for all you experienced parents or any one else who can help?

Question

my 3 month old daughter likes to stand and i want to help her crawl. when we are together she just giggles and laughs at the fact that she can stand on her own with the help of daddy. what is the best way to help her learn to crawl. I supervise her very closely when she is on her belly on the floor. i have been told that that helps her. do any of you other parents know of anything else?

Answer 1

Even a very advanced baby is not going to crawl until 5 months so you are very early to worry about this. What's more, there is no advantage to her to try to teach her such things ahead of the curve. All babies do it themselves, when they are good and ready.

You are already giving her plenty of belly time. She has to build up strength in the necessary muscles. Her first move before crawling will be to scoot. Also some babies get very clever and will roll across the room too. Your close supervision when she is on the floor is only necessary from a safety standpoint. It doesn't impact when she will crawl.

The standing she's doing now is great but she's still got a long way to go before that converts to a crawl.

There's not much you can do to speed up the learning curve. I have 3 babies and all crawled between 5 and 5 1/2 months (which is on the early side of normal) and but they walked at very different times - 11 mos, 14 mos and 16 mos. They are now 19, 17 and 11. The oldest and the youngest are the well-coordinated athletes (daughter and son, respectively). They are both extremely intelligent and gifted.

So...what they did as babies, and their different time tables didn't really matter when it came down to how they ultimately developed.

Enjoy her infancy and each stage as it comes. There are many rewards to come. Don't rush her to grow up to fast or you'll be robbing her of the job of doing it as nature intends.

Answer 2

Let her spend lots of supervised time on her tummy. This will build the muscles that she will use for crawling. My daughter hated being on the floor and she didn't crawl until almost nine months even though she is a VERY strong baby (could pick her head right up and turn it the minute she was born). Be careful what you wish for though, once she starts crawling she isn't going to stop! That means she won't stop getting into things either!! LOL and have fun.

Oh and don't worry about bowed legs from standing so young. All babie have bowed legs and supported standing doesn't cause them. If your baby didn't enjoy standing on your lap she would let you know!

Answer 3

I have a ten month old who didn't earn to crawl in the true sense until last month. If you look at developmental milestones, crawling is very often left off as it has been deemed very unimportant. Much more important is your baby's attempts to strengthen the muscles in her legs, stomach and arms. You can do this by giving a great deal of tummy time. There are some studies that indicate that crawling actually delays speech development as babies that crawl late tend to develop words and language faster because they can't get to what they want so they learn to express it orally. While this probably is not always true it definitely makes logical sense. Anyway, your baby is clearly too young to crawl. Try and enjoy the imobile days as once the mobility begins your job only gets that much harder. It is fun too though so I fully understand your excitement and aniticipation.

Answer 4

Its a little early for a 3 month old to start crawling however its important that the baby gets enough tummy time to strengthen the muscles that will be used for crawling. I have a 2 1/12 month old that also loves to stand up. Its all a part of development and muscle strength so that they can walk, crawl, ect.

Answer 5

3 month is not too early for crawling. Some kids crawl early. I experienced same with my daughter. She crawled exactly the day when she became 3 months. But this happened only one time.

You should not help your tiny to crawl now. She will do herself when she complete 6 months. Don't worry about parenting. You will experience it automatically. Any doubts about parenting just ask your Pediatrician.

Enjoy Parenting

Answer 6

As the mother of a 41 year old daughter, I had the opposite problem with her. She would crawl or climb everywhere she wanted to go. She was almost 14 months old before she walked. She apparently didn't see the need for walking, when crawling got her what she wanted. Have you checked with your Pediation and asked him if she is developmentally on schedule? If she is, then don't worry about her, My nephew would stand any chance he could, even before he was born!!!

Answer 7

my son did the same thing. he loved to stand, he would stand all day if possible. but he did not start crawling until the end of 7 months. babies muscles aren't strong enough at 3 months to crawl. but i will tell you what i bought to encourage crawling. they have an inflatable ball at walmart in the baby section the is supposed to promote crawling. it has balls in the middle and bright designs. i think it is $4. also, try putting a toy just out of her reach and make her stretch to get it. this is suppose to help crawling also. once she learns, she is off!!

Answer 8

Hi,
I have raised 4 of my own kids. Babysat/minded many and ran a toddlers playgroup of 30 plus kids for 3 years.
Every child is an individual. A couple of my kids loved the feel of standing on their feet - some didn't. Kids will crawl when they are ready. Lying on tummy is good. Putting objects they like in front of them - just out of reach is sometimes an incentive for them to try to move forward. Your child will let you know when she is ready to do all the stages of crawling/walking. There is no particular time frame for any child to do any thing. Children will set there own pace. Just enjoy each stage as it comes along, because believe me the time will go fast enough as it is.
Good Luck and congratulations on you daughter.

Answer 9

She will crawl in her own time.
My daughter is 7 mos and she started crawling around 51/2 to 6 mos. She too was so excited about being able to stand with help. I work with her everyday to help build leg muscles. Lay her on her back and play a game....put the palms of your hands on the soles of her feet and tell her to push, resist her only a little and when she pushs towards you give her a big "YEA!!!!!!!" or "WOW!!!!!!!" As she gets stronger up the resistance.
When she was able to get on her knees I used to crawl in front of her so she knew what it looked like....I know it sounds silly but it seemed to help.
Also motivate her by putting toys or interesting objects just out of her reach.

Answer 10

She will do it in her own good time. First she has to learn to get up on all fours, then she will hang out for a while rocking back and forth, and then after that she will start moving. My daughter started crawling at five months and walking at seven. Believe me, though it is wonderful to watch them gain these skills, it is not something you want to rush. Once they can move they never stay still! I would hang out with other moms and while they all sat and talked and had lunch I had to run around chasing my daughter down.