Crawling is one of those milestones that parents look forward to and dread at the same time. Mobility is the goal here and that means they are approaching that point of getting into everything. That’s another story. The value of crawling is in the transition from sitting to walking. This transition stage differs with each child but often starts around 6 months or so. Remember this is a process. Each baby will start at the time that’s optimal for them. Avoid comparing your baby to other babies you know, they are individuals.
A traditional crawl requires a baby to support their weight with hands and knees while propelling themselves in a forward motion. However, babies aren’t limited to one crawl and many adopt a variety of different crawling styles to achieve mobility. How your baby adapts to this developmental phase may be as unique – and entertaining – as they are. You can encourage crawling by making sure that your baby has “tummy time” which is designed to strengthen their bodies. Reaching games encourages them to move to get that interesting toy, but remember that your child will move through milestones and transitions on their timetable so be encouraging and enjoy the place where they are now.
There are several benefits to this crawling stage that you’ll want to know about.
Physical development – As your baby starts to crawl they’re developing:
- Gross motor skills- these are larger movements your baby makes with their arms, legs, feet, or entire body.
- Fine motor skills- these involve strengthening the smaller muscles in the body such as hands and fingers.
- Balance- achieving balance is an essential physical requirement for your baby to gather both confidence and the ability to move into the next phase – walking.
- Hand-eye coordination- requires the use of the eyes to direct attention and the hands to execute a task.
Spatial understanding
Crawling also offers an opportunity for a baby to understand spatial concepts. This provides the child with a physical understanding and orientation of the physical world around them; their relationship with and position within it. This understanding will be of vital importance throughout their lives for self-preservation, navigation, and problem-solving.
Binocular vision
Your baby’s visual skills will develop by leaps and bounds upon discovering that their favorite rattle can be near or far away. This is called binocular vision and involves your baby training his eyes to look off into the distance and then back at his hands while crawling or reaching for that rattle.
Coordination
Left and right brain coordination is boosted by crawling, as the brain is required to process hearing, sight, and movement all at the same time. So the more your baby practices crawling, the more synchronized and developed each of these essential skills will become.
Self-confidence
A crawling baby is building self-confidence and making some of their first decisions. They take regular physical risks and with each success – and failure – discover both their potential and their limitations. It can be wonderful to watch your baby discover the world around them at this exciting stage of their development. As they become more experienced at crawling they will become apt at knowing when to slow down to avoid hurt, navigate a step, or investigate obstacles in their path.
Physical strength
As baby starts to get more and more physical, discovering exciting new independence on all fours, they are also gaining significant physical strength, which will prepare them for walking in a few months. When a baby starts to pull up on furniture and stand up, the normal curve in their spine begins to develop and their lower back and leg muscles begin to strengthen. The more crawling the baby does, the more practiced and prepared they will be to walk on their own two feet.
Remember this milestone is about “mobility” more than anything. This means the method your baby uses is not as significant as that desire to move and implement movement – you want your baby to develop equal abilities of movement on both sides of the body, arms, legs, hands, and feet.
Some babies skip the crawling stage altogether and move on to pulling themselves up, cruising, and then walking. Some babies move into walking and then back to crawling. The mobility milestone is what matters. If you have concerns talk with your pediatrician about your baby’s unique journey.