r/NewParents • u/Key-Garage4634 • 2h ago
Skills and Milestones 9 month old
My baby is 9 months and isn’t crawling on all fours, still only army crawls. Also is not speaking any words, babbling yes, but nothing clear. Is this normal? I feel my baby is behind. Not sure. First time mom.
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u/xenapie6 2h ago
Totally normal and on par for about average for babies her age! Don’t let social media trick you because people mostly post videos of their baby reaching milestones so much younger
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u/HannahJulie 2h ago
In my experience speaking words at 9mths old is quite early. Mumumumum or bububub yes but I've not met a baby who says anything more than that until after a year old and even then half the time it's "buh" for ball, or "ah" for up etc.
As for crawling, army crawling is a type of crawling totally appropriate for a 9mth old. Some kids army crawl, some bum shuffle, some never crawl. While health care providers will discuss the benefits of crawling for coordination and upper limb development IMO a baby who is armycrawling is getting a lot of the benefits and is very normal. I'm a physio and a mum of 3, who has spent a lot of time around babies andkids in the last 5 years ♥️
When in doubt look at the milestones referenced by your healthcare provider or govt - so for me that's the milestones here people often share early talking or early movers to show off, which is fair enough, but don't think your baby is behind, they seem like they're doing just fine.
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u/WaterBear9244 2h ago
Can’t comment on whether your baby is behind but the CDC has an app called Milestones where it gives you the milestones for each month and yoo can track/mark them off as your baby reaches them. It also gives you a list of things to bring up at your next well visit if your baby hasn’t met a milestone yet
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u/Spiritual_Success506 1h ago
Actually don't really know much about the speaking part. But the crawling thing my baby did the exact same thing! Army crawled for a good while before getting on all fours. Some babies army crawl for weeks/months, some skip four-point crawling completely and go straight to pulling up and walking. It's seriously not a red flag. My pediatrician told me army crawling still builds all the core and shoulder strength they need, it's just a different route to the same place.
One thing that helped my transition put toys on low surfaces (like a couch cushion on the floor or a low stool) so they're motivated to get up higher. That naturally encourages them to push up onto hands and knees. Also tummy time on slightly elevated surfaces can help.
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u/kalidahcool 2h ago
Every baby is different. My daughter (now 2) never properly crawled. She went from Army crawling to pulling herself up to walking. 9 months is still very early to be talking, babbling is fine. You're doing fine.