Encouraging babies to start crawling can be exciting at the same time scary and confusing. You want that your child’s motor skills to progress without delay. Seeing your child explore and develop their motor skills is a joyous experience for you as a parent. But most parents don’t know where to start.
Crawling is the first sight of independence that your baby exercises. It enables them to move across and discover the big world without needing support. However, all kids grow and mature at their own pace. Some other babies skip crawling altogether, while some crawl at an earlier age.
Understanding the dos and don’ts can play an important role in helping your baby crawl faster. By following a few simple guidelines, you can create a safe and supportive environment for your baby to crawl faster.
So, let’s explore the dos and don’ts to help your baby crawl faster.
Things to Do to Help Your Baby Crawl Faster
1. Give your baby tummy time from birth
Help your baby by letting them play on their bellies from the start. Tummy time helps propel them on their hands and knees, and your baby pulls themselves forward. By this, they develop the neck muscles and their upper body like shoulders, arms, trunk and back, which in turn helps them crawl.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infants under 1 year must spend at least 30 minutes a day for their tummy time. This should be done when they are alert and awake. Kids can have tummy time right from birth. But, place them on their tummy for short bursts and increase the duration as time passes. If they find lifting their head hard, place rolled-up towels or cloth under their armpits.
2. Encourage your baby to reach for toys
If your baby has a favourite toy, keep it a short distance from your baby’s reach and let them try belly crawling on their hands and knees to reach it. See if they can move themselves to the object. You can also encourage them by playing music and getting them to move to it. Some other ways to encourage your baby’s physical health are:
- Provide opportunities to grasp, pull, shake, push or squash
- Play a variety of games to help with movement
- Let them lie on their back under a mobile or jungle gym
- Take them outdoors to explore a park
- Take them swimming
- Let them explore objects around them
3. Make sure your baby has enough space to crawl and is supervised
This is the best time to baby-proof your home, e.g., a coffee table, desk, and wall sockets. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, you must use safety devices around your home to help prevent accidents when your baby’s crawling starts. Take a walk through your house, or crawl around to see any potential hazards at your baby’s level.
Also read: 10 Signs Your Toddler is Not Ready for a Bed
4. Place your hands on your child’s feet
Help steady your child by giving them something to ‘oppose off’ to learn to crawl better and quickly. Your palms are the best option to encourage the crawling of your baby.
Things to Avoid to Help your Baby Crawl Faster
1. Baby walkers
Not only are they dangerous, but they also limit the practice time on the floor, learning to crawl. Walkers might also hamper muscle development.
2. Spending too much time in carriers and baby seats
A few babies develop how to better crawl and then pull up to stand and walk. But they have plenty of time to play, move around and explore each day.
3. Push your child to crawl
Do not press a child to develop the skills. When he is ready to learn the process slowly, they will start moving on their hands and knees.
FAQs
1) What to do when your little one initiates crawling?
Explore the vital steps you can take for security:
- Cover the sharp corners with pads or guards
- Keep small objects out of the reach of your baby
- Lock your cabinets with hazardous materials
- Make sure you invest in standard-quality gates
- Keep all plugs and cords out of the reach
2) What age do most babies start walking?
Between 6-13 months, your baby will pick up to crawl. Between 9-12 months, they start pulling themselves, and between 8-18 months, Some babies may avoid crawling and they will start walking for the first time.
3) Can a 4-month-old crawl?
For most babies, the skill needed for movement development is around the midway point for the first year of their lives. You will see your baby start crawling between 6-10 months.
4) Do all babies crawl before walking?
Your little one must learn to crawl before they can learn to walk. Crawling babies are held to be a precondition to the usual evolution of other facets of neuromuscular and neurological growth, like coordination and better maturation.
Key Takeaways
Babies usually start learning to crawl at 7 to 10 months, but some can bypass the crawling stage and move straight onto walking. There are multiple ways to move around, but not all babies crawl in a typical way.
Parents can assist their babies to learn to crawl by appealing to them in multiple physical tasks to assist in improving overall coordination and reinforcing their muscle strength. To encourage your baby to start crawling. Parents can also help by demonstrating how to crawl and playing games that motivate the baby to move.
If you are worried about your baby’s growth and maturity, consult your baby’s paediatrician. A developmental delay screening can help assess your baby and find the cause of the delay. But babies crawling develops at their own pace, so give them adequate time to adjust!