In the mid 1990’s paediatricians from many other countries started to encourage parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs to help prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
This has led to a very dramatic decrease in the incidence of SIDS. While no-one is disputing the wonderful success of lying babies on their backs to sleep there are several studies which indicate this is causing a number of children to achieve their motor milestones later or they bypass them altogether.
This is because the lack of time on their tummies doesn’t allow babies to develop their upper bodies enough for the classic hands-and-knees crawl.
Some children will only crawl for a short period of time, crawl in an unusual style or skip this milestone completely. This raises the question:
“Is crawling really that important?”
The answer is, “Yes.”
Download “Tummy to Toes” e-book. The book is chock full of tips for your baby’s growth and development, including the benefits of tummy time, the truth about crawling, ways to tell if your baby is in pain, and fantastic ways to help keep your baby happy, inquisitive, and developing naturally!
