Crawling is an important stage of early motor development. Beyond developing muscle strength, balance and postural control, it provides valuable opportunities for bilateral coordination, motor planning, body awareness and visual-motor development.

During crawling, babies coordinate alternating movements of their arms and legs while maintaining control of their head and trunk. They also use their vision to explore their surroundings, judge distances and navigate obstacles. These experiences engage visual tracking, oculomotor control, eye-hand coordination and spatial awareness.

From a neuromotor developmental perspective, crawling provides rich sensory experiences involving proprioceptive, vestibular and tactile input. These experiences support the development of postural adjustments and coordinated movement, and may contribute to the gradual transition from early reflex-driven responses towards more mature voluntary motor control.

I still vividly remember the first time I saw my son crawl, 18 years ago. On one occasion, he lost his balance while crawling on our hard tiled floor and bumped his head. Afterwards, I noticed that he gradually became more careful and learned to adjust his movements. He did not have the same accident again.

I even took him to a baby crawling competition, and he won first place! It remains one of my most treasured memories of his early childhood.

As both a mother and a paediatric physiotherapist, I believe children benefit from opportunities to explore, experiment with movement and learn through experience. Every child develops at their own pace, and our role is to provide a safe, supportive environment where they can gradually build their movement skills, confidence and independence.

Related Media Interview: “BB多爬行 提升寫字能力” (How Crawling May Support Early Writing Skills)

爬行是嬰幼兒動作發展的重要階段，不單有助建立肌肉力量、平衡及姿勢控制，亦為雙側肢體協調、動作計劃、身體感知及視覺動作發展提供豐富的練習機會。

在爬行過程中，孩子需要協調左右手腳的交替動作，控制頭部與軀幹姿勢，並透過眼睛觀察周圍環境、判斷距離及尋找方向。這些活動涉及視覺追蹤、眼球運動控制、手眼協調及空間感知能力的發展。

從神經動作發展的角度來看，爬行亦提供豐富的感覺輸入及動作經驗，包括本體感覺、前庭感覺及觸覺刺激。這些經驗有助孩子練習姿勢調節與動作協調，並可能支持早期反射反應逐漸轉變為更成熟的自主動作控制。

我至今仍清楚記得18年前，第一次看見兒子開始爬行的情景。有一次，他在家中的硬地磚上爬行時失去平衡，頭部碰到地面。經過這次經驗，我觀察到他逐漸學會調整自己的動作，變得更加小心，之後也沒有再發生同樣的情況。

當年，我還帶他參加嬰兒爬行比賽，結果他獲得了冠軍！這段經歷至今仍是我非常珍惜的親子回憶。

作為一位媽媽，也作為一位兒童物理治療師，我相信孩子需要適當的機會去探索環境、嘗試不同動作，並從經驗中學習。每個孩子都有自己的發展步伐，而我們的角色，是提供安全、合適的環境，支持他們逐步建立動作能力、自信及獨立性。

曾接受香港傳媒訪問，分享嬰幼兒爬行與動作發展的關係，以及爬行經驗對日後動作協調和書寫相關能力的可能影響。

相關傳媒訪問： 《BB多爬行 提升寫字能力》

A note on this historical media feature

This article was published approximately 14 years ago. I would like to clarify that my recommendation is to encourage regular, age-appropriate floor time and opportunities for babies to explore movement freely, rather than requiring babies to crawl for one hour each day.

昔日媒體報道補充說明

這篇報道刊登於約14年前。關於文中提及「嬰兒每天爬行一小時」的建議，我希望作出澄清。

我一直鼓勵家長為嬰兒提供充足、安全及適合其發展階段的地面活動（floor time），讓孩子有機會自由探索不同動作，包括俯臥、翻身、伸手取物及爬行，而非要求嬰兒每天必須爬行一小時。