Babies Born in Winter Start Crawling Earlier, Study

The season of birth significantly influences a baby's motor development, states a new study.

The latest study led by researchers at the University of Haifa found that babies born in winter start crawling earlier as compared to the ones born in summer. The finding is based on the evaluation of 47 healthy babies with typical development patterns who were divided into two groups. The first group had 16 babies who were born from June to November - the Summer-fall babies. The second group consisted of 31 babies who were born from December-May - the Winter-Spring babies.

The researchers focused at the motor developments of the babies at home when they were seven months old. The follow-up was done when they began crawling. The researchers asked the parents to monitor and record the stages in the development of the baby before and between the observations.

"The season influences the babies' experiences in a number of ways, including layers of clothing that are worn; the opportunities babies are given to spend on the floor on their stomachs, and the hours of activity and daylight. Awareness of the seasonal effect is important so that parents will give their babies proper movement and development opportunities in the winter as well," the researchers said.

The development of the babies was tracked using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS).  The scale has four positions mainly Prone (on the stomach), Supine (on the back), sitting and standing. It was at 31 weeks, the average age at which the babies began crawling.

But the winter-spring babies began crawling at an average 30 weeks when compared to the summer-fall babies, who began crawling at an average of 35 weeks. However, no difference was noticed in the initial style of crawling nor any difference was seen between boys and girls.

The AIMS score was higher for the babies born in winter including higher score for movement in prone position. However, there was no difference in the scores for supine position, sitting or standing between the two groups.

"The difference in crawling onset of four weeks constitutes 14 percent of a seven-month-old's life and is significant," the researchers note.