When does a baby start crawling?

When does a baby start crawling?

When starting a conversation about crawling, the first thing you need to do is set a deadline. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), a baby can start crawling between 5 and 9 months. If a child crawls later, then up to 13 months this is not considered a developmental delay. At first, sometimes after 4 months, the child crawls on his stomach, after 6 months he begins to move on all fours. If a child crawls early, this indicates his good physical development. The main thing is not to miss this important stage in the formation of a child.

Table of the development of a child’s motor skills by month

The influence of crawling on child development

Many parents whose babies missed the crawling period proudly say that their child immediately got up and walked. Dr. Komarovsky says that if a child does not crawl on his own, then he should be taught, even if he has already gotten up and walked on his own. The crawling stage should never be skipped, because it is crawling that strengthens the child’s back for subsequent loads on the spine.

Benefits of crawling:

• strengthening the muscles of the back, neck, arms and legs;
• formation of a healthy spinal column;
• development of movement coordination;
• synchronization of movements;
• development of orientation in space;
• development of balance;
• work of both hemispheres of the brain;
• development of intelligence and psycho-emotional sphere.

How does a baby start to crawl?

Experts say that each child begins to crawl in his own way, it is very individual, and it makes no sense to fit the baby into one size fits all. But there are some general principles:

in Plastun style

– the baby crawls while lying on his stomach. This usually occurs between rolling over and actually crawling on all fours;

rolling

- usually they move like this either to the point of crawling on all fours, or they are little lazy people. If the rolling takes longer, you need to resort to a general massage, this usually helps to move on to the next stage of crawling;

loping crawl

– the baby sways, standing on all fours, and throws himself forward. Such jumps can be unsafe; you need to closely monitor the child, or better yet, teach him how to crawl correctly;

reverse

– some children crawl backwards rather than forwards. There is nothing terrible in this, and there is no reason for alarm either;

sitting

– sometimes there is such an original way of movement: the baby sits on his butt, bending one leg under him, and, pushing off with the other, moves very quickly around the room;

crawling on all fours

- a classic method that all kids eventually come to. The back should be straight, arms and legs move synchronously.

Why doesn't an 8 month old baby crawl on all fours?

So, the majority of children begin to actively crawl at 6-8 months. But there are also those who do not crawl on all fours - some move on their bellies, while others strive to immediately take their first steps.

Why do some children not want to crawl? It is common for babies, with their normal psycho-emotional and physical development, to strive for movement immediately after they confidently master the process of turning over on their stomach. Parents can actively help them with this, in particular through massage, gymnastics and other procedures that have a positive impact on the child’s development. After all, if a child is not crawling at 8 months, it is quite possible that his muscles are simply not ready for this, which means that they need to be actively strengthened.

One way or another, experts assure that crawling for babies is very important, but is not among the critically necessary. Sometimes it happens that a child begins to crawl and then stops doing so. This phenomenon will be temporary - apparently, his body just needs to get a little stronger. The only cause for concern is a situation in which the child suddenly stops crawling, especially if this happened after vaccination. Then you need to urgently contact a neurologist.

The first stage for crawling is moving on the belly. But sometimes children stay on it for too long, and it turns out that a child at 8 months cannot crawl on all fours. The fact is that crawling on your tummy is noticeably easier. Perhaps the child’s muscles located in the back and abdomen, along with the spine, are not yet strong enough to move on all fours. To correct the situation, you will need a massage and several special, but not difficult, exercises.

How to teach a baby to crawl

If the baby does not show interest in crawling, is lazy, or, conversely, wants to skip this stage and immediately get up or walk, he needs help. Before classes you need to do some preliminary preparation.

Preparation for classes

The best way to understand how comfortable it will be for your child to crawl is to lie down on the floor and look around - from the baby’s position, all the dangers will immediately become visible. There are several factors to consider before starting classes:

• a flat surface, ideally a hard and level floor, covered with a carpet or thick blanket;
• space – there should be enough space to move; it is difficult to start crawling in a crib or playpen due to their tightness;
• temperature regime - there should be no drafts in the room, air temperature 18-20 degrees;
• clothing – comfortable, not restricting movement, preferably made from natural fabrics;
• incentive - if the baby is interested in an interesting toy, the process will go faster;
• safety – no sharp corners, closed wires and sockets, no access to food and household chemicals;
• unstable objects - make sure that nothing can fall on the baby;
• cleanliness - the environment should be clean, but there is no need to achieve sterility;
• height - if the child is not crawling on the floor, make sure that he does not fall.

Warming massage

Before starting classes, be sure to warm up your baby’s muscles. This can be done with a warming massage. Sometimes this massage is used to stimulate motor activity in sluggish, lazy babies.

It is better to perform a massage an hour after feeding, and no later than an hour before it; the procedure lasts 10-15 minutes:

• stroking the arms - from the hand to the forearm, stroking the outer and inner surface of the hand in a circular motion - 6-8 times;
• stroking the legs - from the foot to the thigh, stroking the outer and inner surface of the leg in a circular motion - 6-8 times;
• stroking the back - from top to bottom and back, stroke with soft movements - 6-8 times;
• pinching – you can pinch the tummy around the navel, buttocks.

Photo source: shutterstock.com

Warm-up

To stimulate physical activity, you can do a short warm-up:

• crossing – cross the baby’s arms at chest level – 6-8 times;
• bending - bend and straighten the arms and legs - 6-8 times;
• turn from back to tummy - in both directions - 3-4 times;
• sitting down - pull the baby by the arms from a lying position, at an angle of 45 degrees - 3-4 times.

Exercises for learning to crawl

There are several general principles when teaching a baby to crawl:

stimulus

– place a beautiful, interesting toy near the child, interest him in it, lay the baby on his tummy, he will immediately lean on his arms, slightly bend his legs at the knees so that his closed feet rest against your palm, and press it tightly to his feet and push them slightly ;

roller

- used to help him learn to lean on his arms. Place it under the baby's chest so that he is forced to stand up. If the cushion is placed lengthwise and the baby is placed on top of it, he will hang his legs on the sides of the cushion. In this position, you can train your legs to support;

example

– babies crawling around are a good example to follow; the baby will quickly master a new skill in the company of the same little ones. If it is not possible to take the child out into society, crawl with him; mother’s or father’s example can also spur the baby on;

obstacles

– the child will be interested in overcoming obstacles – small rolls of blankets and diapers, a tunnel of chairs, slides of pillows;

praise

– be sure to praise the baby, show him your joy.

Video on how to teach a child to crawl

How to teach a child to crawl?

After the baby has learned to roll over, another 2-3 months will pass before he gets on all fours, and during these months he will strengthen the muscles of his arms by lifting himself up on them and the muscles of the pelvic girdle, pulling his legs under him. Then 2-3 weeks of rocking in this position, and then only he begins to crawl. They usually start crawling at 6-8 months. There are no children who cannot crawl, there are simply children who have not been taught to crawl and they immediately get on their feet. You can teach almost anyone to crawl. The child crawls at 3.5 months. Very rare at this age

Crawling on all fours is extremely useful for infants; it gives the child the opportunity to strengthen many muscle groups that will play an important role in further development. The importance of massage for children at 5-6 months is that we strengthen the child before the next very important stage. If the child does not know how yet, then we teach him to get on all fours, if he is already on all fours, then we teach him to crawl.

A child can do exercises with his parents if he already knows how to stand on 4 points of support, but he himself does not know how to crawl. But if the child does not get on all fours, it will be difficult for the parents themselves to strengthen and teach the baby to do this. Solving such a task requires skills and experience. Invite a good children's massage therapist to your home, he will help your baby learn to stand on all fours. And as “homework” we offer you some exercises.

Exercises with parents: (if the child gets on all fours) The baby stands on all fours, you support him under the chest with your left hand, and with your right hand you move his right leg forward, and holding the leg, slightly rock him forward, but not too much, otherwise he will fall on his stomach , or just lie down. The child should move his arms a little forward and pull up his left leg. Then repeat this movement 8-10 times, and change your hands, begin to rearrange his left leg. When supporting the child under the chest, do not let him lie on your hand, the goal is to gradually weaken the support and completely remove it.

By moving the child’s limbs, you thus record a motor stereotype in his memory, which the baby will gradually begin to repeat himself. Teaching a child to crawl can be difficult. This is painstaking work.

Exercise No. 2 Consolidating the motor stereotype of moving the legs while standing on your knees. The child lies on his stomach, we stand on his side, take the baby by the hands and forearms, and bringing his arms forward, slightly lift his arms up. The child should kneel with his hands resting on yours. Afterwards, we slightly pull ours, and accordingly the child’s, hands forward, the baby should move his knees forward.

Exercise No. 3. We develop a motor stereotype for the hands (“wheelbarrow”). We place the child with his chest on his left palm, with his right hand we fix the child’s legs from the front side just above the knees, the baby is located on your right. We try to place it with our hands on a hard surface (table). You need to feel that the baby has rested his hands on the table and then slightly relax his left hand, but do not remove it, otherwise the child will fall and possibly hit the table. Your left hand acts as a safety net. Then we try to slightly move the child’s body forward, pushing our right hand with the child’s legs, only very slowly, so that the baby can understand what to do. We try to get the baby to move his arms forward.

These exercises can be performed during the day 1-2 times for 20 minutes daily. Our specialists can help you teach your child to crawl