The importance of crawling

  More than 90 percent of children with sensory integration disorders do not crawl or crawl for a short period of time during infancy, and crawling is now internationally recognized as the best means of preventing sensory integration disorders. Experts urge that children must be trained to crawl early in infancy.  Crawling is the first integrated and coordinated use of all body organs, including arms and legs, in a person’s life. When crawling, infants must use all four limbs to support their body weight, which allows their hands, feet and chest, abdomen and back muscles to be exercised and gradually developed, laying the foundation for standing and walking.  Parental awareness plays a decisive role in children’s crawling. Many parents let their children sit in the walker early on and see the walker as a good helper for childcare. The latest medical research confirms that not only do walkers fail to promote infant motor development, they are also associated with delayed infant motor development in many ways. Infants who use walkers learn to crawl, stand alone and walk later than non-users. It was found that for every 24-hour increase in time spent using a walker, there was a delay of more than 3 days in standing and walking alone.