Teaching DD to crawl?

[happymom]

DD is 8 1/2 months old and does not crawl yet. I am not at all shocked as DH's family crawls and walks very late. As a matter of fact, my 12 month old nephew *just* started to crawl. DD gets around very well by rolling and pivoting and rolling some more. My question is, is there anything I should do to encourage her to crawl (besides just putting toys a little out of reach) Or should I just wait it out patiently :innocent:?

[brittone2]

Nah, just lots of floor time. 8.5 months is still well within the normal range for crawling. As long as you and your ped do not have any other concerns about her development I would not worry or do anything special other than making sure she gets lots of opportunity for playing on the floor.

FWIW, I always found the biggest "no no" items often were the best crawling incentives when I worked in EI. Obviously you need to be quick and a bit daring, but things like eyeglasses (non prescription so you won't freak if they get damaged), a pen, the remote control, a telephone, etc. are often great motivators LOL. The things they typically aren't permitted to have access to. Just use caution obviously ;)

[KrisM]

Nah, just lots of floor time. 8.5 months is still well within the normal range for crawling. As long as you and your ped do not have any other concerns about her development I would not worry or do anything special other than making sure she gets lots of opportunity for playing on the floor.

FWIW, I always found the biggest "no no" items often were the best crawling incentives when I worked in EI. Obviously you need to be quick and a bit daring, but things like eyeglasses (non prescription so you won't freak if they get damaged), a pen, the remote control, a telephone, etc. are often great motivators LOL. The things they typically aren't permitted to have access to. Just use caution obviously ;)

:yeahthat:

DS1 didn't crawl until 10 months, but he was scooting a bit before that. The phone and the remote were what got his interest to move.

[happymom]

DD definitely WANTS to move, she just hasnt figured out to get on all fours yet. If I put my cell phone a couple inches out of her reach, she will roll one direction and reach for it. If that doesnt work, she will roll the other direction and reach. If she still hasnt gotten it, she will give a frustrated "eek!" and just look for something else to play with. What's amazing though, is how much she really CAN get around just by rolling and pivoting.

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just have to be patient ;)

[Piglet]

I never crawled as a baby, but I do it just fine today :)

Patience... it is hard when everyone thinks she is ready, but she will do it one day.

[happymom]

I never crawled as a baby, but I do it just fine today :)



LOL. I actually just heard a story about this. Someone told me that her friend's son (yeah...that would be a third-hand story...so take it with a grain of salt) was having difficulty major learning how to read. He was in 3rd or 4th grade, and they still hadnt figured out the problem. His doctor asked the mother if he had ever crawled as a baby, and she said no. He had the child start doing crawling exercises and within a short time, the boy was reading. Apparently, crawling helps develop certain parts of the brain that are needed for reading (crossing midline). I dunno how true this story is. But anyways, you seem to be reading ok, piglet! ;)

[Piglet]

Fwiw I started reading at 3 1/2 so I either learned to crawl by then or the correlation is not a strong one. Interesting...

[Snow mom]

LOL. I actually just heard a story about this. Someone told me that her friend's son (yeah...that would be a third-hand story...so take it with a grain of salt) was having difficulty major learning how to read. He was in 3rd or 4th grade, and they still hadnt figured out the problem. His doctor asked the mother if he had ever crawled as a baby, and she said no. He had the child start doing crawling exercises and within a short time, the boy was reading. Apparently, crawling helps develop certain parts of the brain that are needed for reading (crossing midline). I dunno how true this story is. But anyways, you seem to be reading ok, piglet! ;)

I don't know about this. Certainly a lot of people think crawling is a very important milestone that you have to go back to if you skip but this story might just be coincidence. My older brother skipped crawling and was walking at 8 months. He also was doing 8th grade math in Kindergarten when they made him go back to crawling. Maybe he would have been an easier act to follow if they had just allowed him to skip crawling ;).

OP, my DD just started crawling at 8 1/2 mos but once it clicked she was off and moving pretty quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if your DD has very little incentive to crawl considering she gets around well without it. I suppose it couldn't hurt to model crawling when you are on the floor playing with her.

[ourbabygirl]

Hang in there! DD *just* started crawling on Saturday... I was worried and stressed about it for the last couple of months, since she'll be 11 months next Saturday and I didn't know if she'd ever do it. I was seriously searching for threads on these boards on Friday night because I needed reassurance that she'd either do it eventually, or if she didn't, she'd (and I'd :) ) be o.k.
She had pushed backwards, you name it, but hadn't crawled forwards. Any time we put her on all 4s lately, she'd push herself up to sitting (splits position). We tried motivating her w/toys and stuff, but nothing worked. Finally DH was home alone w/her for a few hours on Saturday morning, and called me and said "Guess who's crawling?" He had motivated her with his iPhone! Guess she'll be a techie like her dad. I tried w/my phone when I got home, but didn't get her to go nearly as far as when he did it with his iPhone! Another thing that worked pretty well is our digital camera. The other things (remote, water bottle, toys, the cat), haven't been (as) successful.
Good luck! She's still got a lot of time, as far as I'm concerned :tongue5:!

[happymom]

Thank you all for your replies. I feel much better! The funny thing is, I know that once she's crawling and getting into everything, I will probably miss the days when I could put her down and not worry too much about what she's getting into :)

Piglet, reading at 3 1/2! Thats impressive!! Yeah, I wasnt too convinced about the crawling-reading correlation.

Snow mom, special thanks to you. I know our DD's are the same age and I've noticed you always take the time to reply to many of my threads. I appreciate it!

Ourbabygirl, your post made me smile. Its nice to hear from someone who understands the anticipation!

Thanks again. You guys are great. :applause:

[eda]

We just had our 9 month check up. My DD does not crawl either but she does roll to what she wants and will scoot herself. The pediatrician said that developmentally "log rolling" is the same as crawling and not to worry.

[DrSally]

DD didn't start until 10 months. I agree with Beth, the biggest "no-no's" were big incentives for her to go from stretching for things to moving for things.

[twowhat?]

My girls didn't crawl until 10 months (they were born full-term). They both began to crawl, on the same day, for...drum roll please...

An emery board.

[DrSally]

My girls didn't crawl until 10 months (they were born full-term). They both began to crawl, on the same day, for...drum roll please...

An emery board.

:ROTFLMAO: DD crawled for DS's mini carribeaner