Intro and Question

Hi everyone in the second year forum. Our Boy/Girl twins will be one on Friday! Can't believe this year has flown by like it has.

We are having a major overreaction right now to some comments made by several friends and family members about our DS. We have been silently worrying too, but now that the issue has been voiced, we can't stop thinking about it.

He has never crawled "normally." We joked that he was just "doing his own thing." We call it the Slap-Drag. He tucks his left foot under him and drags his right behind him. Then he throws both hands out in front of him, slaps the floor and drags he rest of his body up to his hands. He has done this for about three months now, and is very quick. However, he is not pulling up or actually using his feet very much, if at all.

We always thought he would walk first because he was constantly kicking his feet and he loved the jumperoo (he would stay in there for hours if we let him, but he only got a few minutes at a time). Now he just seems to be stuck. His sister is cruising and walking with minimal assistance (push toys and just using one of our hands). I know we shouldn't compare. We have tried not to, but now other people are starting to voice their concerns to us, and we don't know what to say.

Does anyone have any experience similar to ours? I'd like to post a video, but I'm not sure how to link it? Can anyone help with that? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

:hug: As a fellow worrier I understand your anxiety. Based on your description it is really hard to say if he is just getting ready to crawl or needs some extra help. I would recommend having an evaluation for physical therapy. It can really help a lot. My boys got it from 4 months up until recently and I attribute them for helping my boys to reach the milestones. If he does need physical therapy it does not mean anything is wrong, just he may need a little guidance in motor planning. Most likely it is nothing...but I would get the help if he qualifies.

 

hopefully its nothing, but definitely let your pedi see him in action at your 1yr visit.

ours seemed to do a funny thing with one leg, but otherwise they did crawl normally... and then they went to walking fine. again, hopefully its nothing, but I would definitely ask about it.

 

I don't think it would hurt to mention it to your pedi if this continues. My DS, before he started crawling, would only move around using his arms and not the legs. My DS did start crawling around 10 1/2 months but I also had a PT evaluation for him and it turned out he did not need it. Keep us posted on how he is doing!

 

My boys are 27 months and my one son did something similar. Here are some pictures I found:

Josh 1

Josh 2

At 10 months he could not roll from his back to his stomach. Their pedi recommended getting an eval through EI. I did and he did qualify, but just barely. There needs to be at least a 30% delay and he was 31%. He got PT one hour every other week for a year.

He crawled for the first time on his 1st birthday. He walked before his brother at 14 1/2 months and now he runs so fast it's hard to catch him.

If you are concerned, request an EI evaluation. It does not cost anything and it will give you peace of mind.

 

My daughter commando crawled and then at 8 months learned to fully crawl. I've had some various issues with my other twin daughter and wow within 6 months we have worked out most of the issues. I'm so glad I pursued it and I met with many people and found out answers. I presently know a couple of moms who have stuck their head in the sand and not want to deal with their kids issues and I wonder when they will ever get addressed. While it is hard to hear comments from loved ones, it can be hard to say something to someone about their child -- so I think it was good they mentioned it to you. I strongly recommend a Pedi appointment -- even just to put your mind at ease. Plus I really found pediatric physical therapists to be soooooo helpful too. I'm so glad with the results of my daughter.

Heather

 

Both of my boys had torticollis (a tightening of the neck on one side) but one had it much worse than the other. He did a very similar sort of half-army crawl. He needed physical therapy and a lot of stretching and home exercises to get to his normal crawl he does now. Even if your LO doesn't crawl that way because of some imbalance in muscles, it seems to me like that sort of crawling could _lead_ to imbalance. I'd definitely speak to your Pedi about it.

 

Thanks for your responses. I am def. going to show the video of his crawling to his Pedi, so he gets a good idea of what he does at home. To add to what I said before, he sits upright and scoots using his hands to pull him. He keeps his legs tuck underneath. When we do work with him, or he happens to get stuck in the "normal" crawling position he freaks out.

Has anyone had any experience with Hypertonia? I suspect he might have tight muscles. When we try to have him practice pulling up or set him in a standing position he automatically starts jumping. When he does stand, he only uses his tip-toes. There are other issues too, that lead us in this direction. I plan to mention this to his Pedi too.

Can I insist on a EI or PT evaluation or is it strictly up to my Dr? I admit that I have little faith in Dr's these days, so I am overly worried at this point, that I may be his only advocate.

 

First, as far as development goes, crawling is NOT a developmental milestone. Since babies started being put on their back to sleep, more babies choose alternate ways of moving around or skip crawling altogether. The fact that he is moving around is appropriate. I do know 2 kids who skipped crawling entirely, 1 who did an ‘army crawl’, and 1 who rolled. Scooting around on the rear isn’t uncommon, either.

That said, I think it is good that you are checking with their pediatrician and pushing for assessment because the lopsidedness of what he is doing, and the fact that he doesn’t pull up often might indicate something going on with his muscles, as you are concerned about. I would push and follow this up as you intend to do.