Congratulations on your baby! We know parenting can be difficult, especially if it is your first time. During the first year, many developmental changes occur to babies’ bodies, making them acquire new skills each month. This makes parents excessively worried about their baby. Is my baby progressing well? When do babies start crawling? What are the different baby milestones?
The first year in a baby’s life is the one you are likely to remember. You will be amazed by how rapidly your baby develops. So, understanding the different baby milestones like baby crawling and how to help your baby acquire them is crucial.
This article will help you understand the different milestones like crawling, how to prepare your baby to crawl, and what to do if your baby falls behind in some milestones.
Crawling is the step before walking. Because all parents dream of seeing their baby pulling up to stand, walking, and finally running, they are curious to know when do babies start crawling.
The typical motor development of a baby involves rolling over front to back, followed by sitting without support, creeping, crawling, standing, walking, and eventually running. In general, the average age baby crawls is anything from 7 to 10 months.
Make sure that your baby spends enough time on their tummy between 6 and 7 months. This is when they strengthen their neck and torso muscles and start doing mini push-ups. Tummy time is the foundation.
Knowing when your baby crawls is great, but you also need to learn how to help your infant crawl.
Crawling is a motor skill like driving or playing music. You need some practice to master these skills. Same with babies. Your baby will need your support to help him master this skill and move on to a new skill. But how to help my infant crawl?
For babies to crawl, they need to strengthen their neck and back muscles to support themselves on arms and knees.
Following these steps can help:
Babies need tummy time because it can help them learn to use their arms to lift their bodies off the ground. This strengthens their arm and shoulder to help them crawl.
Make sure your baby is awake and alert, and try to never let him sleep on his tummy. Tummy sleeping increases the risk for sudden infant death syndrome in babies. Babies should sleep on the back.
You can also lie on your back and put your baby on your tummy. This can be so much fun for him and can increase your bonding together.
We need to stay motivated to keep working hard on a goal, same thing with babies. You can make crawling interesting by placing the favorite toy or any compelling object in front of him. This can encourage him to move along. Adding a play tunnel can make crawling more interesting.
During baby crawling, try to place your hands behind your child’s feet when he is on all fours. Use your hand to support the moving leg and help it move forward. This can support your baby’s little foot and give it a small push.
If your baby crawls on a slippery surface or crawls wearing leggings, crawling can be very difficult. Try to use a carpet or any other surface that makes crawling easier.
You also want to make sure that the area where your baby plays is safe. Choose an area away from stairs and place household laundry, cleaning, or any chemical products away from him.
When the baby isn’t crawling at the expected age, parents become concerned, especially if they see other babies at the same age achieve these milestones.
It is completely normal if your baby isn’t crawling at the expected age. Some babies use different techniques to crawl, and some even skip crawling.
As long as your baby is progressing in other skills and can move their arms and legs, you should feel reassured. You should only worry when you think your baby is not able to use both sides of the body equally or your baby is behind in other developmental areas like language and social (explained below). If that describes you, feel free to reach out to our physicians at housecall. You can download our app and get your in-person appointment with a pediatrician at home or over the phone, depending on your preference.
Your cutie is not only working hard to learn to move around, but babies master a bunch of other skills at the same time. This is why the different baby milestones by months can cause confusion to parents.
The first time smiling, waving, babbling, and saying words like “ma-ma,” “da-da,” can make mammy’s heart melts. Parenting can indeed be hard, but these moments are what make it fun.
As a result, understanding the different baby milestones by month is essential. Also, it is a great way to see whether your baby is progressing well or not.
We have organized the baby milestones by skill (motor/language/social) to help you avoid any confusion. You will also find baby milestones cards after each month.
Before you read, be aware that babies develop milestones at different ages. It is totally normal if your baby hasn’t achieved a specific milestone yet.
Motor: Raises head and chest when prone and follows objects with eyes from one side of the field of vision to the other.
Language: Your baby should be able to coo (ahh, ooh). Cooing is your baby’s first sound production apart from crying.
Social / Cognitive: Smiles back, recognizes parents and makes brief eye contact.
Motor: Holds head straight, rolls over tummy to back, uses both hands to grab objects and holds and shakes a rattle.
Language: Laughs and makes sounds.
Social / Cognitive: Turns head toward the sound.
Motor: Rolls tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy, sits without support, grabs and transfers objects from one hand to the other, and holds objects with all fingers except the thumb.
Language: Babbling; babbling is making sounds like “pa” or “ba.”
Social / Cognitive: Develops stranger anxiety (distinguishing familiar from unfamiliar faces) and object permanence. But these can also occur from 6 to 9 months. Object permanence is understanding that objects remain present even if they can no longer be seen.
Newborn babies believe that if they don’t see an object, it doesn’t exist. This is why they smile when you play peekaboo with them.
You hide your face and then suddenly appear saying peekaboo. When hiding your face, your baby doesn’t see it, so he thinks you disappeared. When you re-appear, this is what makes him laugh because he is happy that you are back again.
Developing object permanence means that your baby understands that objects exist even if they can’t be seen. This is why playing peekaboo with your baby can help him develop this skill.
Motor: Stands when holding to something, crawls and holds small objects between the tips of the index finger and the thumb.
Language: Says “ma-ma,” “da-da.”
Social / Cognitive: Orients himself to name and develops separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is when babies cry when their caregiver leaves them.
It is time to say happy birthday! After completing their first day, your baby should have acquired these skills:
Motor: Pulls self up to stand, walks around holding onto things, throws objects, and points at objects.
Language: Have a little vocabulary of 1 to 5 words.
Social / Cognitive: Can follow simple commands like come to mommy.
We hope you know have a better understanding of baby milestones and child development. In this article, we discussed crawling, when do babies start crawling, how to help your infant crawl, and the other baby milestones by months. If you still have any queries or you feel that your baby might be having some problem, you can download our app and get your in-person consultation with one of our housecall physicians to examine your baby and discuss all your worries.
When do babies roll over?
Rolling over from tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy can occur by 6-8 months.
When do babies start crawling?
Babies start crawling from 6 to 10 months. It is normal if babies even skip crawling. You shouldn’t be worried if your baby moves both limbs together with no noted weakness on either side. Early crawling is normal.
When do babies start sitting?
Babies should be able to sit without support by 6 months, but it is okay if your baby hasn’t yet since babies can develop milestones at different ages.
When do babies start holding things?
Your baby should be able to hold and shake a rattle by 4 months, grab and transfer objects from one hand to the other and hold objects with all fingers except the thumb by 6-8 months.
● Kotagal S, Garcia-Prats JA, Nordli DR Jr, Kim MS. Neurologic Examination of the Newborn. In: Post TW, ed. UpToDate .Waltham, MA: UpToDate.https://www.uptodate.com/contents/neurologic-examination-of-the-newborn.Last updated May 31, 2016. Accessed June 20, 2017.
● Tao Le, Vikas Bhushan, Deol M, Reyes G. First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK, Tenth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2018
● WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group.. Assessment of sex differences and heterogeneity in motor milestone attainment among populations in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study.. Acta Paediatr Suppl .2006; 450: p.66-75. doi: 10.111
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