Study: Winter babies are early crawlers
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 3:47 PM -
Researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel examined the motor development of babies and found that infants born during the winter crawl an average of five weeks earlier than those born during the spring and summer.
The small-scale study could shed new light on the link between birth date and human development.
Researchers examined 16 babies divided into two groups, 8 of which were born from June-November, and 8 born between December and May.
It was discovered that winter and spring babies started crawling around 30 weeks while summer babies started crawling around 35 weeks.
“We were not surprised by the result, but surprised by their magnitude,” said study author Dr. Osnat Atun-Einy via Popular Science.
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“Awareness of the seasonal effect is important so that parents will give their babies proper movement and development opportunities in the winter as well,” Dr. Atun-Einy added in a statement.
The study's authors believe that winter babies tend to crawl earlier because they have the benefit of warm weather when they're getting ready to become mobile.
Other studies have unveiled other characteristics associated with birth dates.
For example, shortsightedness has been associated with babies born in the summer, while food allergies has been linked to fall babies, according to Pop Sci.
The complete paper has been published in the journal Infant Psychology.
