Baby Crawling – What’s Normal?

Many new mums look forward to the day their little bub crawls for the first time. It’s one of the most exciting milestones during those first few months.

That said, it’s also the day life changes, and you can no longer rely on the fact that your baby will be in the same place you left her, should you step away for five minutes!

Most babies begin to try to crawl from around six months, and up to around 9 months.

Crawling is a really important milestone for babies, as it builds up a range of skills.

Crawling strengthens arm and leg muscles, along with muscles in fingers and hands as they begin to reach for different things as they move about.

It also improves hand-eye coordination as bub begins to look around and choose things to grab and touch, which in turn, helps them learn about making decisions.

Of course, as with anything relating to your precious bub, there’s always some level of anxiety, as new mums have certain expectations for the experience.

Most mums associate crawling with the classic hands-and-knees crawl. In this instance, bub bears weight on his hands and knees, moving one arm forward at the same time as the opposite knee.

And while this sort of crawling style is common, it’s not the only way babies first learn to crawl. There are a few other tried and tested crawling styles that are perfectly fine for your baby, as she learns to move about.

Similar to the Classic Crawl, when babies keep their elbows and knees straight, this is known as the Bear Crawl. The idea is that bub resembles a bear. Whether or not that’s accurate, it’s a funny look, but absolutely okay.

A very common first crawl is the Commando, or Belly Crawl. This is when baby lies on her tummy and drags herself across the floor – commando style. You’d be surprised at just how fast babies can move using this style of crawl.

Also enabling quick movement, the Bottom Scooter scoots around on his backside, using his arms to get himself around.

Less common is the Crab Crawl, where bub bucks the trend of moving forwards, using her arms to propel herself backwards or sideways.

And lastly, and hilariously, there’s the rolling crawl, where bub gets around by simply rolling from one place to another.

While each different crawl can look both cute and funny in equal measure, rest assured that they’re all perfectly normal, and will help your bub develop muscle and mind.

Of course, if you have any concerns, get them checked out. But the most important thing to remember is to simply enjoy this exciting milestone.

X click to search
X