Little guy has enjoyed being mobile for quite some time- he started crawling just after he turned six months, and started walking with assistance just a month later.
As soon as he could walk with assistance, he learned to pull himself up on ... everything ... and cruise to get where he wanted. So crawling wasn't happening exclusively, and when it was happening, his crawl was more of an army crawl- he never got up on his hands and knees, instead he used his upper body strength to pull himself forward and drag his legs behind him. It was cute for a while- still is, kind of- but after months of army crawling, I was a bit curious about his lack of hands and knees crawling. I'd read (and was told) that real crawling was an important milestone for neurological development- something about the left and right side of the body working together to help the left and right brain learn to work together.
Let me pause this story for a moment and make note that this was never a source of actual *worry* for me. I really believe kids develop on their own timeline, and there's no need to freak out if they aren't doing what everyone else says they should be doing. From the beginning I've let Harrison just do his thing, and I want Jeremy and I to continue to parent that way. There's no need to force things on our children.
But even with a lack of worry, there was still a curiosity. And when Harrison took his first unassisted steps just before his 10 month birthday (why so early little guy?! Mama gets no breaks!), I reached out to our chiropractor for her insight.
Harrison was adjusted at just a few days old, and once or twice after that as well. We are looking forward to more regular visits once we have two full-time incomes again. I truly believe regular chiropractic care is the basis for a healthy body. And we are so lucky to have the most loving, compassionate, and knowledgeable chiropractor just a mile from our apartment.
So when I reached out to Dr. Maura about Harrison's not-crawling, I fully trusted her judgement when she told me to bring him in. She spent a half hour working on him and talking with Jeremy and me about what we could be doing to encourage Harrison to meet the crawling milestone.
And would you guess what he started doing the very next day? No lie, he got up on his hands and knees and started crawling. He would do it in spurts- crawl for a few feet and then want to move faster so he'd go back to army crawling (after months of army crawling he'd gotten so very fast!) Over the course of the next week, he stopped trying to walk as much, and started crawling more and more and more. It's almost like his adjustment re-set something in his mind and he took a purposeful break from his independent steps to practice crawling.
It's been almost a month since his adjustment, and I can't remember the last time I saw him army crawl. He has become so adept and real crawling, and it's his favorite thing to do when we're in a big grassy field at the park.
Who's to say if he would have taken a few week's pause from learning to walk if he didn't start working on his crawling, but I am glad he took the opportunity to slow down and work on some building blocks- and especially glad that none of it was forced. A gentle chiropractic/cranial sacral adjustment was all that it took to help his body come back to that movement and rework it so that he hit an important milestone.
These days he's crawling everywhere, and we are juuuust on the cusp of him starting to walk everywhere. I am so filled with pride as I watch him figure out how to get around and explore his world, and I am incredibly grateful for all of the other people in his life who also care about him and his well being.
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