I am concerned that my daughter is not crawling and refuses to bend her knees. She will be 10 months this week. She rolls both ways, stands holding onto something, sits on her own, and jumps when in the jumper. She actually has pretty strong legs. However, she doesn't crawl, get from lying position to sitting position, or from sitting position to standing position on her own. And she refuses to bend her knees, although she's physically capable of doing so. I have tried to manually get her to bend her knees, but they remain rigid and stiff. I've done a lot of internet research and have tried everything, like putting toys out of her reach to encourage crawling (from both sitting and lying positions), but they haven't been successful. She just ends up getting really frustrated and will start to whine. Should I be concerned and is there anything else I should be doing?
Thank you everyone for your input! I guess one thing I neglected to mention is the fact that my daughter does not scoot or army crawl, either. When she's in the sitting position, she is complety immobile since she's unable to put herself on her tummy or the crawling position. When we put her on her tummy, she can rotate to grab toys around her, but even that's a rarity. Since crawling is not an official milestone, I think I will wait to see what she does and bring it up to her pediatrician at her 12 month well baby visit if she's still this way. Thanks again and I will give an update in a few months.
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So a week before my daughter turned 11 months, she was seen by her pediatrician who was concerned that she was not only unable to crawl, she was also unable to get stand up from sitting holding onto a stationary object or get from lying to sitting and gave us a referral to be evaluated by a physical therapist. Just one day later, she started army crawling! However, she was still seen by a physical therapist who opined that her gross motor skills were lagging because her abdominal muscles were underdeveloped. She recommended three months of physical therapy, once or twice a week. The physical therapist said that although AAP does not recognize crawling as a milestone, it is important for kids to crawl before walking because it helps to develop their muscles. She said it's better for kids to walk late and crawl than skip crawling, but walk early.
She's sounds perfectly typical to me. There's nothing wrong with her per your description.
This too will pass, mama, and in two months, you'll be asking babyproofing questions because your little marshmallow is tearing around the house as fast as her little legs will take her. ;)
Seriously, though, my oldest never crawled. (And in fact, she refused to roll over and SCREAMED if we put her on her tummy!) We tried all the suggestions - toys just out of her reach (yeah, that didn't make her happy AT ALL!)... in the end, she just stood up one day and started running. Now she's 10 years old and will be getting her pointe shoes in ballet in a few months - so all of our worry when she was a baby was for naught. She's one of the most coordinated kids you'll ever meet. She just wanted to do what SHE wanted to do, not what we felt she should be doing!
Just remember, babies all develop at their own rate. Not all of them crawl, not all of them pull up right on schedule. They are who they are right from the start, and a lot of times, it's personality that drives these funny little refusals to do things. :)
whining won't hurt her :)
my cousins 14 month old does not walk, only cruises or crawls. bottom line you'd have to verify with the pediatrician to know for sure - but saying she gets "really frustrated" then citing whining as proof of that, makes me wonder. whining is totally fine - and not "really frustrated". just "kinda frustrated" lol. she's not that stubborn. i suspect you're helping her more than necessary if a whine has you thinking she is "really frustrated". push her a bit more, don't rush in to help her just because she's whining. she has to do this herself, you can't do it for her. but you can give her incentive to learn it.
I would only be concerned if your pediatrician is concerned. Definitely mention to him/her about the rigidity and stiffness as this could be something, but once the doc checks it out and says her legs are fine, I wouldn't worry. My daughter was a super late crawler and then only did it army style. She was also a really late walker (18 months). I'd continue to challenge her but also realize that she just may not be a big motor baby.
Hoo boy! You have a stubborn one. Lots of kids go right from sitting to walking, skipping crawling entirely. I was worried until you said she jumps and is capable of bending her legs. She's fine. Just stubborn. Bring it up at her next visit.
Crawling is no longer considered a milestone by the medical profession, seriously. They recognize that rolling, scooting, bouncing on their bums, lurching, whatever movement a baby uses to propel themself to an object is what is important.
But the fact that she won't bend her knees, or try to get to the toys you've put out of her reach, or go from lying down to sitting up or sitting up to standing is something that should be discussed with her pediatrician, if for no other reason than he or she can then monitor it.
And even if she whines and gets frustrated leave her be, she's telling you she didn't get her way, but it may spur her to try it on her own if you don't "rescue" her :)
