For expectant mother 

From how far the child crawls. Exercises to strengthen the muscles of the back. The age at which babies begin to crawl

The earliest and most active children already from 5 months demonstrate this to the world forever. But the overwhelming majority begin to crawl at 6-7 months, and some of the children are "delayed" until the age of 9.

According to research by scientists, there are some differences in the rate of development of girls and boys. So, babies begin to crawl on average 2.5-4 weeks earlier than babies.

Not everyone is born to crawl ...

Some in their development pass the crawling phase and immediately after sitting start walking. Parents should not worry about this, because pediatricians fully "recognize the right" of babies to such behavior. In other words, it is considered a variant of the norm.

How to help your child crawl faster

Experts advise parents to remember that all children develop at an individual pace, and therefore you should not chase after the "neighbor's son Petechka", who began to crawl at 5 months, and regret that their baby had just crawled by 8 months. However, if at the end of the 9th month the child is still, there is a reason to consult a pediatrician about the development of the baby's musculoskeletal system.

There is an opinion that parents can help the child to slightly bring the moment when he can crawl on his own. The simplest exercise for this is carried out as follows. The baby is laid out on the bed with his stomach down and his favorite rattle is placed at a distance of 20 cm in front of him. In an attempt to get the toy, the baby will begin to actively touch its legs and arms, and after a while he will probably be able to crawl to his goal.

However, these exercises have a downside. If the child is not yet ready to crawl and cannot reach the favorite toy, this will only upset him. In this case, you should not provoke him, because the baby himself is interested in studying the world and objects around him. As soon as the baby is ripe for mastering a new skill of movement, he will not need such stimuli or any others at all.

It should be remembered that a child is the same person with character traits, but still dependent, mentally and physically undeveloped. Many

From the moment you are born, yours begins to know the world. First, the baby simply observes everything around him lying down, then learns to stand and, finally,. However, there is an intermediate stage between the skills of standing and walking - crawling. Parents are very happy when their baby starts because it speaks of his normal physical and desire to learn something new.

About timing

As children grow up, they gradually acquire new skills and crawling is one of them. And although each baby is individual, parents still want to know at how many months the baby begins to crawl so as not to miss the moment. As a rule, this skill begins to manifest itself for the first time in -. There are children who do not crawl at all - they learn to sit, then stand and walk straight away. As a rule, these are those who are early placed in the so-called. Usually, the stage of crawling movement ends by when the baby has already learned to take the first steps, holding hand or furniture.


Crawling stages

Experienced parents know that until the moment when the child begins to crawl fully on all fours, he has two more stages.

Did you know? Newborns do not have knee caps. They form only by the age of six months.

On bellies

This method is taught to adult men in the army, but children are taught independently. Moreover, the first skills appear immediately after birth. If you put the baby on his stomach and give him a fulcrum in the form of his palm, he will reflexively begin to push off and move forward. However, these movements have nothing to do with conscious crawling. Having learned to hold his head well and roll over, the baby tries to move forward, pulling up the torso and legs.


At the same time, he bends his legs at the knees and pushes them slightly off the surface. At what age a child begins to crawl in this way depends on when he began to feel confident lying on his stomach.

Intermediate stage

Having mastered the first skills of moving on the stomach, the baby begins to raise the body above the surface. These first attempts are still hesitant, he staggers from side to side. Standing on all fours, he alternately puts his arms forward, pulling his legs to them. Often children at this stage will move backward until they understand what to do and how to do it.

Crossover

The child will learn to crawl quickly and confidently after he can sit well. This means that the muscles of the back and neck are strong enough to withstand the load. It is convenient to get on all fours from a sitting position, which simplifies the task. Standing on all fours, the baby begins to alternately move his arms, while simultaneously making cross movements of his legs.


Factors affecting the movement of the baby

When babies start to crawl depends on several factors:

Did you know?It has been noticed that girls learn to crawl and sit faster than boys.

  • the baby has a direct impact, since it is more difficult for a chubby toddler to keep his body in his arms;
  • development of the musculoskeletal system - the stronger the joints and the more developed the muscles, the faster the baby will be able to keep the body on weight;
  • development of the nervous system, since any movement is coordinated by the brain;
  • peculiarities of individual development - all children learn about the world in different ways, everyone has their own ways of doing it;
  • children born a little behind in the development of the ability to crawl and begin to do it somewhere.


Should I panic if the child is not crawling?

Often, parents, especially if they have a first-born, succumb to panic at the slightest discrepancy between one or another skill of their child and age guidelines. If the baby is more than 6 months old, and he is not even going to crawl, this is not a reason to be nervous.

Important! According to neuropathologists, when children begin to crawl, it is even more important than the first steps. This skill has a positive effect on development, and also contributes to the establishment of a strong connection between the cerebral hemispheres.

First, you need to exclude the following reasons:

  • excess weight that interferes with physical activity;
  • closed space - the baby must be released from the crib "free", where there are so many interesting things;
  • type of temperament - children who are calm from birth, later begin not only to crawl, but also to walk;
  • there is no need - if the baby is served everything he wants so quickly.


If the listed reasons are excluded, and the pediatrician does not see any abnormalities in the physical development of the child and the functioning of the nervous system, then the baby can be helped to master crawling.

How to help a baby

Children acquire most of the vital skills on their own as they develop. This also applies to crawling. However, if the baby is hesitant to budge, he can be encouraged to do so. To do this, surround it with bright and interesting ones that you need to reach. Also praise him more often for his successes. Try to show him how to crawl - children love to repeat after their parents.


Massage and will have a positive effect not only on the ability to crawl, but also on the entire body as a whole. There are also special exercises, such as "frog" or with a roller.

Important!It is much more comfortable for children to crawl on the floor than on the couch. First, you need to lay a blanket or bedspread and make sure there are no potentially dangerous objects in the reach.

Undoubtedly crawl- an important stage in the natural and full-fledged development of babies and the age at which children begin to crawl largely depends not only on the characteristics of their development, but also on the desire of parents to deal with their child. However, parents should just help, and not force the baby. Your baby must want to crawl himself, and coercion can only harm the child's body.

When a child crawls, it contributes to the development of the musculoskeletal system, and also significantly affects the development of the entire nervous system of the baby. All mothers, without exception, ask the question: when does the child start to crawl and sit?

It is well known that each baby develops according to an individual scheme, the first inclinations for crawling in children appear when they are not yet six months old. This is due to the fact that many children have muscle tone. And some children do not and do not crawl at all, they learn to sit, and then immediately begin to walk.

If your baby has not started crawling or sitting, be sure to see a doctor by 8-9 months to have a musculoskeletal system checked. On average, babies begin to crawl between 5 and 6 months and crawl well by 7 months. But this is in general. From the very first days, the baby can be provoked to crawl. To do this, you need to make a support with your hand, for the legs of the child lying on the stomach, you will see how the child begins to crawl. Over time, this reflex fades away. But regular activities with the child contribute to the early development of this skill.

The boy crawls and sits down in the range of 5 to 7 months. As soon as the back muscles get stronger. These are the average dates taken from the child development charts. But as mentioned above, times may vary. And this should not be regarded as a lag in the development of the child and prematurely panic.

Girls a month or two earlier. 4 to 6 months. Experts say that it is not worth planting the girl early. There may be consequences in the future. But if the baby herself sat down or crawled, there is no need to stop her.

At how many months does the baby begin to crawl on all fours?

As a rule, the child begins to crawl on all fours after learning to sit, most often this can occur at the age of 6-7 months. It is by this age that your child can already perfectly hold his head, look around. The muscles in his back are already strong enough to withstand the stress of his own body.

It will take another one - two months to work out the change of position, sitting in a pose on all fours. The baby will begin to swing like a praying mantis, kneeling forward and backward. And only about 2 to 4 weeks later, the child will understand how to start moving. He will begin to actively train and will soon be able to sit down from a position on all fours.

Get ready for numerous falls, without it, no matter how. Until the baby learns to move in concert in pairs: the right hand and left leg, the left hand and right leg, he will collapse, hit his head, nod on the floor. You can cover the area with a blanket, but do not do it too softly, this will cause even more inconvenience and curvature of posture. The surface should be moderately hard.

On their bellies / on the stomach - pressing the body tightly to the floor.

Many are worried about this method, due to the fact that we are more accustomed to watching children crawl on all fours. But there is nothing wrong with this method.

If the baby independently began to move in space, but does not do it the way he wants, the parents do not need to retrain or stop him.

The child learns the world and does it as it is more convenient for him. It is possible that his style will soon change, again due to the fact that he will find a more comfortable way to crawl - to move.

Some neuropathologists claim that this method of movement is no less useful for the development of the baby. And they have already proved that children who crawled on their bellies, before getting on all fours, growing up, have a penchant for exact sciences and think logically much better.

Conclusion. In general, the development of the skill to sit and crawl occurs alone, whether it is a boy or a girl, does not mean any role, there is just a slight difference in time. Which way of crawling your child chooses or skips this stage and immediately goes the same way does not depend on gender.

Often, parents dream that their little child will quickly become an adult and learn to roll over, sit down, crawl, stand up and finally walk. However, one should not be proud that the baby walks independently from the age of six months.

All pediatricians believe that skipping the crawling stage does not give positive results, since walking directly creates a powerful load on the baby's spine. In the process of crawling, the spinal muscles, which are responsible for maintaining the body in a standing position, are developed and developed.

In addition to the development of muscles during crawling, the child develops thinking, since the brain has to work hard for the coherence of the mechanism for alternating arms and legs.

The age at which babies begin to crawl

After the baby has learned to roll over, after about three months, he can begin to look at many interesting objects. Those that I could not notice in the supine position. And after that, for the first time, he tries to get these toys, reaching for them, and after a while he completely crawls up to them on his tummy. When the baby turns six months old, parents begin to wonder at what age he will crawl for real.

Some children can crawl as early as five months, but in most cases it starts from six months, and at nine months he begins to make attempts to sit down on his own, after a good strengthening of the muscles of the back, legs and arms.

Large children sometimes cannot crawl even at the age of eight months, then the pediatrician recommends taking massage courses to strengthen the muscles of the back. Correct crawling as a stage in the development of a baby must necessarily take place on all fours in order to thereby prepare for the next stage - walking.

Crawling stages

Each baby is individual, therefore, the stage-by-stage of its development can take place differently than that of any other child. Some early begin to crawl on their tummy, while others almost immediately crawl crosswise on all fours. And for still others, any of these stages may be absent altogether.

The first stage is crawling on the tummy, and it can be in different directions (sideways, backwards, or generally on bellies).

The second stage is full crawling. The child puts both arms in front of him and then with sharp movements puts his legs to them, all this resembles clumsy jumps, similar to frogs. And there is another option - the baby is on all fours and sways back and forth, and then tries to put the handles in turn in front of him and pushes his legs towards them. Both of these methods clearly show how the child begins to crawl.

The third stage is the most difficult, which includes a cross crawl, in which the right leg is extended simultaneously with the left hand and vice versa, creating clear and well-coordinated movements.

After the child has learned to make good rolls from back to tummy and vice versa, he will begin to rise for a short time with his forearms, it is at this moment that you can begin to perform some exercises that contribute to the start of crawling.

Ball Exercise

This exercise perfectly develops children's back muscles and even helps to relieve colic in babies (if they have not stopped after 3 months). We put the baby on the ball with our stomach and hold it in the armpits. If the ball is gently rocked back and forth, the child will learn to arch their back while contracting important muscles for crawling.

Exercises for pens

These exercises will help strengthen the muscles in your arms and back. The baby lies on the back, while the mother should take him by the handles so that he catches her thumb. Then the mother should smoothly raise the baby's arms up and down. It will be good if you spread the arms to the sides, and then cross them at the baby's chest. Only after that, you need to try to slowly raise it by the hands (approximately until an angle of 45 ° C is formed) and then slowly lower it.

Flip exercise

This gymnastics will help to master rolling over if the baby cannot do it confidently. Mom needs to put her thumb in the baby's palm and hold his hand firmly. After that, direct the baby's body to overturn. In this case, the mother needs to hold his left leg, helping to turn the pelvic area.

Frog Pose Exercise

The child lies on the back, and the mother should take his legs by the shins and start slowly and smoothly transferring them into a bent state, like a frog, and then slowly straighten them. After that, you need to turn the baby over on his stomach and do the same, only additionally let him try to push off from his mother's hands and move forward.

The main requirement when performing these exercises is a calm, smooth and affectionate treatment of the child. This will help maintain his positive emotional attitude and form a favorable attitude towards such gymnastics.

Muscle strengthening massage

Of course, if a doctor has prescribed a special massage for your baby for treatment and recovery, then only a medical professional can carry it out. But if you want to give your little one a simple massage that will strengthen the general muscle group and help make the child more active in crawling, then you can do it yourself.

The main thing is not to forget that the skin of young children is very delicate, so at home you should limit yourself only to stroking. Do not under any circumstances massage immediately before or after feeding, wait at least half an hour. Once a day is sufficient.

Before exercising with your baby, remove all of your jewelry so that it cannot injure your baby's skin. The duration of the massage should not exceed ten minutes. And if the baby is crying and he does not like the massage, then stop doing it altogether.

It is recommended to stroke the arms, legs and back of the baby will give him, in addition to the healing effect, also emotional balance. The handles need to be stroked both outside and inside - the palm, starting from the hands to the forearms. We massage the legs from the feet to the thighs, while going around the joints of the knees. The backrest is stroked from top to bottom and vice versa. After all these strokes, you need to gently knead them with the same sequence.

There are situations when children do not want to crawl on the floor, although they already crawl well on the crib. And in this case, the baby just needs a little help.

Training and assistance

If your baby is developing correctly, then starting at the age of 5 months, you can begin to prepare him for crawling. The best place for this activity is the floor, of course, clean and covered with a carpet or blanket. It is necessary to put the baby on the floor and place a small roller under his chest. Then we show him a toy that he loves and put it at a short distance so that the child has a desire to reach for it. At the heels, you need to organize an emphasis on mother's hands or a wall and help the baby push off from him.

Instead of your favorite toy, you can put new items that are safe for him. The baby must have an interest in achieving this goal, otherwise there will be no success. After each successful attempt, you need to praise him, despite the fact that he may not understand the words, however, your intonation, approving his actions, and the mood will feel very well.

Personal example

A good example can be a great incentive for a baby, if, for example, mom or dad will show themselves how to crawl correctly, the baby will certainly begin to imitate this. It is worth noting that parents, crawling along the future "paths" of the baby, will be able to identify places or objects of space that are unsafe for him, for example, sharp corners of wardrobes and so on. Any parental encouragement will give an impetus to even greater activity of the child in crawling. Then, after gaining some crawling experience, you can complicate his task somewhat by creating obstacles in the way. This can be: a small barrier, a passage under a chair, or many of any simple ones in your opinion. This will help the baby to become even more active, such an activity can become a pleasant game for him.

Let's summarize

Belly on the tummy - after six months the baby begins to crawl, it depends on the individual characteristics of development and the readiness of the body for this stage. If, after eight months, the child does not even try to crawl, it is worth contacting a doctor. Good development and prevention of various diseases depends only on the efforts and patience of the parents. In order for the child's muscles to be active, it is recommended to give him a professional massage and do independent exercises at home.

Some kids who have learned to roll over on their tummy try to move around with their arms and legs, spin in circles or crawl backwards. Average, on their bellies, the baby begins to crawl from eight months, while lifting the body, he focuses on the handles and pulls the heifers to himself.

On all fours - from nine months the child knows how to stand on all fours and tries to move, swinging back and forth. The process of crawling must be timely in order to develop the back muscles that will support it while walking. Full confident and synchronized crawling begins at about ten months. The pinnacle of skill in this matter is cross crawling.

According to statistics, girls start doing everything earlier, including crawling.

Crawling is an important process that only has a positive effect on a child's development. It strengthens motor skills, brain function and the basis for the formation of speech. Help your child, and then he will be persistent, purposeful and resilient.

How to teach a child to crawl (video)

There is nothing more exciting than witnessing obvious progress in a child's development. The two very first achievements for a child are learning to sit and, after a while, begin to crawl. Every parent looks forward to the first signs that a child is growing up, trying to sit up on his own, trying to move from his seat unaided, driven by a thirst for adventure and a desire to be more independent. In order not to miss a significant event, you need to roughly understand how many months the child begins to sit and how many months the child begins to crawl. Not to mention that in the latter case, he may need your help, so it is worth having at least some idea of ​​how to teach a child to crawl.

When a child begins to sit, he acquires a completely new perspective on the world around him and a little more independence. Over time, the muscles in the back and neck will become strong enough to support the child in an upright position, and an understanding of how to position the legs more comfortably will come. You can help your child in this matter by carefully placing your legs in a V-shape so that he can maintain balance and sit comfortably without falling on his side. When a child begins to sit on his own and play, go about his business, the moment is not far when he begins to crawl and, sooner or later, walk.

As for how many months the child begins to sit, then with great confidence it is possible to name the period from 4 to 7 months. It all starts with the first attempts to roll over and raise your head, which gradually strengthens the muscles, preparing them for the next big step. By the age of 8-9 months, almost all children are already able to sit without any help and support from their parents. You can participate in this process by helping your child to strengthen the muscles in the neck and back. Encourage games that can be played while lying on your stomach, and from time to time draw the child's attention to an object or sound that will make him look up and up. If the child has not learned to sit by 9 months, there is no need to panic, since all children develop in different ways, but it is worth mentioning this when visiting a family doctor or therapist.

AT HOW MANY MONTHS DOES THE BABY BEGIN TO Crawl?

Having learned to sit more or less confidently, the child is already ready to learn to crawl. Crawling is the very first way a child can get around on their own. There is no need to wait until they pick you up, carry and put you in prison, you can fully explore the suddenly opened world full of possibilities, unknown nooks and dark corners. For many parents, it is very important to know how many months the child begins to crawl in order to have time to secure the apartment by that time, having pasted over all sharp corners and making sure that there is nothing on the floor that can injure the child. Most kids start learning to crawl. from 7 to 10 months, around the same time that they had already learned to sit.

How to teach a child to crawl

After the muscles in the neck and back have received their fair share of training, it will be the turn of the muscles in the arms and legs. Over the course of a couple of months, your child will gradually move from a sitting position to all fours and start rocking back and forth, eventually realizing that pushing off with his knees can move. The rest is a matter of practice.

Of course, parents can help the young discoverer in this difficult task. In fact, you do not need to puzzle about how many months the child begins to crawl and how to teach the child to crawl, children do most of the work on their own at the level of instincts, but there are several ways to speed up or facilitate this process.

  1. For example, long before your child begins to sit and crawl, devote more time to playing on your stomach. This helps to strengthen the muscles needed for movement.
  2. You can also motivate your child to move by placing toys and objects of interest at a distance from him, but still in his field of vision.
  3. To improve speed and self-confidence, you can organize small obstacles in the path in the form of pillows or boxes so that the child learns to maneuver.
  4. Closely monitor the progress and movements of your child, especially if you have not previously secured the apartment.

Has the child learned to sit and crawl? It's about time.