Commando Crawling and Crawling Backwards

Backwards is the normal first direction

Almost every parent who watches their baby reverse across the rug assumes something has gone wrong with the wiring. It has not. The AAP explains the mechanics: a baby getting ready to crawl "may rock on her hands and knees", and "since her arm muscles are stronger than her legs, she may even push herself backward. But with time and practice she'll discover she can propel herself forward across the room toward the target of her choice."

Pushing is easier than pulling, and at this age the pushing muscles are ahead. The frustration is usually greater for the baby than for anyone watching, because the toy they were aiming at keeps getting further away. That frustration is part of what drives the switch.

Commando crawling counts as getting around

Commando crawling — sometimes called army crawling or slithering — is dragging the body forwards on the tummy using the forearms, with the belly staying on the floor. It is not a failed version of crawling. It is one of the recognised ways babies become mobile, and national guidance names it.

The HSE's twelve-month trigger for contacting a GP or public health nurse is a baby who "has no form of independent mobility (such as crawling, commando crawling, bottom shuffle)". Commando crawling is on the inside of that list. The NHS makes the same point about the wider category on its Baby Moves page: "not all babies crawl – some shuffle around on their bottoms".

The AAP is equally direct: "A few children never crawl. Instead, they use alternative methods, such as scooting on their bottoms or slithering on their stomachs. As long as your baby is coordinating each side of her body and using each arm and leg equally, there's no cause for concern."

How common is skipping proper crawling?

There is one properly measured figure here, and it comes from the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study, which followed healthy children in five countries. Hands-and-knees crawling was the only one of its six gross motor milestones that a meaningful proportion of children never demonstrated: 4.3% of the cohort did not show hands-and-knees crawling at all. Every other milestone in that study — sitting, standing with assistance, walking with assistance, standing alone, walking alone — was reached by essentially everyone.

For the children who did crawl on hands and knees, the WHO window ran from 5.2 months at the 1st percentile to 13.5 months at the 99th, with a median of 8.3 months. That is an eight-month spread among healthy babies.

The sequence most babies follow

There is no single correct route, but a common one runs: pushing up on straight arms while on the tummy, then pivoting in a circle, then pushing backwards, then rocking on hands and knees, then one hand forward, then forwards properly. Some babies compress all of that into a fortnight. Others spend two months rocking and then stand up and cruise instead.

The HSE's own month-by-month list places "crawl on their hands and knees" at nine months as something a baby "may" do, alongside pulling to a standing position — and the NHS gives the wider window as "around 7 to 10 months".

What helps

The AAP's advice is to present "in­triguing objects just beyond her reach", and as the baby gets more agile to build "min­iature obstacle courses using pillows, boxes, and sofa cushions". Floor space and a reason to move are the whole intervention. Slippery floors are worth thinking about: bare knees on carpet grip better than a sleepsuit on laminate, and a baby who is spinning their wheels sometimes just needs traction.

The AAP is clear about what does not help. Baby walkers "do not help children learn to walk. They actually eliminate the desire to walk", and it "strongly urges parents not to use" them, citing tipping, stairs and access to hazards. A stationary activity centre without wheels is the alternative it names.

When to ask about it

Not the direction of travel, and not the style. What the guidance cares about is symmetry and overall progress.

The AAP's condition is that a baby is "coordinating each side of her body and using each arm and leg equally". NICE lists "unusual fidgety movements or other abnormalities of movement, including asymmetry or paucity of movement" among possible early motor features of cerebral palsy, together with abnormal tone — hypotonia (floppiness), spasticity (stiffness) or fluctuating tone — and recommends referring children with delayed motor milestones to a child development service for assessment. A commando crawler who drags one leg and never the other, or who only ever pulls with one arm, is worth mentioning even though the crawling style itself is fine.

The HSE's dated triggers are the ones to hold: by nine months, contact a GP or public health nurse if your baby "has not started to move around (for example bottom shuffling or crawling)", is not rolling, is not sitting independently, or cannot take weight on their legs when supported in standing. By twelve months, contact them if there is "no form of independent mobility". The NHS says the same in its own words: ask a health visitor for advice if your baby is not showing any signs of moving by twelve months.

If your baby was born early

Use corrected age. The HSE's worked example is a ten-month-old born two months early, whose corrected age is eight months and who should be measured against the eight-month list. NICE writes its motor referral thresholds "corrected for gestational age", and the AAP advises using adjusted age for development until two years, by which point most children born preterm have caught up.

And the instruction that outranks every age here: if your baby stops doing something they could already do, contact a GP, health visitor or public health nurse rather than waiting for the next scheduled review.