There are lots of important milestones in the growth of a child. It includes Motor milestones, speech and language milestones, Social development milestones, cognitive development milestones, etc. In motor milestones before walking crawling is an important milestone for the overall development of the baby. A person will learn to crawl before he learns to walk. It is the first form of independent movement of a baby and the primary method of mobility. Therefore Crawling is known as the preparatory phase for walking.

 The baby will learn to balance on his own hands and knees and by pushing off with his knees he will learn to move forward and backward by lifting his belly from the ground. This is basically what is crawling.

And there is a certain normal period of crawling and that is from six to nine months after the birth of the baby.

Usually Crawling begins with creeping later it proceeds to creep and crawl.

Crawling will enhance:

• Vestibular system
• Sensory system
• Cognition
• Problem-solving skills
• Coordination of body movements

Therefore crawling is an important prerequisite for normal neurological and neuromuscular development.

 Crawling will help to:

• Develop normal Spine and nervous system
• Independence and Exploration
• Make the arm, shoulder, neck, leg, and finger muscles stronger
• Developing stability in the bones of the shoulder joint (the ball and socket joints of the shoulders and hips are shallow and unstable at birth but are molded into stronger, more stable joints through weight-bearing)
• Develop brain (that is communication between two sides of the brain)
• Visual skills (to quickly shift focus from near to far )
• Understanding of his own size and how it fits within a space
• Core and hip strength
• Postural stability and protective reaction
• Complex motor patterns
• Upper body strength and grasp
• Eye-hand coordination
• Refining balance
• Sensory integration (body awareness, integrating the movement (vestibular), pressure and stretch (proprioceptive), visual and touch (tactile) sensory systems )
• Problem-solving and spatial awareness
• Memory (cognition)
• Learning to coordinate movements where two sides of the body are doing different movements ( upper and lower body)
• Social development
• Strengthening core muscles for other gross motor and fine motor tasks. ( helps to strengthen the trunk and other extremities and their flexibility)
• Providing early opportunities for motor planning (movement problem-solving)
• Developing body awareness and spatial awareness
• Prepares the body for future reading and writing. * Crawling helps to explore the surroundings of the baby and learn to navigate.
• Helps the baby to see the environment in a different way.
• Give tactile sensation from the ground to the body.

Crawling will give important input to the overall body development

For the development of all areas not only the crawling is helping, but there are different areas. But crawling has its own benefits. So it’s necessary for a baby to crawl before he or she starts to walk

If the baby does not crawl within that certain period, it is important to consult a doctor for an investigation.