and investigating things and my little chap is sitting there like a lemon. I suppose I’m worried that crawling is a conduit for exploring the world and without crawling he is missing out on that learning?

I think that they learn so much by just watching you and how you react to situations.

Of it’s of any help my non-crawling DC1 is now at Uni doing a STEM subject so it don’t think that now crawling had too many disadvantages

This week, after being placed on the floor on his back, he rolled once on four or five days, each time getting his 'trapped' hand out from under him, so that is a huge step for him. He's then managed a few minutes on his tummy before getting upset.

I guess next week is just going to be more floor time and hopefully more rolling?! And maybe he will realise what he has to do next!

My friend who has a baby the same age sent me a video this morning of her DD crawling all over the place, made me feel a bit shit but hopefully my boy will get there in the end.

I can remember feeling like that but they’ll never be asked at a job interview “so when did you start crawling”

And I always think that you get it one way or another. My non-crawling, non-sleeping toddler was a dream teen. So we spent the first few years utterly exhausted but things came good afterwards