Why Crawling is Important for Your Baby

First published November 2016
Updated August 2025

Crawling is more than just a milestone – it is an important part of your baby’s development that supports everything from coordination and balance to strength and sensory processing. While every child develops at their own pace, most babies begin crawling between six and ten months.

Benefits of Crawling

Crawling is your baby’s first form of independent movement, laying the groundwork for many essential developmental skills while offering them the freedom to explore their environment and build confidence in their growing physical abilities.

Upper body strength and stability

Crawling is the first and longest period of time that your baby will be putting weight through their hands to develop strength and stability at their shoulders. This is important because it allows them to have control of their hands for other skills such as:

• Feeding themselves
• Coloring and drawing
• Playing with toys
• Writing
• Getting dressed

Sensory development and body awareness

Crawling exposes your baby to a variety of surfaces – like carpet, hardwood, grass and more – helping them process different textures. It also teaches them where their body is in space, building awareness that helps with movement, safety and confidence.

Visual and cognitive skills

The back-and-forth head movement involved in crawling helps train the eyes for tracking and depth perception. Crawling also encourages early problem-solving as babies navigate obstacles and explore their surroundings.

Encouraging Crawling at Home

To help your baby succeed at crawling start with exposing them to tummy time while playing and awake at an early age. Remember to always place your baby on their back while sleeping.

If your baby enjoys tummy time continue to expose them through play to build up their tolerance and skill set. If your baby does not like his or her tummy, try making it more comfortable:

• Place a rolled towel under their chest and arms for extra support.
• Lie back and place your baby on your chest to make tummy time more engaging and less challenging.
• Keep sessions short and playful, gradually increasing time as they get more comfortable.

It is okay to use positioning devices at various times throughout the day, but the best place to develop strength and mobility is while playing on the floor. This will provide exposure for the progression of their gross motor skills from rolling, to crawling and walking and it sets the foundation for fine motor skills and develops good core strength for speech.