My munchkin’s progress from Month 7 to Month 8 shows that she may crawl before sitting by herself. She has been showing a lot of pre-crawling signs. As mentioned earlier, she has always enjoyed tummy time. She now picks her bottom up and pretty much goes on to all fours, moving back and forth in one place. It is only a matter of time that she will jet set go!
As per doctors, most babies crawl between 7 to 10 months, some earlier and some later. My husband and I do not intend on pushing our munchkin to be an early crawler or walker. She can take her own time, we are in no hurry! Children need to develop certain muscles and gain some amount of strength before they start crawling, standing and then walking and as parents and family we should not push them to do it before they are ready.
So what should we do then? It’s quite simple, we need to prepare the house and surroundings to encourage them, be ready for them and then just wait.
Some tips to prepare the environment / house:
Provide opportunity
The easiest and best way to provide opportunity is to give them sufficient tummy time and time on the floor. The best place for them to be at this point is on a mat on the floor – the more time they spend there, the better. Try and use mats/carpets that are not slippery so that you do not deter them from moving.
Comfortable clothing
The clothes babies’ wear at times can restrict them from moving freely. At this stage, try avoiding dresses, tight pants, socks, long tops. Let them be in clothing that does not come under their knees when trying to crawl/move. In cold weathers, try giving a certain amount of time each day in comfortable clothing that allows free movement.
Childproof the house
When I say childproof, I do not mean to restrict your child to a small playpen. Rather, move away things that are not safe for them. Once your Munchkin starts crawling, standing and then walking, they are not going to stop. They are curious by nature and will want to see, feel and know what things are so if it is not safe for them, move it away instead of stopping them from touching it later on. This applies to most things around the house. We need to understand there is a baby seeing things and learning what they are and hence it is not right of us to stop them from touching everything. Only places like a balcony, bathroom, should be fenced or kept shut so they are out of reach.
Positive reinforcement
Should we clap and cheer and say “very good” for everything they do? No, we should avoid doing these things. This does not mean we are not encouraging them, rather we are not limiting them for moving ahead. Generally, ‘very good’ means you have achieved something and do not necessarily need to go further. Instead, we should try and use phrases like “you did it!”, “you reached it!, “you managed to get on your knees”, and more.
Things to do
We should have some activities and toys for our munchkins to keep them entertained during tummy time. Some of my earlier posts will have many ideas that can be used for this.
Things to reach
As mentioned in Month 7, we put a toy our munchkin likes in front of her at a little distance encouraging her to reach for it. When they like a particular toy or object, they will give their best to move forward and reach it. Sometimes the object may be your mobile phone! But do make sure it is not very far away from them and at an achievable distance.
Has your Munchkin started crawling or is about to yet? Do you have any ideas to share? Would love to hear them.