My son is 9 months old (will be 10 months old on the 11th) and still isn't crawling. What can I do to encourage him to start crawling. Every time I put him on his belly he just lays down and goes to sleep or after about 30 minutes on his belly he will just start crying. Why can I do to help him along?

My little cousin was really slow to start crawling, and later to start walking. I don't know exactly why but I remember her parents taking to the dr and eventually to some sort of physical therapy. After she started the physical therapy, we all saw a huge improvement. Maybe it's time to call the dr.

Some children never start crawling, they just get up and walk one day, is your baby doing the other things a 9 month old does, like sitting up, trying to pull himself up on the furniture, rolling over from his back to his front, taking notice of what's going on around him, moving across the floor in other ways, if so then I would just leave him to do things at his own pace not all babies develop at same rate, he could just be one of those Babies that doesn't bother with crawling, or he may not be ready, don't worry unless he isn't doing other things as mentioned in this reply.

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He goes backwards instead of forwards. He kind of tries to pull himself up but other than those two things he does it all. He is a big boy too. He's 21lbs. I don't think the weight has anything to do with it though. I am starting to think he's just too smart because he knows if he cries long enough (30 minutes or so) someone will go and pick him up

Having read your reply I would say that his weight just might have something to do with it, 21lbs is rather heavy for a 9/10month old, and this could be what's stopping him.

I would think though he will crawl soon, moving backwards is what many babies do, until they get the hang of moving forward, also many babies get on their hands and knees and rock back and forth throwing themselves forward, not all babies crawl in the way we perceive to be crawling, many scoot around on their behinds, or roll around the room.

You could try getting down on the floor with him and crawling around Babies do mimic their parents.

Also I do feel I need to say allowing your child to cry for 30 minutes does seem rather a long time, let them cry for say 5 minutes max is what I would suggest, crying for 30 minutes to a baby of 9/10 months would seem like forever, and this could end up leaving him with rejection issues later in life, also his self esteem could possibly be impaired too.

I would ask at the local Baby Clinic you go to about this, however Im sure you're worry over nothing, and that youir baby is just taking his time.

I wouldn't let him cry for so long though.

I don't let him cry the whole time. He lays down and falls asleep too. It just depends. No I couldn't handle my baby crying that long.
I don't know if the weight is that big of a factor. He is in the 95th percentile for his height. He is one tall baby.
Im not too worried about it yet. My daughter was the same way but it was walking for her. She didn't walk till she was 18 months old.