How to encourage crawling

[Nadine216]

Ds is seven months old. And he is starting to show signs of wanting to crawl ... anyway I think it's signs that he wants to crawl. He will put his head down and lift his butt off the floor and push his legs straigt.

I wanted to know if there are something to do that can help him figure out how to crawl? I've tried putting him on a pillow, but he will just tip forward and stand like that while trying to eat the pillow I'm scared to leave him like that, because he might not get enough air.

Any ideas?

TIA

[Curly]

Honestly, just tummy time on the floor, maybe carpet rather than tiles or floorboards because they can get more traction! And bare feet or grip socks (you know, the socks that have grip on the soles eg Bonds).

Don't put him on a pillow because he won't be able to move easily. My two both used to manouevre themselves around on circles on their tummy, then gradually figured out how to "commando crawl" backwards and forwards, and then started doing "proper" crawling.

Just you watch him improve over the next couple of weeks. It is so much fun to see how quickly they start getting the idea. You can't really teach him to crawl, he just needs the time on the floor to build up his strength and he needs to learn how to coordinate his little body.

He'll do it without help, don't worry. It's a very natural process.

[satya]

Lots of tummy time seemed to help my son with crawling.

When he started to look like he was getting ready I used to crawl around when he was in the room & he crawled at 6 months. Don't know if that helped or not but it was fun.

[Antheia]

I used to put DD's fav toy out infront of her (which was an empty bottle of coke lol) and i kept moving it away from her to get her to crawl to it. It worked too. She crawled at 8 months.

[Nadine216]

Eekkk on the tummy time He likes it well enough, but gets fussy real quick. But I'll get down eye-level with him and see if that works better.

Also carpetfloor ... hmmm, I have wood and tiles, and only carpet in the bedrooms. Will have a go at that too.

Just you watch him improve over the next couple of weeks

I can't wait!!

Had a dream two night back where I dreamed he was crawling in his brown sleepsuite, but really really fast and when I looked closer ..... it turned out to be a guinea pig

[~Saram~]

My son had developmental delays - which we didn't know at the time - first time mum away from family.

I literally taught him to crawl by;
crawling around with him
giving him lots of tummy time, even after he got frustrated - not leaving him to cry but allowing him to grumble while I was down with him
I would lift up his tummy and let him balance on his hands and knees, start him rocking and see how he went
once he could hold himself up on hands and knees I would put a toy in front of him and start moving his hands and knees so he got the idea that he could propel himself forwards.

We would also crawl, comando crawl/wiggle, bum shuffle around the house to show him the different ways he could move if he wanted to.

I don't know if this was the right thing to do, at the time I didn't realise that babies learnt themselves how to crawl - I assumed everyone went through the crazy antics I was performing He did learn to crawl by 11mths although he would crawl with one leg straight and one bent and went round in lots of circles

But as all the MCHN said to me - babies will crawl when they are ready - not when we are. If your bub has the will to get moving he will! Have fun chilling out on the floor and remember in a few months when he is creating chaos all through your house how badly you wanted him crawling

[Nadine216]

few months when he is creating chaos all through your house

*giggel* I KNOW!!! And he's a stick-everything-in-the-mouth'er ... so not what DD was like

I'll just let him relax on his tum more. I'm sure he'll figure it out, eventually. And I'll let dd do the crawling around him Spare my knees

[Visitor8]

Tummy time helped here too, Ash slept on his tummy which I think is why he crawled at 5 months. My oldest didn't crawl till he was 11.5 months, so no rush yet