things other than crawl....???

[alicesmum]

hi everyone
i just wanted to know if anyone (or anyone you know) had babes who didn't crawl. I have heard of babies who went from sitting to walking without crawling, but how about this....

Alice does this shimmying/bum sliding thing where she flaps her arms and rocks back and forward until she is propelled in some direction or other (not always the one she is heading for) and, sitting in her "frog" pose, she also uses her feet to pull herself along.

I bum-slid as a baby in a similar fashion and all the neighbours told my mum i might be retarded (some people are so charming aren't they!!). DH did a lizard slide along the floor, but also never crawled.

Did anyone else's babies do something other than crawl??? (I just want to reassure myself that my child is not a freak ;)

thanks...rachel.

[draught]

A girlfriend's baby also "bum-shuffled" then walked. She was concerned as she had been advised that babies need to crawl in order to work on their right and left brain connection (??) so once her daughter was more mobile she invented all sorts of crawling games, including using a tunnel and a cubby house etc so that they wouldn't have dramas later on. I have no idea on the theory behind this, but thought it was worth a mention that you are not alone in your concern!

[moggs]

Hiya,

At playcenters and similar activities i've seen loads of babies do the 'bum shuffle'. My mother said I did it also and my nickname was 'scooter'. I'd like to think i'm not retarded lol...

My daughter didn't crawl until 12 months. I think there is alot of pressure on us mothers to get our babes to do what others do. My daughter didn't walk until 15 months and i felt very inadequate even though I know I shouldn't because kids do things in there own time...

love Moggs

[kelbel]

Hi,

I had previously heard about babies walking b4 crawling have a learning disorder later on. Then my precious MIL :confused: said exactly the same thing today. Its all to do with learning things in the right order (i think that is what she said). So some older kids with learning diabilites are then taught how to crawl in order to overcome their learning difficulties!

Dont quote me on this!!

Cheers
Kel

[J&W'smum]

both my sisters are older than me so ill give you the advice they gave me. go stand at the gate of a school play ground look at the children running around can you see any diffrence. they all get their :)

[kacey]

Hi all
I'm not a mum yet (ttc) but I am a student teacher (secondary/high). I can understand the concern when your child seems to be different and you're not sure what the right information is. All I can do is tell you what one of my supervisors told me. Just two weeks ago in my most recent placement I noticed a boy who was copying stuff off the board with a lot of spelling mistakes. I took the teacher aside and asked about this boy. He finds it difficult to transfer the information from the board to the paper. She said that is fairly normal for him, and has no difficulties in other areas. Then she told me there was a recent study in the UK where they correlated this learning behaviour with the children never having learnt to crawl - bum shufflers. They took these children and taught them to crawl (a wierd thought, I know). Apparently that really helped them. My supervisor told me it has to do with the child looking up to see where to go, etc, then looking down to crawl, manipulating the data in their head, being able to see the information even when they are not looking at it.
So, it's not a huge problem, and it seems you've never really missed the boat. I hope this helps. I'll see if I can get any more info when I go back to uni.

[cuddles2000]

Hi my daughter bum shuffled and never crawled she is now 18 months old and there isnt anything wrong with her. she just did it her own way and it was easyier for her to get around. plus quicker lol.

[mousey]

I had a bum-shuffler ;)
DD has such short legs (like her mummy!!) that it wasn't possible for her to get them under her big tummy!! LOL
Funny thing is, now she can walk, she'll "pretend" to be a baby and crawl!! :D

I also never crawled properly, as I was very small. There was never anything wrong with me (unless of cos you count being a little nuts ;))...

[Zan]

I've known several bum shufflers who have all turned out totally normal. They do generally walk a bit later than normal crawlers (probably because they can hold things in their hands while still being mobile. Absolutely nothing to worry about.
Zan (who wished dd2 hadn't crawled at 4.5 months, and thinks bum shuffling is so adorable and quick!)

[dee dee]

My dd is only four months old, so not yet at the crawling stage, but I am an Early Childhood Teacher and have worked with hundreds of little bubs. Not every baby crawls, it is as simple as that!! I have then watched the children go on to become active toddlers and preschoolers with no detriment to their development.

I also didn't crawl as a bub and was a very early walker, and there is nothing wrong with me!!!! :rolleyes: altough my dh might beg to differ haha!