Nootropics in the practice of a pediatric neurologist

It is important to understand that each child is an individual, therefore the terms and standards are very arbitrary and are used by doctors for indirect assessment. Classical neurology says that babies begin to crawl at the age of 6-7 months, but practice shows that this can happen at five and eight months of age.

Some babies may skip the crawling stage in their development and this is also normal.

Baby doesn't crawl, when to worry

Doctors have derived certain average norms for the development of children. Judging by them, all toddlers between the ages of six and eight months learn to move in space independently by crawling.

When calculating the average denominator, it is impossible to take into account factors of individual development. One independent baby gets bored of lying still, so he sits up at 5 months, and by 7-8 months he gets up on his feet. The other, on the contrary, is more phlegmatic: he learns to move more slowly and skips the crawling stage altogether. This may be the norm, according to many famous pediatricians, such as Komarovsky.

Famous doctor Komarovsky

If by eight months the child does not feel like crawling, an adult does not need to sound the alarm immediately. The first step is to make an appointment with a doctor. If he doesn’t find any problems, then you just need to wait patiently, giving the little one maximum freedom.

You should be worried if a child at 8 months does not sit or crawl, and does not make any attempts to do so. This is how existing deviations appear. Such a child should be examined by a doctor, recommend sports exercises appropriate for age, prescribe special procedures, and, if necessary, prescribe a set of medications.

Important! There is no need to rush the development of the baby if he is healthy. It is better to let the baby develop at his own pace, without comparing with others.

When the child begins to sit up and crawl, the opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

According to Dr. Komarovsky, there are not many serious disorders in which a child cannot learn to sit or walk, and they are quite rare in medical practice. Unlike their parents, children do not know about any standards when it comes to crawling. With normal physical development, Komarovsky says, the little man will begin to sit, stand, crawl and walk without the help of his parents. But only when he wants to do it himself.

The task of adults in this case comes down only to allowing their little one to develop normally. At the same time, in no case should learning new skills be turned into hard work for the child. This may just cause a backlash from the little person and he simply won’t want to crawl. But mom and dad are obliged to help the baby. According to Evgeniy Komarovsky, hardening and exercises for muscle development can be started at a very early age. These procedures will strengthen the body and allow you to quickly master the skills that precede your first independent steps.

Komarovsky believes that a child at 7-8 months may not yet sit or crawl for the following reasons: • physical development - the child’s muscles are not strong enough; • personality development – ​​the baby is not emotionally ready for a new stage of development; • excess weight – it is difficult for the baby to make unnecessary movements due to excess body weight; • family situation; • indicators of physical health. The first two reasons are not at all related to developmental delays. These are just individual characteristics. Calming nervous mothers, Komarovsky claims that crawling is a very important stage in the development of a little person. However, some children skip it altogether and immediately move on to the next stage - walking.

Why crawling is important

Temperature in the newborn room

Crawling is incredibly beneficial. It is this simple movement that develops many systems of the child’s body:

• Firstly, crawling perfectly strengthens the child’s musculoskeletal system. In fact, the little one works dumbbells for himself.
• Secondly, crawling develops binocular vision. The baby learns to catch one object with both eyes. This will be useful for mastering reading and writing.
• The baby is also developing psycho-emotionally. He tries to set a goal for himself, is happy when he achieves it, or sad when he fails. In any case, the little one learns to feel and understand himself.
• Crawling develops the brain. While moving in this way, the connection between the hemispheres of the brain is strengthened, which helps the child learn speech faster.

If it doesn't crawl

Pediatricians say: “The child may not crawl.” But this action is useful. Will children who do not crawl really lag behind in development? Of course, this will affect development, but parents and their child will still have a chance to catch up. This will require more time and effort, but is not a reason for sad thoughts.

Not crawling does not mean lagging behind

Why doesn't the baby crawl?

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The range of reasons why a child does not crawl or sit down is quite large. It is important to study them all in more detail:

1. Fear. At the end of the last century, doctors covered the topic of sudden infant death syndrome. They all urged not to put babies to sleep on their stomachs. Moms went further by reducing the time they spent on tummy time and outside of sleep. The vast majority of babies began to crawl later. But the infant mortality rate from ADHD has also dropped by half.
2. New items of our time. Parents often do not have time to follow their crawling child all day long and keep an eye on it. This also includes parental laziness, because it is much easier to put a child in jumpers or walkers. Crawling – what can it give? Many adults think this way and are mistaken.

Walkers

1. Health. There are serious problems that require special monitoring and treatment by a neurologist: hypo- and hypertonicity of muscles, consequences of birth injuries. Relatively simple acute respiratory viral infections prevent the child from studying - he is weakened and feels unwell.
2. Weight. It's more difficult for chubby kids to move around, that's a fact.
3. Character. Cholerics and sanguine people live on the move. Phlegmatic and melancholic people are calmer. Why crawl somewhere if it’s interesting here too?

Attention! If a child is 8 months old, he does not try to sit and does not want to crawl, in general he is for some reason inactive, and adults have given him relative freedom of movement (for example, within the same apartment), there is only one way out - to visit a doctor. There is no need to self-medicate.

How to help a child?

If a baby at 7 months is crawling on his belly - on his stomach - you should not interfere with the situation. The baby's temperament and his desire to move will soon do their job.

If the baby cannot understand the technique - his actions are spontaneous and clumsy - he needs help. Sometimes you just need to show that a person can crawl. To begin, the child is placed on the floor in a knee-elbow position - placed on two hands and legs bent at the knees (knees). You should place your favorite toy at a distance. The baby's natural zeal will lead him to the initial stage of crawling - rocking. This is where parents take action. You can show how to crawl yourself - crawl along side by side. Another option is to characteristically push the baby to move - lightly pushing from behind with your hand. You can carefully move your baby's arms and legs so that he understands the technique of movement in this position.

If the baby is simply lazy, do not follow his lead during whims and give him the toy he needs. Show him how to crawl, crawl with him - your task is to notify the child that people can move around and get the things they need.

You should not press on a child if he is capricious and does not want to crawl in principle. As your physical development grows and strengthens, move on to walking - perhaps your baby will like it more.

What to do

One month old baby doesn't sleep all day

The most important thing in this case is to eliminate the obstacle that prevents the development of this skill:

• More freedom. The child needs comfortable clothes, a free floor and a minimum of restrictions. It is better to completely remove jumpers and walkers from use or leave them, but for short periods of time and infrequently.

The baby crawls freely

• Interest. Children should be intrigued by what is located at a distance from them.
• Parental control. The baby is not allowed to sleep on his stomach, but when awake, he should lie like this. To avoid the fear of ADHD, parents need to keep an eye on him during this time.
• Medical supervision. It is unacceptable to avoid routine visits to the doctor. If the baby has problems, the doctor will detect them in the very beginning, which will make the task of eliminating them easier. Such a specialist will tell you how to strengthen your immune system.
• Proper nutrition. Food should be healthy, its portions should be in accordance with needs and age.

Also, regardless of the activity of the babies, they are prescribed restorative massages. Moreover, the superficial one should be carried out by parents every day, the deeper one is done by a massage therapist, at least a couple of courses are recommended in the first year.

How to teach a baby to crawl

It is impossible to say that there is a method that teaches a baby to crawl in the same way as to count and write. There is no such thing. There are some general recommendations on how to encourage little boys and girls to move like this.

On the stomach

• The first crawl (on your stomach or on your belly) can be mastered using the Doman track, Komarovsky believes. This is such a narrow gutter, upholstered in fabric. It is difficult to push off from the floor, but it is much easier if small walls help with this. You can practice this track from 2 months of age.

Domana Track

• If there is no track, you can do without it. Then a toy is placed in front of the toddler as a stimulus. At this time, the adult places his palms under the baby’s heels. He will push off from them and move towards the goal.

On knees

When a child crawls on all fours, he usually uses one side of his body to maintain balance and the other to actually move. This movement is called cross crawl. Parents can tell you how to implement it:

• You can roll a towel or blanket into a roll that is placed under the baby's chest. This strengthens the neck and back. After a little while, you can begin to tuck the baby’s knees under the tummy.
• When both parents gather around the child, they can jointly teach the baby to crawl. Supporting the baby, they put him on his knees, help him rest his arms, then one adult moves the children's arms, the second moves the legs. You need to take your time when performing such an exercise and under no circumstances stop supporting the child.

Important! You need to “teach” to crawl by example. Moreover, it usually works better if dad demonstrates it. Once on the floor, the adult at the same time gets the opportunity to detect all possible dangers from a child's height.

Baby crawling with dad

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

No crawling threat

Crawling is not a necessary stage of development, like, for example, holding your head. But it is incredibly useful, it is better not to miss it. It is this action that strengthens the muscles around the spine like nothing else.

If the baby quickly gets to his feet, not wanting to crawl, you cannot hold him by force. Then you need to start an additional course of professional massage, go to the pool with your toddler, and do infant gymnastics more often. The best option would be to start helping him crawl, showing an example before he even tries to roll over onto his side, especially before he tries to sit down or stand on his feet.

Crawled, sat down, stood up - the ideal development of a baby

Summarizing all of the above, it can be noted that you should not give up crawling on your own. Parents must understand that they are responsible for the health of their baby. First of all, do not what is convenient for them, but what is best for a small defenseless person. Doctors will help them with this, and they should not avoid visiting them.