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Crawling:

Parents always want their child to hurry up and do everything. Babies and milestones, the two seem to go hand in hand. But, sometimes your little one just may not be very motivated to crawl across the room, sometimes as old as 9 months. If this is the case with your child, or you would just like to start trying to help them crawl early, there are a few tricks that can help them along.

First, you can have your baby up on their knees before they can even sit up. You do not have to wait until they reach a certain age or milestone before you can help them attempt new things. Simply lay them on their belly, and scoot their legs up underneath them. Babies tend to straighten their legs back out when you bend them, so when you get them up on their knees, you will want to keep your hand on the bottom of their feet. Then, when they straighten their legs, it will help them scoot forward.

After you have done this with your child enough that they realize they are getting somewhere by straightening their legs, then you can lay a toy in front of them a few feet away. This way, they have something to head toward. Or, another option is to have one parent or another close relative in front, and one behind her. Just make sure she wants to go to the person that is in front, otherwise she might end up twisting around to get to the person at her feet.

Once they do start crawling, it often happens very quickly. Once a baby takes those first few strides, it is often within a week or so that they are crawling all over the place. You will want to prepare yourself, and your house, for this. Babies crawling around means they are finally mobile, which means that a lot of stuff is now in their reach that wasn't before. This means that now is the best time to babyproof your house.

Another thing that people forget to warn parents of, and it is something most new parents don't really think about until it's too late, is what your baby should wear while crawling or even just scooting. Carpet burn is a painful thing for older children, it is especially painful for little babies just learning to crawl. If they are just in a diaper or onesie or any other type of clothing that leaves their little knees exposed, it is inevitable. And, if every time your baby starts to scoot, they experience tremendous pain, they aren't likely to want to try it very often.

To avoid extreme carpet burn, you will want to put pants on the baby when they will be on the floor scooting or trying to crawl. This works out very well for those babies who reach crawling age during the cooler parts of the year, but what about those who start trying to crawl during the middle of the summertime? It is best if you can keep the air conditioner at a temperature that is cool enough for the baby to wear pants, or at least long outfits that cover the knees. Some onesies are made so that they fit the baby to just under the knees. These are the best kinds to buy for this time period.

Another thing to remember about crawling is that all babies are different. Some babies start crawling as early as four months old, while some babies crawl around nine months. There are even some babies who will skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. Most parents tend to gauge how smart their baby is based on what other babies are doing at their age, but this is not a good thing to do. How early your baby accomplishes certain milestones does not translate into how smart they are, nor does it transfer into when they will accomplish other milestones.

My oldest son started crawling at four and a half months old, but didn't walk until he was 14 months old. He apparently felt he got around plenty fast enough by crawling. His cousin, however, didn't start crawling until she was eight months old, but she started walking a month later. So, while it is important to work with your child to help them learn how, it is just as important not to worry about them if they don't begin crawling as soon as you believe they should.

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