Do babies ever skip crawling AND cruising?

[Cafeaulait27]

Our baby doesn’t pull to stand, doesn’t cruise, doesn’t crawl, doesn’t bum shuffle, but does ‘ask’ us to stand him up all day long and walks confidently holding our hands. He really motors along quite quickly and this seems to be all he wants to go. Sometimes we leave him to ‘figure it out’ if we know he wants to stand up and is gesturing to us, but we don’t like to let him get too upset so we do reliant and stand him up. He seems to have very strong legs, it’s just his balance is not great.

i imagine most likely he’ll eventually crawl or cruise, but I just wondered if anyone has ever had a baby that went straight to walking?

Emma Hubbard has great YouTube videos too with other ways to help them walk

My DS only crawled for two weeks before he learnt to walk - his sole purpose of crawling theme he did do it was to get to furniture he could pull himself up on.
He os hyper mobile and has very weak upper body strength and I’ve been told by various occupational therapists that why he didn’t really crawl.

I never bum shuffled, crawled or cruised. DM said I was carried everywhere (first grandchild on both sides so treated like a princess) then at 14 months just started walking confidently.

DD 3months is showing no signs of wanting to roll and hates tummy time but loved to stand up. Everyone has commented on how strong she is. I'm bracing myself for her to walk without crawling too.

I think they only ever cruise if you buy them a little car or boat..

Eldest crawled for a bit, I have it on video, but it wasn't long a couple of weeks before she was pulling herself up and walking around the table on her own holding on.
Crawling for her was boring, so she was up and off not long after. With her favorite footwear, a wellington boot on one leg and nothing but a sock on the other.😂
I have a memory of house hunting, we were in the kitchen she was off up the bloody stairs moseying around.😂

This is incorrect. Crawling isn't a milestone and plenty babies never crawl. It's nothing to be concerned about at all.

I have a crawler so no real advice OP, I can sympathise with the holding hands and helping him "walk" thing though because we're in that stage now and it's a killer on your back!

My eldest rolled everywhere. She never crawled.

My DD went from bum shuffling to suddenly walking at 19 months, but she had great balance when she decided to go for it, hardly any falls. She skipped the crawling stage despite lots of tummy time and encouragement, but has suddenly decided to crawl (for fun) at nearly 2 years old. A lot of family members also skipped the crawling stage and all developmentally fine, no coordination/reading issues.

My dd didn't crawl or cruise. She used to roll to get where she wanted to. Then one day just stood up and walked across the room

My DD went from sitting to walking. She didn't crawl or bum shuffle, and didn't really cruise much either. She did a bit but only until she had to let go to grab the next bit of furniture, and then she gave up! She walked holding hands at 11mo, independently at 13mo (they were two back breaking months!), but didn't crawl until she was 2. If she fell down then she just sat there with her arms in the air until someone rescued her!

DS was more "normal" in that he crawled a bit and then walked, then ran! All by 12ish months. He wanted to follow his sister around, I guess.

It might still come, mine started crawling and cruising pretty much at the same time at around 10 months. Til then she mostly just sat there!

Little update, he’s now 11 months and still not able to sit himself up from lying down or pull to standing. He doesn’t crawl or cruise and still gets us to stand him up and help him walk. He does now hold the top of the cot if we put his hands on it when standing, but he much prefers our hands!

he is doing a lot more leaning forward than he used to so I wonder if he is going to crawl soon, but surely this is quite late now?

he can stand unaided but only if we put him there.

he’s such a happy boy and seems to be very bright, but I’m really struggling now he’s coming up to a year and all the babies in my NCT group plus other friends babies are all crawling or cruising and standing up in their cots etc now…

By youngest was really late - didn't walk unaided until 17 months!

She's an amazing athlete in her chosen sport now.

@RandomMess thank you. That is good to know! Did she eventually start crawling, or just go straight to walking?

i was fine with him not crawling but now I’m thinking he’ll only really be able to pull himself up to stand or sit from a crawling position surely?

i feel like I’ve failed as a mum as he’s just not doing what it seems every other baby i know is doing!

My daughter had all the skills and strength to walk but didn't until I got her a little push walker (the popular zebra one). Within a week of using that she was walking independently! (At 14 months... But I also know babies who walked at 9 months!)

@Endlesslaundry123 thank you, we will try a walker. Could she pull herself up to it though?

the Lack of pulling himself up to sitting and standing is what’s really bothering me, if he could do that I’m sure he’d be able to do much more independently x

Yes she crawled at some point. Even my older two weren't mobile or good sitters at an average age. All sporty as teens and adults.

Far too happy watching the world go by I think.

My youngest was like that. From no age he just wanted to hold our hands and be upright and walk. We had a push a long walker and that’s all he wanted to do (we would stand him up against it to get going). He loved open spaces like the park where he could just push it for ages without being foiled by corners or steps. At home he did start cruising round the furniture if we’d propped him up against something. But as a result of that focus on walking he went through a weird stage where he could cruise and then walk properly but if he fell over or sat down on his bum he was trapped as he’d never figured out pulling himself up. He never bothered with crawling at all. He did figure out bum shuffling but never really bothered with it and I think it was v close to when he walked anyway. But he figured it all out eventually and started pulling himself up. And they all do figure it out so try not to worry. I have three and none of them did the standard crawling to pulling up to walking pattern. They all do it differently.

I’m just really not sure how he will get there. Now I’m starting to understand the link between tummy time and eventually crawling then walking. All the babies I know who loved tummy time are all crawling and cruising now, meanwhile my baby still needs me to get anywhere. But I couldn’t force him to do tummy time, as he would flip straight over onto his back instantly.

Thank you for your replies, this is really bothering me even though I know ‘they all do it eventually’ when you’re the only one you’re constantly searching wondering if you did something wrong

@Cafeaulait27 yes she could pull herself up. He's only 9 months, he really will get there, seems he's just done things in reverse (walking then pulling up haha). My DD didn't start crawling until 10 months and pulling up to stand at 11 months (just had a look back at old videos of her to check).

Babies are designed to learn these things, he sounds quite capable so enjoy this phase and try to trust that he'll get there when he's ready (easier said than done, I know...). Once he's on the move, there's no going back 😂

My dd was a bottom shuffler who then just stood up and walked at 17 months old.

I was told by the health visitor that some children are just like that. Now I look back and realise that I think it was an expression of some of her core personality traits (doesn't like getting her hands dirty, likes to see everything all the time) plus the fact it was a chilly winter over that period and I think the floor was just too cold for her, and she was the first child, so she never actually saw anyone around her crawling.

I mean, it's not what adults do, is it? 😂

I wouldn't worry. Now, at 5, she's a climber and very limber, and runs everywhere.

@Endlesslaundry123 he’s actually 11 months now 😬

Also the thing is, he IS on the move, just using me to do it, so him moving himself would actually be a break for my back at least!

sorry if I sound grumpy, I just find it hard when people say I should enjoy while he’s not mobile. I can’t enjoy it because I’m bent over helping him walk around or he’s unhappy so it’s not the dream scenario people with crawling babies think it is! X

@Torunette very true! Crawling is quite strange really!

My son was like this. He skipped crawling and went straight to walking at 13 months. He couldn't get from laying down to sitting but he could get from sitting to standing. So if he fell over when walking, he was unable to get up! In the end we took him to a paediatrician who did some tests and checks, no issues were found and so he was referred for physio therapy. They gave us exercises to practice at home and slowly but surely he caught up. The paediatrician didn't have an explanation, he said it was a 'blip' in his development. He was behind physically (not by much though) for a few years, but from about 5 onwards I would say he pretty much caught up. He's not massively sporty or anything but you can't tell the difference between him and his peers on a physical level any more. If you're worried I'd suggest first speaking to your health visitor or Gp, that's what we did and we then got referred to a paediatrician and then referred again for physio.