This is a question that comes up frequently. Depending on who you ask you will get different answers. We tend to take a middle of the road response.
We think crawling is very important. It works on things like core strength, coordination, motor planning, sensory exploration, and so much more. In addition it has been said to help with vision and reading because of the weight shifting and lateral movements and the environmental scanning.
That being said, we will never recommend stopping a child from progressing. If they have started to get to a support surface on their own and pull up, we don’t recommend stopping them from this. We don’t encourage you bringing your little one over to a support surface to pull to stand unless they can get there on their own though. If your little one is already trying to stand and walk (with the caveat that they do it on their own) then let them develop those skills. What we do recommend is that you still work on crawling. Make it a game. Have them crawl up stairs, through tunnels, across piles of cushions. Make an obstacle course that has crawling as part of it. This way they still get all the benefits of crawling even if they are skipping it in the developmental sequence!
If your little one isn’t moving to support and trying to stand up on their own, then we suggest you keep working on the developmental sequence skills. Lots of floor and tummy time for playing and encouraging rolling! The skills all build on each other so that your little one has the strength and coordination and motor planning needed to accomplish the next skill!
Check out our Developmental Milestones Round-up blog for information on other skills! We also have lots of videos on our YouTube page and highlights on our Instagram page! If your little one is really struggling with one of their skills, we have 6 week gross motor programs that can help them!