I know I shouldn’t but....

I had this with my first boy - he just sat there on one spot till he was 10 months old then just got up and started walking!!!! freaked DH and i out big time!! we thought he was going to be a super late walker bcos he hadnt even crawled yet!!!

I would always get the "oh hes still not moving yet" comments from people at coffee groups and plunket and i was really embarrassed that they thought i had a "slow" child!! it made no difference to him though obviously! no 1 - he didnt care what they said! and no 2 - doing it the way he did hasnt slown him down now that hes older!!

Don't panic, he'll get there! Both my gremlins were "lump" babies - they didn't even sit till 8 mths and were nearly 10 before they even remotely showed an interest in crawling, but the funny thing is, the rest of the babies in our Due in Oct thread at the time were all about the same, some of them took even longer than the gremlins to crawl and of course they're all perfectly active 2-year olds now.

I definitely think it's harder socially if your baby is a bit slower than others around you, coz you can't help comparing them and thinking "why isn't my baby doing that yet?" But from a practical perspective, having a baby that doesn't crawl is brilliant so make the most of it - lil miss started at 6 mths and she is a demon baby, I wish she would slow down a bit!

If you check out the July '08 thread you'll see that there is quite a good range of stages there and our bubs are all 9ish months now, some are nearly walking and others aren't crawling yet. It's interesting too that the babies that aren't as mobile seem to be more vocal or show better fine motor skill development, they really do develop at such different rates.

*puts hand up* im like this too!

my baby was at first really "advanced". She could lift her head and move it around at 2 days old, was socially smiling at 1 week old and giggling by 3 weeks. She's also always been really strong. She could stand up and bear weight and do those cute baby push ups on her arms before the other babies we knew. She's got two teeth as well so she's not late in that department.

She seems to stop at that though lol! She is not crawling and doesn't seem to be showing any signs that she is going to. People always ask me "is she crawling around yet?" and while i say "no, but I'm so glad she's not!" I feel a lil worried inside. I know she'll do it eventually (hopefully!) and most of the time I truly am glad that I don't have to chase after her yet but i can't help but wonder...

I promised myself I wouldn't be like this LOL but maybe it's one of those 'mum traits' that some of us just can't help!

It is very hard not to compare of course... but the range for child development is huge. 9-10 months is the average starting age for crawling, up to 14 months is still considered within the typically developing range. Gross motor skills do not reflect cognitive ability so the fact that some children are learning to crawl or walk faster does not mean they are more intelligent

I guess ya often here more from people whose kids were early developing skills cos naturally they're proud and wanna tell people... but there is just as many kiddies who don't gain these skills until later... and really in a few years they'll generally all be doing the same things

I know what you mean. DD was the last in my coffee group of 12 to crawl, she just started literally overnight 2 weeks before her first birthday, but was walking 8 weeks later so caught up fast.

It's hard though, even though everyone says enjoy it while they are not mobile, you just want them to hurry up and start moving!

Just remember in 12 months time you won't be able to tell any difference or remember the babies who started to crawl at 8 months v those who started to crawl at 12 months (and it will be on to comparing whose baby talk the most, lol!)

Hey my mum makes comments about my son not sitting or crawling yet and it annoys the hell out of me.

Im all for Kade doing things in his own time so I dont prop him to sit up at all as it is so bad for his spine he will learn to do it himself, and he will learn to do it the natural way. Im also happy for him to crawl whenever he is ready, I agree with Freckle the range of development is huge and is just a gudeline Kade did his first roll at just under 4months then he stopped and only mastered it at around 6months.

Whenever my mum makes comments I tell her Kade will do it naturally when hes ready!!

my mum makes comments about my 2 also, S never crawled at all she started walikng at 8mths and could talk really clearly in sentances by 20mths

J crawled at 7mths & walked at 10mths but he doesnt talk much which doesnt bother me. but i always get comments about "how he should be saying more words etc" especially from my mum

my neighbours son started walking a week before his 2nd birthday, and i know how awfull it was for her constantly being asked by people "is he walking yet" and having people compare him to others.

Rowan didn't crawl until she was a year old and she's still not quite walking yet (I'd guess another month away). She's always been slow with physical development but she is an amazing talker and is incredibly good at communicating.

I know it's hard when every one else's babies are moving already but babies really do focus on different things and there are positives to them moving later. Rowan is very good and getting off things and depth perception etc. from crawling for so long so she probably won't get as many bumps as babies who walk much sooner.

ETA: lol at the 'lump babies' Emma. it.

Edited by Bobbie