The Time Your Baby Can Crawl
The day when their babies crawl for the first time is exciting for the parents. It is the first day of the partial freedom of babies in their small world. By crawling, babies can finally move towards things they are interested in and explore around. So, it is one of the first important milestones in your baby’s life. However, babies’ arrival at this stage may not be the same for every baby. The answer to the question of “when do babies crawl” will be examined here based on a generalization.
So, you might get worried about your baby if you feel like the time for them to start crawling is passing, but your baby still didn’t start crawling. So, today, we are going to look at the answer to the “when do babies crawl?” question for you.
How a Baby learn to Crawl
Learning how to crawl and move around increases your baby’s happiness and exploration opens their mind to a whole new level of capabilities. Once your baby starts crawling, their development speed will increase gradually. And your whole house will become their playground.
Perhaps you already did it but, like the time your baby start moving around is getting closer, you will start to babyproof your house too. You will need to cover up hard surfaces with soft carpets, repair sharp and loose flooring, and cushion the corners and sharp edges. But first, you need to determine when your baby will start crawling.
There is no one simple answer to the question of “when do babies crawl” without considering some factors. First, the baby needs to get certain muscles strong enough for crawling. In particular, the neck muscles should become strong enough to lift the weight of their head, while the shoulders and back muscles should become strong enough to lift the whole body. You can help your baby to develop these muscles by playing with them in ways that they will use these muscles and develop motor skills (check our related articles for these). When your baby gets strong enough to lift their head, they can start to use their knees and arms slowly to lift their bodies.
To be able to crawl, the baby should also develop certain visual and cognitive skills too. Your baby will need to learn depth perception by focussing near and far objects before crawling. So they can perceive the distance of the point they want to go by crawling. You can help your baby by showing them near and distant objects that can attract their attention. You will notice that they developed this skill when they start to recognize when something is out of their reach.
When Do Babies Crawl?
As pointed out earlier, it is difficult to determine a certain time when babies crawl. Yet, we can assume some time windows.
Depending on the factors we mentioned earlier, your baby can develop the necessary motor skills and cognitive skills in as early as six months. But it is okay if your baby needs a longer time to develop the necessary skills. Typically, it can take up to ten mounts for babies to start crawling.
You may see your baby start moving on their stomach with their arms and legs to push themselves on the surface, and this may last a while. You do not need to worry about your baby’s ability to crawl because of this style. This just a step as they get stronger and learn how to move around.
Also, you should keep in mind that some babies do not experience a crawling period. They may get strong enough fast that they learn how to walk without any need to crawl around. But if you still do not see any means of freely moving either by crawling or walking after your baby’s first birthday, you may consider seeing your pediatrician about this situation.
For answers to questions like “when do babies crawl?” and other topics on baby development, you can check our articles from the same category. You can also read about possible development problems your baby may have and their signs on our related articles. To see more posts on babies and mothers, you can follow us on social media too.
