An unscientific survey about crawling and hand eye coordination...

[treacletart]

My mate told me yesterday that there's a link between bottom shuffling and not having good hand eye coordination. Apparently, crawlers, who look at their hands when the're moving, have better coordination than bottom shufflers. My mum told me I was a bottom shuffler and I'm useless at ball games. Were you (or your dcs) a crawler or a shuffler and can you hit a ball?

I crawled - am rubbish at ball games.

And one of my bum-shufflers is great at ball games and most sports.

ds2 crawled for ages and ages, and has useless hand-eye coordination. ds1 crawled, also useless. dd crawled, I think she might be able to hit a ball, is all rather exciting.

So I think your mate is talking nonsense!

DS walked before he crawled. He is very clumsy (can trip over fresh air) and we have had it suggested that the 'failure' to crawl contributed to this. Personally I think it is genetic - I crawled as normal but was/am just as clumsy as DS. We both have superb hand-eye co-ordination.

dd3 was the only one who bottom shuffled. She is brilliant at ball games.

I can't remember my DS crawling - he just upped and walked....he has fantastic hand-eye coordination.

My DD has always had great hand eye coordination - passing things hand to hand early on, but was a relatively late crawler.... not sure what that means.

clearly rubbish then!

I did not crawl and neither of my DCs crawled. I really like ball games, so does my DS. Too early to tell for DD - she's too little.

Many children with dyspraxia fail to go through the crawling stages, preferring to 'bottom shuffle' and then walk. They usually avoid tasks which require good manual dexterity.
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dyspraxia-(childhood)/Pages/Symptoms.aspx

I was a bottom shuffler (never crawled) and a very late walker and have truly awful hand eye coordination. I couldn't hit or catch a ball to save my life!

My brother crawled and his hand eye coordination is even worse than mine.

Too early to say with my dcs.

Ds1 crawled from a relatively early age but fits most of the criteria for dyspraxia.

D23 crawled and has good co-ordination.

Dd never crawled but is already pretty good at throwing and catching.

D23 (!) should be ds2.

All 5 of mine crawled. 2 of them have dyspaxia. DS1's co-ordination couldn't be any worse

I crawled, rubbish at ball games.

Ds crawled, he loves kicking footballs about, throwing balls but at 2.1yo I can't say much more! He fed himself at 13mths and v v well! (Dunno if that has anything to do with it?!)

Dd crawled, she is not a fan of footballs or any ball infact. She fed herself at 19mths!

DD an early (7.5 months/8 months) and fast crawler. Also walked relatively early (11 months) and with great confidence. Absolutely useless at ball games/cycling.

DS never crawled. Sat and smiled. Bum shuffled around 10 months. Excellent hand/eye co-ordination. Indeed excellent at all things physical.

No, I don't think there's any truth in it.

I heard this about crawling and handwriting, though I assume most bum shufflers learn to write.....

My dd crawled but has a lot of difficulty with fine motor co-ordination!

Although there seems to be a link between non-crawlers and dyspraxia, I would have thought that bum shufflers would still develop fine motor skills normally (unless there are underlying issues) as they have hands free all the time!

DD was a super crawler but has terrible handwriting and not brilliant at fine motor skills, although was very advanced at jigsaw puzzles and lego/duplo as a baby/toddler.

DS only comando crawled, never got up on all 4s but walked at 10 months, not sure about his hand eye coordination, but is dyslexic. However he had swimming lessons from a year old and piano lessons from 6 which I think probably compensated for not crawling.