When a tiny peanut comes into the world, parents are really waiting for it, when it can hold its head, turn over, sit, crawl, walk ... In healthy children, all of these skills appear on their own, even if parents will not make any additional efforts for this. However, young mothers and fathers often wonder how to teach a child to crawl, at what age he should master this skill, and what to do if the baby does not crawl on time.
As a rule, children begin to crawl at 6-8 months, however, some babies skip this stage and immediately proceed to the rise on legs and walking. This development option fits well with the norm, however, pediatricians unanimously say that crawling is very useful for strengthening the back muscles and for improving motor skills. In addition, the kids who have mastered this useful skill become much more independent and persistent, because they get the opportunity to get to their desired goal. Therefore, it is useful for all parents to know how to teach a child to crawl.
First training
The crawling stage is preceded by the preparatory stage, during which the baby learns to get on all fours. His movements are still very funny and clumsy - stretched out on the handles, he raises his ass for a second, but then flops on his stomach, because coordinating the movements of arms and legs is incredibly difficult! Such training continues for quite some time, and gradually the little one begins to get better and better. The next step is rocking. Confidently standing on all fours the baby sways back and forth, trying to make the first creeping movements. And more often than not, the little ones first acquire the skill of crawling backward (backing away), and only then learn to move forward. Some babies crawl on their stomachs - in a plastubsky way, wriggling like little worms, others move sitting on the priest, others pull themselves on their hands, but the most traditional option is cross crawling with alternating arms and legs. It is such a crawl that is most useful, and therefore parents should strive to ensure that the baby moves in this way.
How to teach a child to crawl - recommendations and exercises
How to help your child learn to crawl? First, you need to make sure that most of the time the baby spent on the floor. If the baby is most often in a walker, high chair or crib during wakefulness, it will be very difficult for him to learn to get on all fours and subsequently crawl, and such children can simply skip this important stage. Secondly, it is important to organize a stimulating environment around the child - to lay out bright rattles, cubes, balls. At first, the toys should be approximately at arm's length from the baby, but gradually they need to be moved farther and farther away. Thirdly, when thinking about how to teach a child to crawl, it is important to suppress the desire to fulfill all the requests of a beloved child at his first request. If the little one really wants to consider the toy he likes, you don’t need to give it to him (even if the crumb requires it loudly), but you need to help reach out and pick up the item of interest on your own.
For those who are wondering how to teach a child to crawl, special exercises can be recommended. In order to help the little one get on all fours, you need to put it on the diaper with his tummy, and then slightly raise it by the free edges. If it is difficult for the child to hold in this position, you need to create an emphasis at the back (put a roller or just put your hand to the legs). You can also place a small pillow or curled towel under your tummy and chest. In this case, the baby will be able to stay longer on all fours. Massages (both professional and mother's), gymnastics, swimming (optimally in the children's pool, but also in a large home bath) and exercises on a large inflatable ball are very useful for the baby, with the help of which they can work out the emphasis on the hands.
But even if parents know how to teach a baby to crawl and regularly perform gymnastics and developmental exercises, there is a possibility that by 8-9 months of life, the baby will not crawl on its own. If the rest of the child develops normally, do not panic and sound the alarm, you just need to continue the exercises and stimulate him to crawl in all available ways. Perhaps this baby just needs a little more time to master this skill. There is another interesting way to teach a child to crawl - to show him a personal example (this option works especially well with those children who have long learned to stand on all fours, but do not dare to move forward). And if the pean categorically does not want to crawl, preferring to climb legs and stomp along the support, then it is worthwhile to show a little patience and try to organize training in crawling through the game.