- WHO window of achievement for hands-and-knees crawling: 5.2–13.5 months · Median: 8.5 months
- Typical crawling age: 7–10 months · Full normal range: 6–12 months
- Rocking on hands and knees is the most common sign crawling is imminent
- All crawling styles count — commando, bear, bottom shuffle, traditional
- Skipping crawling entirely and walking first is normal
- Tummy time from birth is the single best preparation for crawling
- Baby-proof before your baby crawls — not after
- Raise concerns if no independent movement of any kind by 12 months
When Do Babies Start Crawling — The WHO Window
The World Health Organization's Motor Development Study — the same 2006 research programme behind the WHO Child Growth Standards — tracked six gross motor milestones across a large, healthy, international sample of children and published an official "window of achievement" for each. For hands-and-knees crawling, that window runs from 5.2 to 13.5 months, with a median of 8.5 months. In everyday terms, that lines up with the commonly cited range of 7–10 months for the first crawling movements, with the full normal range extending from about 6 to 12 months.
| Milestone | WHO Window of Achievement | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Sitting without support | 3.8–9.2 months | 5.9 months |
| Standing with assistance | 4.8–11.4 months | 7.6 months |
| Hands-and-knees crawling | 5.2–13.5 months | 8.5 months |
| Walking with assistance | 5.9–13.7 months | 9.2 months |
| Standing alone | 6.9–16.9 months | 11.0 months |
| Walking alone | 8.2–17.6 months | 12.1 months |
This is the first important thing to understand: crawling is not a milestone that every baby must achieve, and it's the one milestone in the WHO's six-milestone study that a meaningful share of healthy babies skip entirely, progressing instead from sitting to pulling up to walking. The AAP and NHS both treat crawling as a typical but not universal step in gross motor development — what matters is that babies are becoming mobile and building the strength and coordination that mobility requires, not that they achieve it in a specific way. For the milestone that typically comes just before it, see our guide to when babies sit up.
📅 Crawling Development Timeline
These are ranges, not requirements. Every baby develops at their own pace. Some babies skip crawling entirely and progress straight to walking.
What Comes Before Crawling — The Motor Skills That Make It Possible
Crawling is not a skill that arrives independently. It is the result of months of earlier motor development, each stage building the strength and coordination the next one requires. Understanding the prerequisites helps you see where your baby is in the sequence — and what is likely coming next.
Before any other crawling prerequisite is possible, a baby must be able to hold their head up steadily. Head control — the neck strength to maintain an upright head position without support — is typically established by around 4 months. It is built primarily through tummy time, where the baby works against gravity to lift and hold their head. Without strong head control, the shoulders, arms, and core cannot develop the strength needed for the next stages. This is why tummy time from birth — even just a few minutes at a time in the earliest weeks — matters so much.
Rolling — front to back (typically first, around 4 months) and back to front (typically 5–6 months) — develops the core strength, weight-shifting ability, and body awareness that crawling will require. A baby who can roll both ways can shift weight from side to side on their trunk, which is exactly the movement pattern underlying forward crawling. Rolling also gives babies their first experience of intentional, self-directed movement — a significant developmental moment that builds confidence alongside physical strength.
During tummy time, babies progressively develop arm and shoulder strength by pushing their chests off the floor — first onto their forearms, then onto their hands with straight arms. This pushing-up ability is the direct precursor to the weight-bearing on straight arms that crawling requires. A baby who can push all the way up, hold the position, and look around has built the arm strength needed to support their body weight while moving. This is the physical pre-condition for crawling that parents often underestimate.
Every Type of Crawling — All of Them Count
Traditional hands-and-knees crawling is what most people picture when they think of crawling — but it is just one of several entirely valid ways that babies get themselves across a room. If your baby has found a different method, they have not done it wrong.
Traditional Crawling
Moving on hands and knees with the belly lifted off the floor, alternating opposite hand and knee — right hand with left knee, then left hand with right knee. This is the most commonly depicted crawling style and the one most people expect. It develops excellent bilateral coordination and is a great predictor of the alternating pattern used in walking. But it is not better than other styles — just the most familiar.
Commando / Belly Crawling
Dragging the body forward on the belly using the arms, with the belly remaining on the floor throughout. Often the first mobile movement a baby discovers, particularly those who spend time on their tummies. Commando crawling builds excellent upper body strength and is a completely recognised developmental stage. Many babies progress from commando to hands-and-knees crawling; others commando-crawl all the way to pulling up and walking.
Bear Crawling
Moving on hands and feet with straight arms and legs, knees off the floor — like a bear walking. This style is less common but perfectly normal and requires significant core strength and stability. Bear crawlers often transition directly to walking, since this style naturally brings them close to the upright position. If your baby prefers bear crawling, this is not a problem — it is a sign of strong arms and core control.
Bottom Shuffling / Scooting
Staying in a sitting position and propelling forward (or sideways, or backwards) using arms and legs in various combinations. Bottom shufflers are the most likely group to skip traditional crawling entirely — they find an efficient mobility method in sitting and often go straight from shuffling to pulling up and walking. Bottom shuffling is so common it has its own category in developmental literature. If your baby shuffles, this is wonderful — not a sign that something has gone wrong.
Crab Crawling
Moving sideways, or using one leg more than the other — an asymmetric style where one side pushes while the other drags. True crab crawling (strong preference for one side over several weeks) is worth mentioning to your health visitor, as persistent asymmetry in motor patterns can occasionally reflect a difference in muscle tone or strength between sides. Brief crab movement as babies are learning to coordinate is normal and common.
Skipping Crawling Entirely
A significant number of babies go directly from sitting and rolling to pulling up, cruising along furniture, and walking — without any crawling phase at all. This is well within normal development. The walking milestone (typically 9–18 months) is what most developmental assessments focus on, not the crawling style that precedes it. If your baby is pulling up, cruising, and progressing toward walking, the absence of crawling is not a concern.
Tummy Time — The Single Best Thing You Can Do
If there is one thing that most directly predicts when a baby will crawl, it is how much tummy time they have had. Tummy time builds every muscle group that crawling requires — neck, back, shoulders, arms, and core — and it does so progressively from birth, long before crawling is on the horizon.
The AAP recommends tummy time from birth, starting with just a few minutes at a time, several times a day, building gradually to a total of at least 30 minutes of tummy time per day by the time your baby is 3 months old. "Back to sleep, tummy to play" is the phrase that captures the balance: babies always sleep on their backs (safe sleep guidance), and have tummy time whenever they are awake and supervised.
Why Modern Babies Need Active Tummy Time
Before safe sleep guidance shifted to recommending back sleeping in the early 1990s (following the "Back to Sleep" campaign that dramatically reduced SIDS rates), babies spent significant time on their tummies simply because they slept on them. Back sleeping is unquestionably the right choice for safety — but it means that the tummy-time muscle development that happened organically no longer does. Deliberate, regular tummy time is the way to replace it.
Making Tummy Time Work
😴 Tummy Time by Age — A Practical Guide
How to Encourage Crawling — What Actually Works
Once a baby has the physical prerequisites — head control, rolling, sitting, arm strength — crawling often follows naturally. But there are things you can do to create the conditions that help it happen.
| Strategy | Does It Help? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Daily tummy time from birth | ✓ Most effective | Builds every muscle group crawling requires — the single most impactful preparation |
| Generous supervised floor time | ✓ Very effective | Babies need space to practice movement — time in bouncers, seats, or carriers doesn't build crawling muscles |
| Placing toys just out of reach | ✓ Effective | Motivation to reach something interesting is often what tips a baby from rocking to actual forward movement |
| Getting on the floor and demonstrating crawling | ✓ Effective | Babies are powerful imitators — watching a parent (or sibling) crawling gives them a model to copy |
| Supporting the tummy with a rolled towel | ✓ Useful for early stages | Helps a baby feel the hands-and-knees position by supporting some of their body weight — gives them a physical sense of what to aim for |
| Firm surface (not carpet or cushioned play mat) | ✓ Helpful | Crawling is easier on a firm, flat surface — very soft surfaces make pushing off much harder and can be discouraging |
| Baby walkers | ✗ Not recommended | The NHS and AAP both advise against baby walkers — they reduce the floor time needed to build crawling muscles and carry safety risks |
| Extended time in bouncers, swings, or car seats off the move | ✗ Can delay | Time spent in supported positions is time not spent on the floor developing the muscles for crawling |
Log the first crawl. See the whole developmental picture.
Track crawling and every preceding milestone — rolling, sitting, pushing up — with the date you first observed it. Bring a complete, accurate motor milestone record to every health visitor appointment. Free with the Lunara parenting app.
When Babies Skip Crawling — Straight to Walking Is Fine
Approximately 10% of babies skip traditional crawling entirely — and this figure rises significantly when you include bottom shufflers, who typically progress from shuffling directly to walking without a conventional crawling phase. If your baby is in this group, you may have been reassured by your health visitor and still find it hard to stop worrying. This section is for you.
The research on crawling-skipping is unambiguous: babies who skip crawling are not at a developmental disadvantage. The idea that skipping crawling affects later reading, writing, hand dominance, or learning is not supported by the scientific evidence. While crawling does build bilateral coordination, the same coordination develops through other movement patterns — pulling up, cruising, walking, climbing — that crawling-skippers engage in just as readily.
What developmental paediatricians care about is not whether a baby crawls, but whether they are becoming mobile, building motor strength across both sides of the body, and progressing toward walking. If those things are happening — in whatever order and through whatever movement style — development is on track.
Backwards Crawling — Why It Happens and What Comes Next
One of the most commented-on pre-crawling experiences: you place your baby on the floor aiming at a toy, they push with their arms, and somehow end up moving backwards — further from the toy, increasingly puzzled and increasingly frustrated. This is backwards crawling, and it is entirely normal.
When a baby pushes up on their hands and pushes back, the mechanics naturally produce backward movement — the arms are stronger than the legs at this stage, and forward propulsion requires a more coordinated weight shift that comes later. Backwards crawling is a clear sign that the arm strength and motor pattern for crawling are developing correctly. It is the forward direction that is still being worked out.
Most babies who crawl backwards progress to forward crawling within a few weeks. The transition happens as they work out how to shift weight forward onto one arm, free the opposite knee to move, and coordinate the alternating pattern. Getting down on the floor and showing them what forward crawling looks like — demonstrating the alternating arms and knees — can help the penny drop.
Baby-Proofing for a Crawling Baby — Do It Before, Not After
The most important baby-proofing timing tip: do it when your baby starts rocking on hands and knees, not when they take their first forward crawl. Once a baby is mobile, the window between "just started crawling" and "exploring the entire ground floor" is approximately one week. By the time you realise how fast they are, they have already reached the stairs.
🔒 Baby-Proofing Checklist — Before Crawling Begins
Get down on the floor at your baby's level and look around from their perspective. You will see hazards that are invisible from standing height.
Immediately urgent:- Stair gates — at the top and bottom of every staircase, before crawling begins
- Electrical outlets — cover all outlets within reach with safety covers
- Cabinet doors — fit safety catches on all lower-level cabinets, particularly those containing cleaning products, medications, or anything breakable
- Heavy furniture — anchor tall bookshelves, dressers, and TVs to the wall; a newly mobile baby will use anything as a pull-up point
- Remove all small objects from floor level — coins, batteries, button cells especially (extremely dangerous if swallowed), small toys belonging to older siblings
- Secure trailing cables and cords — both to prevent pulling (which brings things down) and strangulation risk
- Check for toxic houseplants at floor level
- Install door stoppers to prevent finger trapping
- Remove or secure pet food and water bowls from accessible areas
- Kitchen: move cleaning products, medications, and knives to high or locked storage; fit oven guards if possible
- Bathroom: keep the door shut or fit a door handle guard; empty baths immediately after use; keep toilet lid down
- Living room: check for sharp corners on coffee tables; secure fireplaces with guards
- All rooms: review what is accessible from the floor — once your baby can crawl, they can pull to stand within weeks
When to Speak With Your Health Visitor or Paediatrician
Most developmental variation in the timing of crawling is completely normal. But there are patterns that warrant professional input — not as emergencies, but as signs that a developmental check is appropriate.
🩺 Contact Your Health Visitor if You Notice:
These are worth raising at or before the next scheduled check:
Motor development concerns:- Your baby cannot sit independently by 9 months — this is the most important motor milestone to watch alongside crawling
- No attempt at any form of independent movement (rolling, shuffling, scooting, crawling) by 12 months
- Not pulling up to standing with support by 12 months
- Not walking independently by 18 months
- A strong, persistent preference for one side — consistently using one arm much more than the other, or dragging one leg — which may indicate an asymmetry in muscle tone or strength
- Strongly asymmetric crawling where one side consistently does very little of the work (over weeks, not just early in learning)
- Regression — a baby who was crawling and stops, and seems reluctant or unable to begin again
- If you have any instinctive concern about your baby's motor development, raise it with your health visitor. You know your baby — and developmental checks are exactly the right place for these questions.
Developmental timelines are general guidelines, and every baby develops at their own pace. The milestones listed above are thresholds used by healthcare professionals, not predictions about your specific baby. Most babies who seem "late" to crawl are simply at the later end of a wide normal range — but professional reassurance is always better than anxious waiting.
What Comes After Crawling — The Road to Walking
Once crawling is established, the motor development of the next few months moves fast. Here is the typical sequence from crawling to walking, though like crawling itself, the timing varies considerably between babies.
Once a baby can crawl and has the arm and leg strength developed through crawling, most begin pulling themselves up to standing using furniture, your legs, or anything within reach. This is a significant moment — the baby is bearing full weight on their legs for the first time, which begins the final phase of pre-walking development. Pulling up is typically accompanied by excited grunting, wobbling, and the occasional surprised collapse. It is also when baby-proofing for the next vertical phase becomes urgent.
Cruising is the term for moving sideways along furniture in a standing position, supported by the hands. A baby who is cruising is practising the weight-shifting, balance, and alternating leg movement that walking will require — while still keeping the safety net of a surface to hold. Cruising babies often look like they are having an excellent time at a sideways cocktail party. This phase can last days or months, depending on the individual baby's confidence and the time it takes for walking balance to develop.
Recording the Crawling Milestone — Why the Date Matters
The crawling milestone is one that parents often feel they want to capture — and should. But beyond the video and the photos, logging the date your baby first crawled has practical value: it becomes part of the motor milestone sequence that your health visitor will ask about at developmental checks in the months that follow.
At the 9-, 12-, and 18-month reviews, health visitors typically ask about the sequence of motor milestones: when did they first roll? When did they sit independently? When did they first crawl or pull up? Having these dates logged — rather than guessing from memory — means your answers are accurate, which gives the healthcare team the clearest picture of your baby's developmental trajectory.
Lunara's milestone tracker lets you log each motor milestone with the date you first observed it, across gross motor, fine motor, language, and social domains — so the full developmental record is always in one place, ready for any appointment. The app also shows the typical age range for each milestone, so you can see where your baby's timing sits in context rather than comparing against a single number.
For a full overview of motor and other milestones through the first year, see our baby milestone tracker guide.
Frequently Asked Questions — When Do Babies Start Crawling?
According to the WHO Motor Development Study, the official window of achievement for hands-and-knees crawling is 5.2 to 13.5 months, with a median age of 8.5 months. In everyday terms, most babies begin crawling between 7 and 10 months, with the full normal range spanning approximately 6 to 12 months. A significant number of babies skip crawling entirely and move straight to pulling up, cruising, and walking — this is completely normal and does not indicate a developmental problem. Every baby develops at their own pace, and crawling is one pathway to mobility, not the only one.
The most reliable sign that crawling is imminent is rocking back and forth on hands and knees — many babies do this for days or even weeks before they work out how to produce forward movement. Other signs include: scooting backwards before moving forwards; pivoting on the tummy to reach toys; pushing up onto straight arms during tummy time; and pulling knees under the body while lying on the stomach. If your baby is rocking on all fours, crawling is likely coming within days to a couple of weeks.
Several recognised crawling styles are all developmentally valid: traditional crawling (hands and knees, alternating opposite arm and leg); commando or belly crawling (dragging the body forward with arms, belly on the floor); bear crawling (on hands and feet with straight arms and legs, knees off the floor); bottom shuffling or scooting (sitting upright and propelling forward using arms and legs); and crab crawling (moving sideways or asymmetrically). Many babies use a combination of styles. The style matters less than the fact that a baby is becoming mobile and building strength and coordination through movement.
Yes — completely normal. A significant number of babies skip traditional crawling entirely and move directly from sitting to pulling up, cruising, and walking. Bottom shufflers are particularly likely to skip crawling. The research does not support the idea that skipping crawling causes later developmental issues — while crawling builds bilateral coordination, babies who skip it develop the same coordination through other movement patterns. What matters is that your baby is becoming mobile and progressing toward walking — not which movement style they use to get there.
The most effective strategy is generous, daily tummy time from early infancy — the neck, back, shoulder, and arm strength built during tummy time is the physical foundation crawling requires. Additional strategies: place toys just out of reach to motivate forward movement; get on the floor and demonstrate crawling; use a rolled towel under the tummy to help your baby experience the hands-and-knees position; ensure plenty of supervised floor time on a firm surface rather than extended time in bouncers or carriers. Avoid baby walkers — they reduce floor time and are not recommended by the NHS or AAP.
Yes — tummy time is the single most important activity for building the muscles crawling requires. Neck, back, shoulders, arms, and core all develop strength when babies are on their tummies, working against gravity. The AAP recommends tummy time from birth, starting with a few minutes several times a day and building gradually to 30+ minutes per day by 3 months. Babies who have had regular tummy time throughout their first months typically reach crawling and other gross motor milestones more easily — and enjoy floor time more, because it is familiar rather than uncomfortable.
Not necessarily. Nine months is still within the normal range for the start of crawling, and some babies don't crawl until 10–12 months. More important than crawling itself is whether your baby is developing other motor skills: can they sit independently? Do they push up on their arms during tummy time? Are they showing any interest in movement — rolling, scooting, pivoting? If your baby is developing in other areas but hasn't crawled at 9 months, mention it at your next health visitor appointment. If your baby cannot sit independently by 9 months, raise that sooner.
The motor sequence that leads to crawling includes: head control (established around 3–4 months through tummy time); rolling front to back (typically around 4 months) and back to front (typically 5–6 months); pushing up onto straight arms during tummy time (typically 4–5 months); sitting with support (typically 5–6 months); and sitting independently (typically 6–8 months). Each milestone builds the strength and coordination the next one requires. A baby who is sitting independently is typically close to the hands-and-knees position that precedes crawling.
Backwards crawling is very common and is usually one of the first independent movement patterns babies discover. When a baby pushes up on their arms and pushes back, the mechanics naturally produce backward movement — the arms are stronger than the legs at this stage, and forward propulsion requires a more coordinated weight shift. Backwards crawling is a positive sign that arm strength and the motor pattern for crawling are developing. Most babies who crawl backwards first progress to forward crawling within a few weeks as they work out how to shift weight forward and coordinate opposite arm and leg.
Most babies begin walking independently between 9 and 12 months, with the full normal range extending to 18 months. The typical progression is: pulling up to standing (around 8–10 months), cruising along furniture (around 9–12 months), and then first independent steps. Babies who skip crawling often reach these milestones at a similar age to babies who crawled. The NHS and AAP both consider walking by 18 months to be within the normal range — if a baby is not walking by 18 months, this warrants discussion with your health visitor or paediatrician.
Get down on the floor at your baby's level and look around from their perspective — you will see hazards invisible from standing height. Key steps: install stair gates at the top and bottom of every staircase; cover electrical outlets; fit safety catches on lower cabinet doors; anchor heavy furniture to walls; remove small objects (particularly button batteries) from floor level; secure trailing cords and cables; keep bathroom and kitchen doors closed or fitted with guards. Baby-proof when your baby starts rocking on hands and knees — not after their first forward crawl, because mobility happens faster than you expect.
Baby walkers — devices where the baby sits in a seat and pushes around the floor — are not recommended by the NHS or AAP. They have been associated with delays in walking and crawling because they support body weight in a way that reduces the floor-time muscle development crawling requires, and they carry significant safety risks including falls down stairs. Bouncers and swings are not harmful when used in moderation for short periods, but extended time in any supported seat reduces the floor time needed for crawling development. Prioritise unsupported floor time — particularly tummy time — over time in any device.
True crawling at 5 months is very early and uncommon — most babies do not have the muscle strength and coordination required until at least 6 months. Some babies begin showing early crawling movements (rocking on hands and knees, belly movement) at 5–6 months, particularly those with generous tummy time history and strong arm and back muscles. If your baby is making crawling-like movements at 5 months, this is a positive sign of developing motor strength. It doesn't require any intervention and is not a concern — it simply means you need to baby-proof sooner than you might have expected.
No — commando crawling (dragging the body forward on the belly using arms) is a completely valid and recognised crawling style. Many babies commando-crawl before transitioning to hands-and-knees crawling; others use the commando style throughout and transition directly to pulling up and walking. Both styles build upper body strength and are developmentally appropriate. The important question is whether your baby is mobile and becoming stronger and more coordinated over time — which commando crawling absolutely supports.
Contact your health visitor if: your baby cannot sit independently by 9 months; they are not attempting any form of independent movement by 12 months; they are not pulling up to stand with support by 12 months; they are not walking independently by 18 months; you notice a strong persistent preference for one side (one arm or leg doing significantly less work over weeks); or you have any concern about their motor development. Most babies who haven't crawled at 10 or 11 months are simply at the later end of a wide normal range — but raising concerns with your health visitor is always the right call when something feels off.
The Bottom Line on When Babies Start Crawling
The crawling milestone is one of the most exciting in the first year — and one of the most anxiety-generating, because the range of normal is so wide and the styles are so varied that it can be genuinely hard to know whether your baby is on track. The reassuring news is that the range is wide for a good reason: babies are individuals, and motor development unfolds at individual rates.
Most babies crawl between 7 and 10 months. Some start at 6 months; some at 12 months; some never crawl at all and walk instead. All of these are fine. What matters is that your baby is becoming mobile, building strength through floor time, and progressing through the sequence of motor milestones that leads to walking — not that they crawl in a particular style at a particular age.
If you are not sure whether your baby is on track, the best person to ask is your health visitor. Developmental checks exist precisely for these questions, and a professional assessment of your specific baby — looking at the whole picture, not just one milestone — is always more reassuring than anything you can find on the internet, including this article.
And when the crawling finally arrives — whether at 7 months in a classic hands-and-knees pattern or at 10 months in a determined belly-drag toward the dog's water bowl — it is worth logging the date. Not just for the memories, but because that date becomes part of the developmental story your health visitor will ask about for months to come.
Supporting Your Baby's Crawling — Checklist
- Tummy time from birth, building to 30+ min per day by 3 months
- Keep sessions short and positive — end before distress
- Get down on the floor with your baby during tummy time
- Limit time in bouncers, swings, and carriers — prioritise floor time
- Place interesting toys just out of reach to motivate forward movement
- Demonstrate crawling — babies are powerful imitators
- Use a rolled towel under the tummy to help them feel the position
- Ensure they have time on a firm, flat surface — soft surfaces make crawling harder
- Baby-proof before crawling starts — not after the first forward movement
- Install stair gates at top and bottom of all staircases
- Remove small objects from floor level; secure cabinet doors
- Log the first crawl date — your health visitor will ask
- Cannot sit independently by 9 months → mention to health visitor
- No independent movement of any kind by 12 months → raise soon
- Strong persistent asymmetry (one side doing much less work) → mention
- Not walking by 18 months → discuss with health visitor or GP
Log the crawl. See the whole picture.
Track every motor milestone — rolling, sitting, crawling, pulling up, walking — with the date you first observed it. Bring an accurate, complete record to every well-baby check. Alongside sleep, feeding, and growth in one profile. Free to start.