Baby Crawling – Everything You Need To Know Resource Guide

Get your smartphone ready and your Instagram account up and running.  Once babies start raising and moving their necks, flailing their arms and legs, sitting up on their own, and are around seven months old, they will soon be part of the crawling club.  Baby crawling (aka infant crawling) is the beginning of a whole new world.

Dr. Rallie McAllister, co-author of The Mommy MD Guide to Your Baby’s First Year with Jennifer Bright Reich, describes it as “the first step toward independent mobility [1].”

How do you know when babies are ready to start crawling?

Baby Crawling

This happens to be one of the three most common questions asked to doctors around month five;

  • when do babies crawl?
  • when should baby crawl?
  • what age do babies crawl?

Yes, all three variations seek the same desired answer.  A child’s mobility begins when muscles develop enough to lift and move the head and neck. The torso, legs, and feet will soon follow.

Observe when your child starts turning over. This is something you should encourage. Play a game to motivate mobility from tummy to back and vice versa. Hang a mobile on the crib to spark interest.

When a baby starts sitting on their own, you should start childproofing your home for infant crawling, walking and running.


Top Five Facts About Baby Crawling

Baby Crawling Fact #1 – Some Babies Completely Skip It

When Should Baby Crawl

There are no hard and fast rules. However, most babies start crawling between seven and ten months.

“Nine months being an average time to start seeing crawling behavior,” Dr. Danelle Fisher, head of Providence Saint John’s Health Center Pediatrics Department in Santa Monica, California, elaborated [2].

However, not all babies will crawl. Some babies skip the whole process and go straight to standing (at which point you will probably near-faint from worry).


Baby Crawling Fact #2 – Baby Proofing

Baby Proof Your House

A home is a haven. But when your baby becomes mobile, your world becomes the ultimate obstacle course.

Get on your hands and knees and start exploring your home from your baby’s viewpoint to identify and eliminate the danger zones:

  • Cover electrical outlets.
  • Fit child-guard latches where your baby can reach handles.
  • Get rubber mats to soften the crawling experience; those floors are hard.
  • Check for nails and wooden splinters; get rid of them.
  • Check for sharp corners and edges including furniture corners; pad them.
  • Save yourself from near panic attacks and remove dangerous items your baby can reach.
  • Get rid of choking hazards.
  • Block off rooms and install gates.

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Baby Crawling Fact #3 – Infant Crawling Styles

What Age Do Babies Crawl

There is no wrong way to crawl. There is no superior or best style crawling. There is just crawling.

Each baby will have their own style the same way you have your own style of walking.

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Baby Crawling Fact #4 – Crawling Is Huge!

Infant Crawling

Crawling is a real milestone. Your baby had to develop binocular vision (using both eyes) and master depth perception to even start crawling. Babies must control their heads and the muscles from both limbs and torso in order to crawl. It is a complete mind and body effort.

Babies will “develop navigation skills and memorize facts.”  The way you know to avoid the creaking third step, your baby will learn to avoid the coffee table to get to you for some hugs.


Baby Crawling Fact #5 – Higher Than Normal Concern About Your Baby’s Development?

When Do Babies Crawl

If you are in doubt or anxious about your child’s development, make an appointment with your doctor.

If a child is one year old and not crawling, dragging half of their body, or uncomfortable using a part of their body, call your pediatrician for a consultation.

Your baby’s first year is a period of momentous change for both parent and child.

There is no need to worry in silence.  Ask for help, and create a support system that you can access whenever you need assistance.

And remember that every baby is unique in their development. Infant crawling should be a fun and exciting time for both parent and child.


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Baby Crawling / Infant Crawling Resources;

[1]   The Mommy MD Guide to Your Baby’s First Year; Rallie Mcallister MD MPH, Jennifer Bright Reich, September 2011.
[2]   She Knows; 5 Things to Know When Baby Starts Crawling, Claire Gillespie, April 12, 2018.

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