The crawling behavior of sixty 2‐day‐old newborns was studied while they were supported prone on a mini skateboard and on a pediatric mattress without additional support. Analyses of the number and types of limb movements and their characteristics, the coactivation of limb pairs, and the displacement across the surface, revealed that newborns can crawl with locomotor patterns similar to those documented during quadrupedal locomotion in animals and human adults. This was particularly apparent on the skateboard. This discovery suggests that locomotor circuitry underlying quadrupedal locomotion develops during fetal life. Drawing upon other evidence for a quadrupedal organization underlying bipedal gait, we argue that early quadrupedal training may enhance interventions designed to hasten the onset of independent walking.

This study examined the crawling characteristics of newborns placed prone on a water-filled, transparent pediatric mattress and whether exposure to terrestrial optic flows that specify forward and backward displacement would influence leg and arm crawling movements. Twenty-six 3-day-old newborns were exposed to a static checkerboard pattern that was back-projected onto the surface underneath the mattress or a checkerboard pattern that moved toward or away from them at 0.12 m/s. Significantly more flexion and extension crawling movements of the legs were observed in the optic flow conditions, although infants did not displace their bodies significantly further on the mattress in these conditions. Unique aspects of newborn crawling were also identified.