Crawling, Reflexes & Language: The Unexpected Connection in Early Childhood

When most parents think of speech delays, they instinctively turn to language-focused solutions: speech therapy, flashcards, or more verbal interaction. While those tools can be helpful, they often miss something critical happening below the surface—in the brainstem, body, and movement systems that set the stage for speech in the first place.

Surprisingly, some of the most important foundations for language are laid before a child ever says a word—and one of the biggest predictors of future speech success is something simple but often overlooked:

Crawling.

Crawling Is More Than Mobility—It’s Brain Wiring in Action

Crawling isn’t just how babies get from point A to point B. It’s a neurological workout that integrates reflexes, develops coordination, and builds the bridge between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Here’s what happens when a baby crawls:

• Cross-lateral movement (right arm/left leg, then left arm/right leg) strengthens communication between hemispheres via the corpus callosum.

• Vestibular stimulation from head movement improves balance, spatial awareness, and sensory processing.

• Visual tracking and convergence are activated as babies look ahead, back down, and around.

• Reflex integration occurs naturally—especially for the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR), which needs to fade for coordinated use of both hands, eyes, and ears.

When crawling is skipped or rushed—like when babies go straight to standing or walking—the brain can miss this critical wiring phase. And that delay doesn’t just show up in movement.

It can show up in speech.

The Missing Link: Reflexes and Speech Development

Retained primitive reflexes, especially those related to posture and head movement, can directly affect a child’s ability to form words.

For example:

• A retained ATNR can prevent proper midline control, making it harder for a child to track with their eyes or coordinate both sides of the mouth.

• A retained Moro (startle) reflex keeps the nervous system in a state of fight-or-flight, which can impair focus, listening, and verbal engagement.

• A retained Tonic Labyrinthine Reflex (TLR) can lead to low muscle tone and poor postural control, which affects breath support for speech.

These reflexes should naturally integrate through movement—especially crawling—but if they don’t, the brain stays stuck in earlier developmental patterns.

And that’s where language delay becomes more than just a speech issue.

It becomes a whole-brain coordination issue.

Speech Is a Motor Act Before It’s a Verbal One

Speech is often thought of as a cognitive or linguistic skill. But fundamentally, speech is motor.

It requires:

• Coordination of the tongue, lips, jaw, and diaphragm

• Proper breath control

• Timing between hearing, processing, and responding

When the motor system is disorganized—due to reflexes, skipped milestones, or poor sensory integration—speech suffers.

Children may:

• Babble less

• Struggle with articulation

• Avoid social communication

• Speak later than peers

These aren’t just signs of a “late talker”—they’re signs of a brain that may be underwired in its motor foundation.

What Can Parents Do?

If your child skipped crawling, has speech delays, or struggles with coordination, don’t panic—but don’t wait, either.

Here are proactive steps you can take:

1. Revisit Crawling—Even Later in Development

Encourage bear walks, tunnel crawls, or obstacle courses that mimic cross-lateral crawling, even for older toddlers and preschoolers.

2. Check for Retained Reflexes

Simple assessments (guided by trained providers) can identify if reflexes like ATNR, Moro, or TLR are still active. Reflex integration exercises can be done at home with consistency.

3. Support the Vestibular and Visual Systems

Activities like spinning, rolling, swinging, and tracking moving objects help stimulate areas of the brain tied to speech and processing.

4.Consider Brain-Based Therapy

Interventions that target the brain-body connection—like laser therapy, neuro-motor training, and primitive reflex work—can create the neurological conditions needed for language to emerge.

Final Thoughts

If your child struggles with speech, don’t just look to the mouth—look to the movement.

The ability to speak with clarity, confidence, and connection is built on a foundation of reflex integration, sensory processing, and motor coordination.

And it all starts—with something as simple as crawling.