Crawling is one of the stages important inbaby developmentthat need attention. Because crawling is the baby's first step in developing the ability to move independently.
Generally, babies will start learning to crawl a few months after he is able to roll over. Crawling is an exercise that babies need to strengthen and prepare the body's muscles for later walking.
Understanding the Function of Crawling in Babies
Usually babies will start crawling when they enter the age of 6-10 months. Gradually your baby will learn to balance his hands and knees. Then he would move back and forth, until finally when he was one year old, he was able to crawl to various corners of the house.
Crawling is a unique experience to train the coordination of baby's body movements, which will later help him in performing various more complex activities, such as eating, wearing clothes, walking, and exercising. Not only that, crawling can also train babies' visuospatial abilities, namely the ability to see and recognize objects, and remember their location.
Although crawling is an important basic stage in baby's motor development, don't be careless when the baby is free to crawl anywhere. Make sure he's in a safe area, so he doesn't get injured by objects around him.
CHow to Help Babies Learn to Crawl
There are several ways that parents can help their baby learn to crawl, namely:
- Make time for tummy time or stomachThis is very important because the prone position can strengthen all the muscles in the baby's body, especially the neck, shoulders, and head which can later help him learn to crawl.
- Teach baby to reach for objects or objects that are placedsurrounding.
You can start by placing a toy or object that he likes in a place not far from his reach, then provoke him to reach for the object. This can help his motor development. However, make sure there are no dangerous objects in the vicinity
- Sget rid of all the stuff candanger for babyMake sure there are no items that could potentially harm or injure the baby while learning to crawl. For example, furniture and goods made of glass, hard, or heavy.
- Avoid baby walkerbaby walker is a device designed to make it easier for babies to walk. However, the use of this tool is also at great risk of causing injury to the baby, especially if not fully supervised by parents.
The speed of development of babies can indeed differ from one another. There are babies who can start learning to stretch at the age of 6 or 7 months, but there are also those who just start crawling when they are 8 to 10 months old. Even some babies may not go through the process of crawling and more quickly to be able to walk.
However, if your baby has reached the age of 12 months and does not show any effort to crawl or move, and does not show good hand and foot coordination when moving, you should consult a pediatrician.
Crawling is one of the baby's growth and development processes that parents need to pay attention to. Consult further with the pediatrician, if the baby seems to have delays or difficulty crawling.