She Crawls

Oh man, I have less than one day to baby-proof the house.

In case you cannot read in between the letters of the previous sentence, Caeli has begun to crawl. Her scooting – since June – has been cute and more recently, in a circle. Thanks to our friends at Kidsource Katie and Ronda, Little Miss Sunshine is becoming more mobile by the day. We’ve heard all along that babies do things when they are ready, but as we near her eleventh month birthday, we began to worry about her physical development. It’s wonderful that she sits up and can roll from tummy to back and vice versa to retrieve toys, yet the day has come for Caeli to put it all together.

Keep in mind she was born nearly four months premature; every day is an exciting day even if we’re at home chillin’ out and playing on the laminate floor as I watch her try to eat Daddy’s cell phone.

Most babies master crawling between seven and ten months of age, but they work on their own time. Some start earlier than seven months, and others begin later – if they do not skip crawling altogether and start pulling themselves up by using furniture. Not all babies crawl the same way; in our case, Little Miss Sunshine does a hybrid army crawl along with the natural crawl depending on her surface space. It gets her wherever she wants to go, and for the rest of the time, we are right there with her. Crawling does take a bit of practice, and if Caeli isn’t in beast mode next month for her first birthday, it’s okay; she’s on the way.

To get to this point, Caeli had to first master sitting up without help. This required muscle strength to stay upright, and moved into a sitting position where she has discovered that she can stay in position in all fours, rock to and fro, and spin around in a circle. Once she was able to push off from her knees, the baby found that she could move! Seven weeks ago, she couldn’t sit up; after some practice (and pillows), she has it down!

Babies need to build up muscle strength before they are able to start crawling. This can be done in a number of effective ways:

1)      Tummy time. I can tell you for a fact that Caeli disliked tummy time – leave her on the mat for more than ten minutes and see what happens. Nevertheless, it was still extremely important that she did get that time on her stomach (or Daddy’s beer gut to feel safe) to work on her own muscles. Every time she looks up at me or her mother, she is doing a mini workout. MMA comes a little later.

2)      Wrap it up. Carrying a baby defeats the purpose of her own independent strength, right? Not entirely – as Caeli shuffles around in wraps, slings, and shoulders, she is getting stronger all the time. As she looks up to observe the rest of the big world, she is improving her neck strength.

3)      Make it fun. We usually keep three to five toys on her mat to mix things up, one of which is her favorite toy Cody the Smart Pup. If you’ve never seen Cody, he’s the blue puppy in the toy aisle of Wal-Mart, Babies R Us, etc. that uses his maracas to teach counting and language skills reinforcing what we are already giving her. As Cody instructs the baby to give him a little push, Caeli slaps him and he comes right back for more. While crawling is the prime objective, make sure the baby is having fun.

4)      Moving toys. A couple of toys that move may encourage the baby to start crawling. You may use trains, cars, or balls that travel outside of her reach as she plays with them.

5)      Time limits. Try to limit the amount of time your baby spends in a car seat, pram, or bouncer. Babies need time to move and explore in order to master new skills, so give them the freedom to do this.

6)      Don’t stress yourself out. Don’t compare your baby to what the other infants her age are doing, push her to move when she isn’t ready or get hung up on her next moves. Have fun and support her as she learns a new skill.

Now that Caeli is crawling, now what?

Beyond the congratulatory pat on the back, I need to be certain that the house is baby-proofed. One way to do this is to actually crawl around the pad. What do I see that would be dangerous to Caeli?

Dangling wires, extension cords, sharp corners, and cupboard doors are all things to look out for. Fortunately, I do not have to worry about a stairgate as our home is single-level. By safeguarding our home, I can allow her to explore with supervision, of course. We also have to really work on keeping the floors clean now that she is living her own adventure. Remember, babies explore the world by putting everything in their mouths, and this includes, food crumbs, loose change, buttons from shirts and jackets, and the leaves or other pebbles that get tracked into the kitchen during the days I am working the smoker or after the grass gets mowed.

If you experience any delays with your baby by her first birthday, contact your healthcare provider!