Infant Crawling Variation Related to Subsequent Development

Crawling is considered an important motor skill for infants. Although infants show variations in their crawling, the association between crawling variations and subsequent development is unexplored. This study investigates the difference in amount of crawling variation between infants with and without subsequent developmental delays. This longitudinal study evaluated crawling variations using crawling movement codes for infants with no noted structural anomaly in their central nervous system. Their developmental level was evaluated with the DENVER II (Japanese version) after age 2 years, and the cumulative numbers of crawling variations (CNCVs) between groups with and without suspected developmental delays were compared. Those infants with suspected developmental delays had significantly lower CNCV than their counterparts. Furthermore, the former were commonly suspected to have a delay in the DENVER II subdomain of fine motor/adaptive and language skills. Infants who experience fewer crawling variations may be at risk for subsequent developmental delays, especially in fine motor and language skills.