Your Baby is Learning to Crawl!
Crawling will be your baby's first way of getting around alone efficiently. A typical crawl usually consists of your baby leaning forward and balancing his or her body on his or her hands and knees. Your baby will typically figure out how to move forward and backward by pushing off of his or her knees. Crawling can help your baby build up enough muscles to be able to walk later on in his or her life.
When Your Baby Learns How to Crawl
Your baby should be learning how to crawl when he or she is between six months old and ten months old. Even if your baby is not crawling between six and ten months old, he or she may find other ways to move around. For example, your baby may choose to scoot around on his or her bottom by using his or her hands and feet.
Your baby may also choose to move around on his or her stomach. He or she may also choose to roll across the room in order to get where he or she wants to be. Some children skip the crawling phase altogether and go straight to walking. If your child is not crawling but still moving around you should not have anything to worry about.
How to Help Your Baby Crawl
You can encourage crawling by allowing your baby to spend time on his or her stomach. Make sure your child is in a safe and open area during this time. You can also encourage your baby to crawl by placing their toys out of his or her reach. This will encourage your baby to move in order to get what is wanted. While you are helping your son or daughter learn how to crawl, remember to keep them safe. You can do this by dressing your baby in long pants. You can also protect your baby by removing any choking hazards or anything that is breakable.
How Your Baby Learns to Crawl
Your baby will begin to crawl when he or she is old enough to sit upright without any support. Your baby will eventually go from being in a sitting position to being on all fours. Your baby may also start rocking back and forth while in this position. By the time your baby is between nine months old and ten months old, your child will begin to push off with his or her knees. This will be the start of crawling. Soon your child will learn to go back to a sitting position after crawling.
Keeping Your Baby Safe
When your baby begins to crawl, you will need to childproof your home. Your baby will have a habit of pulling his or herself up into a standing position. This means that he or she may be knocking a lot of things over. It is important for you to make sure your baby does not pull on dangerous items. For example, keep all electrical cords out of your child's reach. If you don't do this, he or she may pull at a cord and pull lamps, clocks, or other large objects down, and this can be very dangerous.
You should also make sure that you do not leave anything on the floor. If it's not safe for your baby, it should not be left on the floor. If you have stairs, another good idea is to make sure that you keep safety gates on the top and bottom of the staircase. You need to make sure that you child does not go upstairs alone or downstairs alone. When you purchase a safety gate for the top of your stairs, make sure that it can be bolted into your wall. Otherwise, your child could easily push over the gate and fall down the stairs.
