Pediatricians say that crawling is a very important stage in the development of children. Crawling develops the back muscles and strengthens the spine, preparing the baby for vertical walking. Let's find out when a baby starts crawling and how to prepare a baby for this stage.

What are the benefits of crawling?

• Strengthens the spine, muscles of the legs, arms and back;
• Forms natural curves of the spine, which will help in the future to withstand the load when in an upright position;
• Helps eliminate disorders in the musculoskeletal system naturally. Such disorders include torticollis, asymmetry in the body, increased or decreased tone;
• Develops coordination, which will allow you to perform various movements. In addition, developed coordination will help you feel the rhythm, maintain balance and navigate in space;
• Develops intelligence. The more active and mobile the baby is, the better the blood supply and the more efficient the brain function. In addition, movement affects the development of a child’s speech, as it provides communication between the hemispheres;
• Gives the child freedom of movement and confidence in his strength, because crawling is an independent and conscious process with a chosen direction and goal.

When does a baby start to crawl?

Many parents are concerned about how many months a child begins to crawl. This process begins gradually and not earlier than three months. A three-month-old toddler learns to roll over, so during this period the baby’s horizons become wider. He notices toys or interesting objects, tries to reach things and even makes his first attempts to crawl.

At 4-5 months, the baby can already crawl to objects of interest on his tummy. Moreover, children do this in different ways. Some crawl on their bellies, others crawl back and forth, and others crawl sideways. But babies master crawling on all fours only after six months. By the way, it is movement on all fours that pediatricians consider real full-fledged crawling.

At what time children begin to crawl depends on the individual development of each child. Some crawl on all fours as early as 5-6 months, but more often this happens at 7-8 months. Late crawling is common in large babies and overweight children. Read more about weight norms for children under one year old. In any case, the baby will not crawl until the muscles are sufficiently strong.

Under no circumstances should you skip the crawling stage and do not encourage your baby to try to immediately stand on his feet and walk! This can lead to serious problems in the functioning of the spine, muscles and ligaments of the back. Give your child freedom and space to crawl, avoid the playpen and walkers. Walkers can actually harm a child, because the effect of this product is comparable to crutches.

If the child still does not crawl on all fours by 9-10 months, contact your pediatrician! This behavior does not indicate any serious deviations. The doctor will simply select suitable exercises and massages so that the baby can quickly master crawling.

Exercises

Laying on the stomach from the first day of life is the main condition for the baby to start crawling on his belly. This way he will gain strength and learn useful skills, and only then will he learn to stand on all fours and crawl accordingly. When the child has learned to roll over from his back to his stomach and back, briefly rise on his arms and hold his head at the same time, special exercises are done with the baby:

• For children who have not yet fully mastered rollovers, use the following exercises. The thumb of one hand is inserted into the baby’s palm and the hand is squeezed tightly. Then the child’s body is directed to turn over, and the leg is held with the other hand to turn the pelvis over;
• Exercises using a fitball (large ball) develop back muscles. In addition, they will make it easiercolic in infant , if they haven't finished yet. To complete the task, the baby is placed on the ball with his stomach down and held in the armpits. While the ball sways slightly, the child will learn to arch his back and tense the muscles needed for crawling;
• The “frog” exercise involves grasping the child’s legs by the shins while he is lying on his back. The legs are smoothly bent into a frog pose and smoothly straightened back. Then they turn the baby onto his stomach so that he tries to push off with his bent legs from the folded palms of an adult and move forward;
• Gymnastics for the arms will strengthen the muscles not only of the arms, but also of the back. The baby lies on his back, and the adult takes his hands. In this case, it is important that the child firmly grasps the adult’s thumbs. Then you need to smoothly raise your arms up and release them, spread your arms to the sides and cross them over your chest. Repeat the exercises two to three times.

Classes with the child should be carried out only affectionately and calmly. Don’t shout or scold your baby if something doesn’t work out! During classes, it is important to follow safety rules so as not to accidentally harm the baby. The house should be clean, because dust and pet hair often cause allergies in infants. In addition, hair and debris may simply end up in your baby's mouth.

There should be no open sockets in the room; use special plugs for this. Hide electrical cords on the floor and remove any sharp objects nearby. Close the radiators and close the drawers, check the furniture for stability. For complete safety, you can use corner pads and door locks. If your baby is crawling on the bed, be careful to make sure he doesn't fall. Don't leave him alone!

Massage

In addition to exercise, pediatricians often recommend therapeutic massage. Of course, such a procedure should only be trusted to a professional children's massage therapist! But the mother can give the baby a light restorative massage at home. Massage strengthens bones and muscles, improves blood circulation and normalizes tone, improves immunity and creates a positive emotional background.

Before the massage, be sure to wash your hands, remove rings and trim your nails to avoid scratching your baby's delicate skin. Prepare the changing table in advance. If desired, you can use children's hypoallergenic massage oil, but pediatricians recommend doing without special products for the first six months. Under no circumstances should you take aromatic oils and powders, as they often provoke an allergic reaction! In addition, such products clog pores and impair skin breathing.

After the child has learned to hold his head up and roll over on his own, he tries to learn new skills. Someone is trying to get on all fours in order to... Some people first learn to sit down.

Learning to sit

With each month, the muscles of the back, neck and abs become stronger, and gradually the child develops a desire to change the boring horizontal position of the body. As a rule, this occurs at the age of 5-7 months. By the age of 8 months, 90% of children can sit independently and confidently.

How do you know when your baby is ready to sit down? Extend your hands to him. If he, holding your palms, pulls forward, tensing his abdominal muscles, this means that a start has been made. Some parents, in order to speed up the process, begin to “sit down” the child: they sit them down or on a soft surface, holding them with their hands. This can only be done after the baby is six months old.

When sitting for the first time, the child will fall, but will gradually learn to lean on his hands, and by 7 months he will be able to sit without support and even turn around to get his favorite toy. One fine day, the baby will lean forward and try to maintain balance, leaning on both hands, this will be a signal that your baby is coming soon.

Learning to crawl

Each child is unique, so it is possible that at first he will learn to crawl rather than sit. Once he has mastered the rollover and is lifting himself up on his arms so he can see you, the day will come when your baby will get on his knees and start pushing off.

Usually children are 6-7 months old. Some start backwards, others on their stomachs. Everyone chooses the method that is most convenient for them. The first attempts are always slow and uncertain. By 9-10 months, the baby will learn to cross crawl, alternating the left leg and right arm with the right leg and left arm. By the year he will finally get used to it and pick up a decent speed.

How can you help your baby? Do not keep him in the playpen or crib all the time; from the age of 4 months, put the child on the floor or on the sofa, lay out toys in front of him. Then he will have an incentive to get to them. Make the task more difficult as necessary by placing obstacles in the child's path in the form of pillows or blankets.

All children develop differently, so don’t worry if your friend’s child is already crawling, but yours is not yet at the same age. However, you should be concerned if the baby does not begin to move on the eve of his first birthday.

If you drove a car, remember the first time you got behind the wheel, what problems did you have? In fact, everything is very similar to the first independent movement. It is also necessary to figure out HOW it is most convenient to move and, most importantly, WHERE, and preferably without touching anything unnecessary.

Continuing the car analogy. It’s very easy for a pedestrian to enter a store, but for a motorist it’s a whole challenge: how to get there, where to park. Same for the baby. He needs to choose the direction of movement, turn in the right direction and only after that start moving. A real quest for a six-month-old little man!

When does a baby start crawling?

Each child develops at his own individual pace, and in this process, what is more important is not how many months the baby has mastered this or that skill, but the very development of this skill, the very dynamics of motor activity.

The approximate age when children begin to crawl is 6-9 months. During this period, the child spends less time in his arms and more time on the floor, exploring the world. The child’s growth at this stage slows down, but his skills multiply and lead to a series of achievements: sitting, crawling, standing, walking.

How does a baby start to crawl?

As a rule, the child begins to crawl from a sitting position, that is, after the baby has acquired the ability to sit without support. This skill allows the child to lean forward when he wants to reach a toy: he leans his torso forward and reaches for the toy, then pulls his outstretched legs towards his body, and continues to reach until his torso finally outweighs his bottom and he falls on his stomach. This lunge forward onto the stomach is the beginning of crawling.

Attention: When your child begins to lunge forward like this, offer him only soft toys in case he falls flat on top of the toy.

As soon as the child is able to lift his pelvis and tummy off the floor, forming a “bridge,” he crawls. At first he will rock on his hands and knees until he chooses a way to move.

The baby started crawling

All children begin to crawl differently:

Baby crawling in Plastun style: The baby slowly, wriggling, moves along the floor. Over time, he begins to crawl on his bellies, on his elbows tightly pressed to the body; The child crawls back: some children begin to crawl backward instead of forward because they push off the floor with their hands. The child crawls jerkily: some children push off the floor with their feet, throwing their torso forward, like a frog.

The child experiments with different styles until he chooses the one that turns out to be most effective. In addition, the way the child moves depends on the surface on which he is located:

on a deep-pile carpet, the baby will rest on his feet and toes, then throwing his body forward like a frog; on a smooth surface, the baby will slide on his stomach like a worm or move on the palms and soles of his feet, because they stick and do not slide.

At this stage, it is not so important how the child moves, but that he is aware of his ability to move and experiments with different ways.

In the next stage of development, the child will improve these different methods of movement and choose what is most effective.

Crawling on all fours

The turning point in crawling occurs when the child acquires the ability to alternate hands and feet so that the hand on one side and the foot on the opposite side move forward and touch the floor at the same time, while he stands firmly on the hand and knee, which remain on the floor.

This position is a movement skill that teaches the child to use one side of his body to balance the other. Crawling on all fours is the most effective type of crawling, since in this case the baby crawls in an optimally straight line.

Video - a child crawls on his belly, and not on all fours

How to teach a baby to crawl

Children love to crawl over obstacles. Place a foam roller between the child and the toy. Lay out the toys in the form of a wavy line, and the distance between them should be about 50 cm. In this way, the baby’s coordination will develop. Your task is to interest him with the first toy. You can use his favorite toy for this. When he crawls to the target and plays for a while, show him the next toy. Now he is moving in a different direction, learning to navigate in space. For this game you will need several wooden or plastic balls. To begin, take one, place it on the floor in front of you and play “football.” Push and catch the ball. Get your child interested in this game and invite him to try it too. In this way, the baby will understand the trajectory of objects and how they change their location. When the child masters the rules of the game, add more balls. This way he will learn to keep several objects in his field of vision at once. It is very good if the balls have a rattling filling. In this case, the baby will train not only observation, but also hearing. You can put the peas in the ping pong ball yourself. Take the rattle and place it at a distance of 1-2 m from the baby. Hide it under a scarf or other fabric. Next, get your baby's attention by lifting the edge of the fabric and shaking the rattle. The baby should become interested in the toy and crawl closer. Give the baby the opportunity to take off the scarf, look at the toy, turn it in his hands, and study it. Alternate toys in this game. For example, you can use squeakers, rattles, and bells. Massage, gymnastics, and exercises greatly stimulate the development of motor skills in a child. Read more about the technique of massaging a child.

Video - how to teach a child to crawl

But the best way to help your child master a particular motor skill is not to limit the baby in his motor and exploratory activities.

Of course, often a mother simply cannot do without a playpen, especially if she is alone with her child all day. But the use of such “helpers” as playpens, walkers, jumpers and any other structures that limit the child’s movements should be reduced to a minimum. We will discuss the importance of this point in more detail below.

Consequences of restricting a child's movement

Recently, more and more often, teachers, psychologists, and child neurologists are paying attention to the consequences of limiting the motor activity of a child up to one year old. A direct connection has been established between a child’s ability to move freely, master motor skills and his intellectual development.

Using the playpen

Using a playpen is convenient: put the child in the playpen and you can go about your business. But what is convenient for parents is not always convenient and useful for the child.

Observations by psychologists of different families showed that some mothers conscientiously and intensely cared for and protected their babies and kept them in cribs or playpens. Under these conditions, the mother calmly went about her business, without fear that the child would hurt himself, take something, or spoil something. At the same time, the child was in the position of a prisoner - the same meager communication with people, the same narrowness of activity.

Other mothers dared to let their children crawl around the apartment on their own. At the same time, they continued to do household chores, but never refused the kids help or advice if necessary.

Psychologists noted that such children received a huge “field for research” and a lot of objects with a variety of properties. At the same time, they had immeasurably more opportunities to communicate with their mother. The children here were free explorers and had a wise and friendly advisor at all times.

Scientists were amazed at how quickly these children developed compared to their peers sitting in the playpen. They continued to be far ahead of the former “prisoners” in development.

Using a walker

Experts do not recommend using walkers or any other structure that forces a child to rely on outside help rather than on their own skills to move. Walkers reverse the natural process of neurological development, giving the lower body abilities that the upper body is not yet ready to handle.

Research has shown that children who spend a significant portion of their day in walkers exhibit delayed motor development and have particular difficulty learning to walk properly.

In addition to the above, we present excerpt from the book “Understanding Man” one of the leading experts in the field of child and infant psychology, Silvano C. Montanaro:

“Consider the relationship between movement and personal knowledge. Such knowledge is the basic information stored in the brain, the basic personal program. This information includes:

1. Basic self-belief: Children who are given freedom of movement realize that they can realize their ideas and needs.

Their repeated experience of seeing an object, reaching for it, and exploring it with their hands and mouth gives rise to the clear idea that when we want something, we can move and get it. This is how a healthy ego develops, a person who is able to successfully cope with life's difficulties.

From the third month of life, children should also develop a basic trust in the world. Basic self-confidence should be developed by about one year of age, when the child begins to walk and has already spent a fair amount of time testing his ability to move freely in his environment.

It is interesting to note that the ability to walk humanly means the ability to support the body on two legs. These two types of basic faith that we have described are for us the two legs psychologically with which we must walk through life. If they are strong, then a person is able to survive any life shocks, because the pillars of his personality are strong. For a person who has only one of these supports or none at all, progress along the road of life is difficult and slow, and sometimes it is simply impossible, just like walking with only one leg or no legs at all.

1. Self confidence: this is an internal feeling of the ability to rely on one’s own strength, which is based on the experience of active work carried out in the environment with the help of freedom of movement.

This is a feeling of personal power in solving problems, and it remains with a person forever. In the future, the goals will change (now - to get an interesting object, for example, a multi-colored ball, then - to do homework, etc.), but from a psychological point of view the situation will remain the same - you are interested in something, you need to take some action to satisfy this interest, and you are confident that you are capable of doing it.

These happy people have the consciousness that they are capable of achieving what they want, and even if their first attempts are unsuccessful, they continue to try. Their self-confidence pushes them to keep trying again because they have already tasted success once. Other children who later become adults give up trying very quickly because their ego lacks self-confidence.

Active movement in the first months of life ensures the acquisition of psychophysical experience, on the basis of which self-confidence is formed, and thanks to this invaluable tool, the ability to face any difficulties in life appears.

Every time we deprive a child of the opportunity to actively move, the basis of his developing ego is threatened with all the extreme seriousness of the long-term consequences.

Are we aware of the efforts required to suppress children's desire for free exercise? How tiresome are our attempts to distract them from the need to move with harmful gifts such as food, pacifiers, or passive movements in our arms or in “boxes”? In specialized stores you can easily find baby loungers, jumpers, swings, walkers and playpens. There truly is no shortage of passive motion equipment!”

Silvano C. Montanaro, "Understanding Man"

Video - pediatrician about using walkers

When a child crawls, this contributes to the development of the musculoskeletal system, and also significantly affects the development of the baby’s entire nervous system. All mothers, without exception, ask the question: when does a child begin to crawl and sit?

It is well known that each baby develops according to an individual pattern; the first inclinations to crawling appear in children when they are not yet six months old. This is due to the fact that many children have muscle tone. And some children don’t crawl at all, they learn to sit and then immediately begin to walk.

If your baby has not started crawling or sitting, be sure to see a doctor by 8-9 months to have his musculoskeletal system checked. On average, infants begin crawling between 5 and 6 months and are crawling well by 7 months. But this is in general. From the very first days, the baby can be provoked to crawl. To do this, you need to make a support with your hand for the legs of the child lying on the stomach, you will see how the child begins to crawl. Over time, this reflex fades away. But regular activities with the child contribute to the early development of this skill.

The boy crawls and sits up between 5 and 7 months. As soon as your back muscles get stronger. These are average periods taken from child development tables. But as mentioned above, times may vary. And this should not be regarded as a lag in the child’s development and it should not be premature to panic.

The girls are a month or two earlier. From 4 to 6 months. Experts say that it is not worth dropping off the girl early. There may be consequences in the future. But if the baby sits up or crawls on her own, there is no need to stop her.

At what month does a baby begin to crawl on all fours?

As a rule, a child begins to crawl on all fours after he learns to sit, most often this can happen at the age of 6-7 months. It is by this age that your child can already hold his head up perfectly and look around. His back muscles are already strong enough to withstand the load of his own body.

It will take another one to two months to practice changing positions, sitting in a position on all fours. The baby will begin to sway like a praying mantis, kneeling forward and backward. And only about 2 to 4 more weeks will the child understand how to start moving. He will begin to actively exercise and will soon be able to sit up from a position on all fours.

Get ready for numerous falls, without this there is no way. Until the baby learns to move consistently in pairs: right arm and left leg, left arm and right leg, he will fall over, hit his head, and nod to the floor. You can cover the area with a blanket, but do not do it too softly, this will cause even more discomfort and distortion of posture. The surface should be moderately hard.

On your belly/on your stomach - pressing your body tightly to the floor.

Many people are concerned about this method, due to the fact that we are more accustomed to watching children crawl on all fours. But there is nothing abnormal about this method.

If the baby begins to move around on his own, but does not do it the way he wants, parents do not need to retrain him or stop him.

The child learns about the world and does it as it is most convenient for him. It is quite possible that his style will soon change, again due to the fact that he will find a more convenient way to crawl - to move.

Some neurologists claim that this method of movement is no less useful for the development of the baby. And they have already proven that children who crawled on their bellies before getting on all fours, growing up, have a penchant for exact sciences and think logically much better.

Conclusion. In general, the development of the skill of sitting and crawling occurs alone, whether it is a boy or a girl, it does not mean any role, there is simply a slight difference in time. Which crawling method your child chooses or skips this stage and immediately goes the same way does not depend on gender.

At what time a child begins to crawl depends on his physical capabilities, character and, to some extent, on the parents’ desire to gently but effectively and purposefully promote his development. When a child begins to crawl on all fours, many opportunities to explore the world open up. But only if the parents allow him to do this, do not keep him in a crib during the waking period, or, even worse, in diapers.

In books for parents it is written at what months a child begins to roll over and crawl on his stomach; these are approximate dates. Babies begin to roll over onto their stomach at about 3 months, and after about a month from their stomach to their back. And after 5 months they begin to crawl.

Typically, children begin to develop their skills by moving on their stomachs. That is, the baby moves while lying on his stomach using the movements of his arms and legs. When he gets a little stronger, he will get on all fours. But it won’t crawl right away. And it will be funny to rock back and forth for a while longer.

Children begin to crawl in different ways. Some do it in the “classical way”, some move not forward, but backward, and some move in a circle. But if a child has learned to move skillfully on all fours, he may go a little later than his peers. There is such an interesting observation from pediatricians. However, this should not be scary. Crawling is a very useful skill. And he is recommended to teach all children, even those who hardly crawled, but immediately walked (there are such babies).

1. Do not swaddle while awake. Children under six months sleep a lot. There is not much time left for games, so there is no need to limit their physical capabilities. As a last resort, swaddle only before bedtime. While awake, the child should wear rompers and a vest that do not restrict movement.

2. If the child is not sleeping and is in a good mood, lay his floor covered with a warm blanket. Make sure there are no drafts. Do not leave him in the crib - there is too little room for movement. And you shouldn’t leave it on an extended sofa or bed either. You can easily miss it and the baby will fall down.