When does a child start crawling, and how does that relate to belly crawling, sitting and walking?
Applies to age: 5–14 months
In short
In a WHO study, healthy children (1st–99th percentile) sat without support at 3.8–9.2 months, crawled on hands and knees at 5.2–13.5 months and walked alone at 8.2–17.6 months; in 4.3% no hands-and-knees crawling was observed. Anything that worries you about a child's development is worth discussing with a specialist.
What is normal
All claims: international norm
- The window for achieving "sitting without support" in healthy children in the WHO study (Ghana, India, Norway, Oman, USA) is 3.8–9.2 months; the limits are the 1st and 99th percentile.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
The estimated 1st and 99th percentiles in months are: 3.8, 9.2 (sitting without support), 4.8, 11.4 (standing with assistance), 5.2, 13.5 (hands-and-knees crawling), 5.9, 13.7 (walking with assistance), 6.9, 16.9 (standing alone) and 8.2, 17.6 (walking alone).
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- The window for achieving hands-and-knees crawling in healthy children in the WHO study is 5.2–13.5 months; the limits are the 1st and 99th percentile.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
The estimated 1st and 99th percentiles in months are: 3.8, 9.2 (sitting without support), 4.8, 11.4 (standing with assistance), 5.2, 13.5 (hands-and-knees crawling), 5.9, 13.7 (walking with assistance), 6.9, 16.9 (standing alone) and 8.2, 17.6 (walking alone).
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- The window for achieving walking alone in healthy children in the WHO study is 8.2–17.6 months; the limits are the 1st and 99th percentile.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
The estimated 1st and 99th percentiles in months are: 3.8, 9.2 (sitting without support), 4.8, 11.4 (standing with assistance), 5.2, 13.5 (hands-and-knees crawling), 5.9, 13.7 (walking with assistance), 6.9, 16.9 (standing alone) and 8.2, 17.6 (walking alone).
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- In the WHO study, 4.3% of children were not observed to crawl on hands and knees.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
About 90% of children achieved five of the milestones following a common sequence, and 4.3% did not exhibit hands-and-knees crawling.
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- In the WHO study, hands-and-knees crawling had no fixed place in the sequence – it appeared in between the earlier milestones (the order of the other five was fixed in about 90% of children).
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
In about 90% of the cases, the pattern observed followed a fixed sequence for five of the milestones (namely, sitting without support, standing with assistance, walking with assistance, standing alone and walking alone) with only handsand-knees crawling shifting in between the earlier milestones.
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- Instead of crawling on hands and knees, some children move in a different way, for example shuffling on their bottom or crawling on their tummy; the WHO study observed these ways of moving.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
Other studies also report that this milestone is sometimes not performed and that instead some other type of locomotion is used, such as bottom shuffle or crawling on the stomach, as was observed in the MGRS
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- When children first start walking, it is normal for them to walk with their feet apart and their arms stretched out to keep their balance.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
When children first start walking, it's normal for them to walk with their feet apart and their arms stretched out to help them balance.
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [2]
When to worry
All claims: international norm
- The WHO developmental windows are meant, among other things, to signal the need for appropriate screening when individual children appear to be late in reaching milestones.
Source: WHO – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
They are recommended for descriptive comparisons among populations, to signal the need for appropriate screening when individual children appear to be late in achieving the milestones, and to raise awareness about the importance of overall development in child health.
WHO · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-08 · license [1]
- Not sitting at 8 months or not walking at 18 months is sometimes listed among the possible signs of cerebral palsy, alongside other delays in reaching milestones. It is a possible sign, not a diagnosis.
Source: NHS – show the original wording (EN)
Summarized and translated by the editors, not an official translation. Verbatim quote from the source, in its original wording:
delays in reaching development milestones – for example, not sitting by 8 months or not walking by 18 months
NHS · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-09 · license [2]
See a doctor
- Polish care pathway: the Ministry of Health (MZ) regulation on guaranteed services in primary care (POZ) (consolidated text Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2023 item 1427, annex 1 part III, items 3 and 4) provides for a medical examination at 9 and 12 months of life that takes the pace of psychomotor development into account. These are the dates of the well-child checkups and an indication of who assesses development, not age ranges for sitting, crawling or walking.
Source: Akty prawne w Dzienniku Ustaw – show the quote
Verbatim quote from the source:
Polish original
Badanie lekarskie podmiotowe i przedmiotowe, z uwzględnieniem tempa rozwoju fizycznego (pomiary: masy i długości ciała, obwodu głowy i klatki piersiowej) i psychomotorycznego.
Akty prawne w Dzienniku Ustaw · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-09 · license [3]
- The Patient Portal (Portal Pacjenta) of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund (NFZ) describes a child's well-child checkup as an examination that makes it possible to check whether the child is developing properly and to detect developmental defects and diseases early.
Source: Portal Pacjenta – show the quote
Verbatim quote from the source:
Polish original
Pozwala sprawdzić, czy Twoje dziecko rozwija się prawidłowo oraz wcześnie wykryć wady rozwojowe i choroby
Portal Pacjenta · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-09 · license [4]
- The Patient Portal (Ministry of Health and NFZ) says that if a child develops differently from peers, it is worth consulting a specialist about whatever worries you and using the advice of a midwife, nurse or pediatrician. The source does not link this consultation to the date of the well-child checkup.
Source: Portal Pacjenta – show the quote
Verbatim quote from the source:
Polish original
Warto jednak skonsultować ze specjalistą to, co Cię zaniepokoiło i korzystać z rad położnej, pielęgniarki czy pediatry.
Portal Pacjenta · open the source · accessed: 2026-10-09 · license [4]
international norm “International norm” next to a section heading means its claims come from a non-Polish source, because no Polish source in our registry covers this topic. When this applies to only some of the claims, the foreign ones carry the same label next to their source.
Sources
- WHO (who.int)License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Source: WHO (who.int). Content summarized and translated by the editors; changed relative to the original. WHO does not endorse this site or its content.
- NHS (nhs.uk, Anglia)
- https://www.nhs.uk/baby/health/leg-and-foot-problems-in-children/
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cerebral-palsy/
License: Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: NHS (nhs.uk, Anglia). Content summarized and translated by the editors; changed relative to the original. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The summary is ours and is not attributed to the NHS. - Akty prawne w Dzienniku Ustaw (ELI: eli.gov.pl, api.sejm.gov.pl)License: Akt normatywny, art. 4 pkt 1 ustawy o prawie autorskim (nie podlega ochronie). Source: Akty prawne w Dzienniku Ustaw (ELI: eli.gov.pl, api.sejm.gov.pl).
- Portal Pacjenta (pacjent.gov.pl)
- https://pacjent.gov.pl/zapobiegaj/zaprowadz-dziecko-na-bilans-zdrowia
- https://pacjent.gov.pl/zapobiegaj/jak-dbac-o-zdrowy-rozwoj-psychiczny-dziecka
License: CC BY 3.0 PL. Source: Portal Pacjenta (pacjent.gov.pl). Content summarized and translated by the editors; changed relative to the original.