Season of birth, crawling onset, and motor development in 7-month-old infants

Abstract

Objective: To examine seasonal effect on motor development; in particular, the onset of crawling. Background: The acquisition of motor milestones demonstrates considerable age variation. Previous studies that examined the effect of season on motor development present inconsistent findings; geographical zone and climatic factors were among the identified factors. The present study was conducted in a Mediterranean climate. Method: Forty-seven full-term infants (25 boys and 22 girls), aged 7 months, were observed while playing in the home context, and the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) was administered. Results: Infants who were born during the winter–spring (W) months started to crawl about 4 weeks earlier compared to infants born during the summer–autumn (S) months (t = 3.13, p = 0.003). Similarly, the AIMS total scores (t = 2.03, p = 0.05) and prone subscale (t = 2.19, p = 0.04) were significantly higher in W as compared to S born infants. Conclusion: The findings point to the involvement of season in the motor achievements of infants and suggest that aspects of the physical environment shape the experiences that contribute to developmental progress.

Keywords:

• motor development
• crawling onset
• seasonal variation
• Mediterranean climate

Acknowledgements

The project was funded by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation (# 228/07) to Anat Scher; the support of the Israel Foundation Trustees to Dina Cohen's doctoral thesis is gratefully acknowledged. We gratefully acknowledge Mary Swenson for assistance with editing.