Is it true that crawling=better brain development i.e. those that don't crawl (just bum shuffle) are already doomed on the IQ front...?!

[madmarriedNika]

[paranoid mum alert emoticon] A friend told me yesterday that crawling has been shown to be good for brain development, much better than bum shuffling and going straight to cruising without crawling properly.

Is this true ? Where is the scientific research to back this up?
And what can you do if you have a bum shuffler who's beginning to cruise and not looking likely to crawl at all?!

Thanks x

My ds (nearly 15) and dd (3.1) were both bum shufflers.

Ds walked at 10 months (I was told that boys and bum shufflers tend to walk later... so he must be the exception to the rule!) and crawled two weeks later, dd cruised for a bit longer and finally went hands free at nearly a year. she's been happily going up a 10ft slide since 14 months. We've never had a stair gate, she's coped fine with the stairs in the house.

Ds is getting good reports at school and doing brilliantly in physics, history, craft and design.... He must learn to do his homework in time though.

Dd has known her 1-10 for a good while now and now counts to 13 quite happily. Seems to know left from right...

So I would say to never judge your child by anyone elses. Celebrate the differences and enjoy the similarities.

the crawling thing is something we were quizzed on at bibic, ds1 (asd but no motor disorders bar weak wrists, dyslexia) sailed through that aspect; ds3 (asd but also moyor problems) did not, he commando crawled'.

This has all been helped by lots of physio mimicking the cross-crawl patern; marching, walking up and down stairs making sure he alternates feet etc.

It's to do with (IIRC) developinf the pathways that cross the hemispheres of the brain, and I believe it is significant but only in kids whose development in that aspect isn't compensated elsewhere, iyswim.

My cousin bum-shuffled. He is now in his forties, got a first from Cambridge and is doing v well thank you. Not much wrong with him!

Nope

I know two bum shufflers and one of them is a little genius!!!

As I said above DS commando crawled for 2 months then got up and walked at 10 months. His dyslexia is probably fairly mild, but enough to be on the SEN register. He did have swimming lessons from the age of 1. He is very good at breaststroke but has always struggled with front crawl and back stroke, which take a different coordination.

He also had piano lessons from age 6 which I think would have helped with the left/right brain thing.

DD was an expert crawler, but is left handed and has truely awful handwriting.

there is no evidence whatsoever that crawling makes a difference. Lack of crawling may in some children indicate that they may have a coordination difficulty.
The lack of crawling does not cause the difficulty, it is a symptom of it. If a child has cooridination difficulties, they may find it hard to crawl.
In cultures all over the word babies are carried the entire time until they are over one, and they don't crawl at all because the ground is filthy and stony. No carpets! They are not all dyspraxic.

There is a big industry claiming that crawling will 'cure' dyslexia and dyspraxia, and not a jot of evidence that it does anything at all.

Crappola. Ds2 crawled, but ds1 bum shuffled because one of his arms was paralysed at birth (he's got some function now). The way he thought up solutions to the problems caused by his arm and overcame difficulties was amazing. No problem with the little grey cells there, I can tell you!!

They both cruised from about 8 or 9 months. One of them walked a week before his first birthday and the other walked a week after his first birthday, but I can't remember which was which.

I really AM a terrible mother! I knew I should have written all that stuff down as it happened!

DD1 21 was a bum shuffler ,didn't crawl and didn't walk until she was 21 months. She did well at school and has just got a first in her Zoology degree. DD3 16 has dyspraxia and she started crawling when she was 10 or 11 months old and was walking at 15 months.
So don'rt worry.

I think mrsdemeanor is probably right, but equally if ds4 didnt crawl I would see it as a potential flag for problems (with 2 ds's being statemented anyway), and would do lots of cross-crawl activities to help. Which can be fun..... pretend marching to the grand old duke of york is hardly difficult is it?

And btw havng dyscalculia - dyslexia - dyspraxia is in no way linked to one's intellect or ability to gain a degree. With proper intervention, kids withe disorders tend to do well.

I'm going to say on the basis of no evidence whatsoever that I reckon thats pure arse.

My DH never crawled - he's a doctor!