One twin ahead in crawling, pulling up

My 10.5 month old (9.5 month adjusted age) DS has begun to crawl, creep and pull himself up on things. My DD by nature is verrrrrrrrrrrrry laid back, but I am worried that she shows NO interest in crawling yet, but does fairly well standing assisted. She has always hated being on her stomach, and I cannot for the life of me get her on all fours with any bit of interest. Canada doesn't really use "early intervention" programs to the best of my knowledge, and our pediatrician tells me not to worry, but as time goes by, I can't help but be concerned. People always tell me "she'll just walk" when in fact I've read that it is a small percentage of babies that walk w/o crawling first.

Has anyone else encountered this w/ their twins? At what point do I ask for a second opinion?


Many thanks in advance,

Prairiegirl

 

I always had one that was way ahead of the other with things like that. If you are concerned talk to another ped just to put your mind at ease. It was my more laid back one also that took a lot longer to roll over, crawl, but now he is the first to walk, go figure

 

Similar here. DD started crawling/pulling herself up almost 2 weeks ago (rocked on hands and knees for a month before) and DS just now got on his hands and knees but doesnt' seem all too interested. He actually gets on all fours and then stands on his feet (while hands are still on the ground) he does try to pull himself up but doesn't have the power to do it that seems to come from crawling.

I would wait, some babies just take a while longer but there is nothing developmentally wrong with them. Talk to your pedi again and see what he says.

GL, HTH

 

Same thing going on at our house. Aiden is stubborn & strong willed and has FINALLY figured out how to crawl, pull up, & get around. He's JUST starting, so not very proficient yet, but is getting there. Conner is SOOO easy going & laid back that he just doesn't seem to care much if Aiden crawls away or if the toy he wants is out of reach. He's never ONCE gotten up on all 4s (and won't stay there if we put him there), but is at least starting to show SOME interest in wanting to become a bit more mobile. I was concerned & mentioned it to our Ped...who, like most others...told me not to worry. He said if Conner wasn't a twin & I was just taking Conner in for a check up, no Ped would be too concerned. I'm just worried about it because I have Aiden there to compare him to. That being said, Aiden has done ALL the gross motor milestones first.

The joys of twins & CONSTANT comparison !!!

 

It definitely is frustrating. :hug99: My girls were delayed also. They were crawling at 10.5 months and not walking until 13.5.

IMO, in most cases, the pedi knows best. It's hard to accept it, trust me, I've been there, but give it a little time. And...let us know as soon as it happens!!

 

One of mine crawled months before the other, but the other walked first. It's the same sort of differences one might see between any two siblings, but it's more noticeable when they're exactly the same age. One of my singletons walked at 10 months, the other at 12. No one thought a thing about that because of course they are different people. I really wouldn't worry about the differences between them too much.

Mine were not preemies, so I can't speak to worries about developmental delays. I'm just talking about twins not doing things at the same time. People don't remember so exactly with singletons, so they don't get that direct comparison.

 

We've got the same situation at our house. My DS has been crawling for several months now - he is pulling up on everything - first to his knees and now to a stand. He isn't really cruising yet, but I think that is coming soon - he cruised from the diaper pail (yuck - his favorite thing in the nursery) to the changing table last night. He is mimicing a lot - he can wave and clap.

My DD, on the other hand, has been doing nothing but sitting in one spot for a long time. She is very flexible and can reach for things with deep stretches, so she hasn't felt the need to move. She never really rolled over either. Then, a few weeks ago I would find her on her sleeping on her tummy, so she obviously was rolling over in her crib. Last week, she just flopped over on her belly from a sit and started crawling. She's still not great at it, but she's got the moves. I was so worried and now she'll be chasing her brother in another week or so! She isn't as good as mimicing as her brother, but she will surprise me a with a wave now and then. She also has her silly moves, which involve head shaking and waving her arms around.

They are so different - like siblings that just happened to be born at the same time! It is so hard not to compare and be patient.

Oh, and my kids were born at 31 weeks, so I guess there adjusted age is more like 10 months.

Jess

 

my ds crawled a full 1.5 months before dd. She will catch up!

 

My twins are very simliar to yours. One is more laid back, but seems to be at least a month or two behind her sister in reaching milestones. They were not preemie, but that one seems to act like it sometimes - she's very little still.

I'm trying not to worry, but it's hard to NOT compare them. I think the pedi will let you know when to worry.

 

They don't count crawling as a developmental milestone because it is so varied when they do it and some kids never do it and go straight to walking (as you stated). If they are meeting their other developmental milestones, I wouldn't worry about it.
A fellow canuck

 

Hi! My boys were born four days after yours and we are in the exact same situation. Caleb is like your daughter. He's been working with ECI but to be honest, I think it's just something he's going to have to get on his own. He's SO stubborn! This last session, the PT decided that he has some issues with texture/weight bearing. It took him forever to start putting weight on his feet and even now he doesn't want to put his toes down. She keeps trying to make me make him do "baby push-ups" to get him used to weight in his hands but he screams the entire time and it just breaks my heart. Today when we tried them, he gave up and just bonked his head on our wooden floors and got even more upset. I can't get him on his knees to save my life either, but we're trying. I agree with not wanting them to skip over walking. The PT says that the physical and cognitive acts involved in crawling are necessary before walking. My only advice is to just try not to worry-that's all I can do. Good luck!

 

Talk about ironic...I could have written your post today word for word - as I just got off the phone about an hour ago w/ the pedi's office. The exact same thing is going on here...Ava has been crawling for over a month, is pulling herself up on everything, etc. Max, however, just within the past week has barely started to drag himself around on his behind (think about that disgusting commercial where the kid points at the dog and says 'Mom look at Barney's new trick' and she screams in disgust, lol). At their 9-month checkup, the doctor wanted me to call him in a few weeks and let him know how he was doing. So I did - and now they are wanting to refer him to a physical therapist to ascertain why he won't get on his knees. He does try to pull himself up, but with his arms/upper body, not his legs. He stands and walk around perfectly fine with assistance and tears around in his walker like the Tasmanian devil - but if I try and put him on his stomach and put him on his knees he gets super p.o.'d., goes flat and screams in to the carpet.

Anyhoo, I know they are the experts...but sometimes I think they tend to overreact. I'm just hoping he'll figure things out on his own at his own pace. *sigh*

 

My "oldest" of the twins,Paxton, is crawling.... well inching as we call it... he goes any where he wants to on his belly, but instead of using his hands and knees, he uses his head and feet...lol its hilarious, and is like lightning, he looks like an inch worm ...lol but Parker on the hand hates to be on his belly... he also had surgery on his belly at 4wks. old..so he may be sensitive.. but he loves to stand.. and hang on to stuff and stand.. but he's not quiet pulling up yet... and their only 5 1/2 mos. old... **sigh**