Around eight months, most children make great progress in their development after being seated and before the milestone of the first step. We talk about crawling, a complex movement that opens a whole new world of experiences and discoveries to babies.
But not all babies crawl the same way. Although there are more common crawls than others, some are unusual and surprising. Each baby has its own style to crawl, and here we offer you a small dictionary of crawling styles.
Remember that crawling is the baby's first movement resource to access objects that are far away. You may have learned to turn before, but not with the goal of shifting position. The crawling arises because the child, intellectually and sensually, already has a need to approach the objects that attract him but still does not have the physical competence to do it standing up.
And although it seems that crawling is a stage of development that occurs less and less frequently, it is probably because we alter the natural pace of development of the baby (we want him to walk before), since it is proven crawling arises naturally If there is no "interference."
Crawling is very important, and it doesn't matter so much the way the baby does it, what matters is that you make these movements to get around, and we can also stimulate your crawling. Let's look at the different ways of crawling.
Dictionary of crawling styles
Classic: Although it is called "crawling", in reality the most common form of this displacement is on the knees and hands. Before starting to crawl forward, the baby may move backwards.
Crawl: swimming style, but dry, very rare. It occurs when the child crawls on the belly and moves forward with the arms first and legs later.
Croquette: more than crawling we are talking about lateral displacements with the whole body. The baby turns on itself, helping with legs and arms. They tend to move on to other more effective and faster crawling styles soon, so it is often considered a "pre-crawl."
Culeteo: It is another of the most frequent forms of crawling, especially in recent times in our environment. The baby moves in a sitting position, jumping or falling behind with the back, using one leg flexed and another stretched. It is a very peculiar style and there are studies that indicate that it could be hereditary. However, as we saw a while ago, the cracking is not a natural form of displacement in babies and, although it does not involve any pathology, it could indicate that the baby does not have sufficient freedom of movement.
Cat: It is the closest to the animal that gives name to this movement, since the baby advances, like cats (or dogs, or any animal of similar characteristics) on the feet and on the hands, "on all fours", by way of bridge. It is very rare since it requires more strength and balance than the classic crawl.
Top: with the belly resting on the ground, they move the arms to the side and then the legs, drawing circular paths on the ground, so that the advance is usually not too effective.
Little caterpillar: a difficult and very infrequent style, since the child, face up, arches on his back and drives forward with the help of legs and arms.
Snake: The cat is not the only animal that babies look like in their movements. Crawling like a snake doing this but with a slightly raised belly is the crawling that some babies choose.
In short, we see that they are very different movements but that they have in common that strengthen the muscles and prepare the body for the first steps, apart from the satisfaction for the baby who has achieved a new challenge.
Do you see the style of your children in this little dictionary of crawling? Surely some are missing ... And is that each child has its peculiar way of crawling. Remember that the first step will come soon, and do not forget the safety tips for the child who begins to crawl.
Photos | Kim Love and janetmck on Flickr-CC On Babies and more | Seven reasons why our child may take a long walk, Games for the crawling baby, If you want your child to crawl, don't teach him to walk
