Helping Baby Crawl On Hands & Knees
“My 7.5 month old has been army crawling for 6-7 weeks, getting up onto all fours and rocking for about two weeks. How can I help support these mini milestones so they develop into crawling?”
ANSWER - Ahh totally, your LO sounds so close! Obstacles in their path can be super helpful for that progression, and you can also try this trick...
It seems kind of crazy but I swear it is MAGIC for those babies that are up on all fours, rocking, starting to maybe take one-two creeping steps on hands and knees before dropping, etc!
Crawling on hands and knees is TOUGH- it takes a lot of strength and coordination through a lot of big, powerhouse muscle groups. Many times, babies brains are telling them they want to go go go before their bodies are ready to execute the crawl because of that, which is when we often see things like army crawling! I LOVE this hack because in my opinion, it really helps those babies that are right on the cusp, who REALLY want to do it and are just finishing up that last piece of coordination for moving opposite hand and leg. It lets them feel the weight shift needed to get forward progression of crawling on hands and knees, and is usually SO fun for them because it really helps match up their body with their desire to GO!
How to Help Your Baby Crawl on Hands and Knees
*The key is to use something that pretty much covers from armpits to hips so that there isn’t any specific pressure in one spot. I find scarves to be perfect!**
Then, just gently unweight them, meaning lift the scarf upwards towards you. This makes it just a touch easier for them to weight shift.
As they start to move one arm, shift AWAY from the arm they are lifting *just* slightly. This helps them finish that weight shift and progress the arm.
Repeat on the other side!
Again, this should FUN! if they aren’t happy with this, don’t push it! Some babies are totally okay with a little boost, and some babies really want to just do it on their own. Either is okay.
If you need a visual, you can check out this post!
Hope this helps!
Looking for More Milestone Support?
For developmental questions, tips and guidance related to milestones about tummy time, rolling & sitting, crawling and walking, check out KC’s developmental Masterclasses linked here.
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