Crawling Reflex 0-4 mos

Crawling is considered the first form of independent movement. It helps develop and enhance our
vestibular/balance system, sensory system, cognition, problem solving skills, and coordination. 

when newborn babies are placed on their mother's stomachs, they are able to crawl up to their mother's
breast and start suckling.

Bauer Crawling Reflex

The Bauer crawling reflex appears around twenty-eight weeks in utero. This infant reflex disappears
when the baby is around six weeks old, but reappears when the child is learning to crawl. You can
elicit the Bauer response by applying pressure to the soles of a newborn’s feet when the infant is
lying face-down. When you apply pressure to the baby’s feet, the infant will make crawling
movements. The Bauer crawling reflex assists in delivery when the baby is moving through the birth
canal. Later in life, it aids the child in milestones such as crawling, and eventually, walking.

Dangers:
Retained Bauer Crawling Reflex

If this reflex plays such an important role in your child’s developmental milestones, what happens
when a child “holds on” to the Bauer crawling reflex when it’s no longer needed? What does this
look like as far as behavior and development? Because the Bauer reflex works so closely with the
movement aspect of crawling, if it is retained, and the infant skips the crawling stage, it prevents the
integration of other developmental milestones and reflexes (for example, the symmetrical tonic neck
reflex (STNR)).

The STNR is another important primitive reflex that assists the baby in the crawling and creeping
stage and can directly affect your child’s posture and core muscle in the classroom if it is retained.

If the Bauer reflex is retained, it could also prevent important neurological connections from being
formed, which could affect your child’s motor coordination. (Symphony of Reflexes)

Other signs of a retained Bauer crawling reflex include the following:

-Delays in movement control
-Issues with coordination
-Delays in emotion growth
-Lag in cognitive developmental stages
-Frustration, sensory challenges and hyperactivity in the child

TUMMY TIME

Tummy Time is one of baby’s first exercises—and the most important!

To help your baby succeed at crawling start with exposing them to tummy time while playing
and awake at an early age.
Spending time on their tummies is a good way for babies to develop all of their muscles. If
your baby is placed on their stomach, they will pull their legs under their body and kick them
out in a crawling motion.

Your child will benefit in many ways if you help him spend time on his tummy. A baby who
spends more time playing on his tummy will roll, crawl, pull to stand, and walk earlier than
babies who don’t.

Dangers if it is not done:

-could develop either plagiocephaly or torticollis. Plagiocephaly is a flattening of the back of

the head. Torticollis is a tilting of the head to one side

References: https://ilslearningcorner.com/2016-07-bauer-crawling-reflex-delays-in-learning-and-
motor-development-if-your-child-skips-the-crawling-stage/

https://pathways.org/topics-of-development/tummy-time/