Psychomotor development is the acquisition of all kinds of skills during childhood. The skills are usually the same for all babies, but not the speed at which they are acquired. The latter is variable depending on multiple factors that go from genetics to the family environment. 

The contralateral stage is the third stage of psychomotor development and is between 8 and 12 months old. It is at this stage, usually during the ninth month after birth that babies usually start crawling. 

Experts say that an eight-month-old baby is usually able to sit up without help or support and roll over. From then on, they begin to hold on to their hands and knees, which leads many of them to crawl. 

The next step is to start standing up and even moving around holding on to their parents’ hands or the furniture in the house. 

The importance of crawling in the baby’s psychomotor development

A lot of information has been written about the importance of crawling in the psychomotor development of an infant. For example, the Director of the Kineos Centre, Albert Rosa, stated in an article that it could help to gain balance, neurological development, brain coordination between hand and eye and even to develop certain physical skills. 

It is generally accepted that crawling helps develop coordination between both parts of the body, facilitating flexibility and rotations in the baby. 

What do I do if my baby does not crawl?

Crawling is not essential. It is not an obligatory phase in the development of a baby, in fact, there are many people without any kind of pathology who have not crawled in their lives. 

The Haizea-Llevant chart, which serves as a guide for early detection of possible delays in children’s psychomotor development, it does not include crawling, but it includes other milestones at that age that are considered more important and common such as sitting alone or standing with support. 

So our advice is not to worry if your child doesn’t start crawling. It’s perfectly possible that they do not go through this phase, and their development naturally goes in a normal direction