How to teach a child to crawl on all fours

The growth and development of the baby is a huge number of small and large victories, especially in the first year of the baby's life. First, the baby learns to hold the head on its own, lies on the stomach, lifts the body of the body in his hands. By four months, children learn to roll over, by six months - they sit without help. All these terms are quite conditional and exemplary, because children are completely different. Someone was born large, such plump children tend to master the skills of later peers. Thin kids move fast and by 6-7 months they are actively crawling around the house and exploring everything new. How to help your baby quickly master this skill? How to teach a child to crawl on all fours?

The child often does not crawl for two main reasons. The first is underdevelopment of the muscles.That is, if the muscles of the back, legs, neck are not strong, the child simply will not be able to crawl. In this case, we need to strengthen the physical condition of the crumbs, we will talk about this a little later. The second reason why the baby refuses to crawl is because the child simply does not know how to do this and, most likely, he has already learned to move in his own way. Such children can crawl in their cradling, move on the bottom or even move in walkers. In this case, the child must be retrained. But how so, many mothers are surprised, because there are children who have never crawled, but immediately started walking. Indeed, there is, but it is not very useful for the body of the child.

Doctors orthopedists say that the crawling skill perfectly strengthens the cervical and lumbar spine, it is an excellent prevention of diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Another advantage of crawling is to control the work of the right and left side of the body, both hemispheres are working in the process, which affects the development of neurological skills. When the baby crawls, a soft massage of the fingertips occurs - fine motor skills develop, this stimulates the development of the speech of the crumbs in the future.Therefore, if the baby is not crawling, you just need to teach him that.

When to teach a baby to crawl

All children are individual, and their physical abilities manifest themselves at different ages. However, there are certain norms and their boundaries, when the baby learns a particular skill. Hurry up the child is not worth it - the crumb will begin to move itself independently only when the muscles of the back and neck become stronger. The most active babies start crawling on all fours already from 5-6 months and do it pretty quickly. But on average, children learn to crawl at 7-9 months. Closer to the year, if the child has not learned to crawl, his craving for independent movement leads to the fact that the crumb begins to walk earlier than his peers. But do not neglect this important period of physical development of the baby. If your child is 6-10 months old, you can easily strengthen his muscles with a massage, exercise, water procedures. At the end of any physical activity, it is important to show the baby how he should crawl, guide the legs and arms in the necessary movement, because the children's muscle memory works perfectly.Repeat the necessary movements with arms and legs of the child 10-20 times, after a while he will be able to perform them independently.

How to strengthen the muscles of the child with the help of massage

The development of muscles occurs daily and every minute, when the baby reaches for a toy, tries to hold the spoon correctly, plays with cubes or builds a pyramid. However, the process of strengthening muscles can be accelerated, for this we will use three important ways - massage, exercise and water treatments. The main thing is to do everything consistently, without coercion, gently and patiently. Let's start with the massage.

1. The first thing you need to choose the time of "training." It is best to perform the procedure for an hour before bedtime, a couple of hours after eating. The baby should not be fed or hungry, he should not want to sleep - choose a time when the crumbs do not cut teeth, do not hurt the tummy and he has a good mood.
2. For the massage you need to prepare a flat horizontal surface, for example, a table. Lay a thin blanket and a clean diaper on top. Of course, a greater effect can be achieved from professional massage, however, maternal manipulations will also help the child.Also, for massage you will need massage oil or fat cream, so that there is no strong friction with the skin. Before and during the massage, try to keep in touch with the baby, calm his voice and smile. If the mother is near, she is calm and joyful, the baby will not be scared.
3. Strip the baby naked, the room should be warm enough. Put the child on his back and gently stroke the baby's skin, so you warm up the body and prepare it for a massage. If using new massage oil, start with a small application to check if your child is allergic to this product.
4. Massage begins with the legs, or rather, with the feet. Take the baby's foot, gently massage the foot, heel, each finger, the back side with circular and rubbing movements.
5. Next come the legs - first the calf area to the knee, then the hips. Movement should be directed outside, this prevention of leg curvature.
6. After the legs are carefully massaged one after the other, you can go to the handles. We also start with the palms, gently massage each finger, the inner and back of the palm. Then the zone to the elbow, then - forearm.
7. Then goes to the breast, which should be massaged very carefully, avoiding the heart area. Massage here should be soft - stroking, pinching, rubbing. Be sure to massage your tummy - intensively stroke it clockwise - this is an excellent training of the intestine, stimulation of perilstatic.
8. After that, turn the crumb on the tummy, massaging the back. As well as the chest, the back should be massaged very carefully, avoiding the spine. Soft point movements can massage the muscles of the back - on both sides of the spine. Be sure to rub the lower back and neck - this is very useful if you want your baby to start crawling faster.

As a rule, some babies may have strong or weak limb tone, the massage technique with such diagnoses is slightly different. If the baby has hyper tone, the movements during the massage should be more stroking, relaxing. If the crumbs have hypotonia, the movements should be stimulated, that is, the massaging of each area should be finished with light strokes with the edge of the palm, so the muscles are brought into tone.

How to teach a child to crawl on all fours

Exercises, which we now talk about, it is better to perform just after the massage, when the muscles are warmed, supple and ready to develop.

1. Put the baby on the tummy, bend the legs behind, putting your hands as a support. Make sure that the baby does not hit the head and does not nod. When you give support from behind and slightly nudge the baby, he will be forced to touch his hands.
2. Rearranging the legs and arms of the child, make sure that the movements are opposite, that is, the right leg and left arm go forward at the same time, then the left leg and right arm, respectively.
3. If the baby is still hard to tear the body off the ground and keep yourself on your arms and legs, you can help him. Take a long towel or sheet. Fold the fabric so that you get a strip of 20-30 cm wide. Pass the fabric under the baby’s chest and tummy so that you can safely lift its body. When the baby comes off the floor, he can easily touch the legs and arms on the surface. Each time, as the child's muscles become stronger, you need to support the baby with less force.So you gradually transfer traction from the towel to the muscles of the child.
4. When you teach a child to crawl, be sure to leave your baby’s favorite toy or interesting object in front of them (children like to play with cooks or saucepans - dishes cause incredible interest and motivation to move).
5. Sometimes it happens that the baby stands on all fours with confidence, but it still does not budge. To do this, hold the toy next to the handle of the child. When the crumb picks up the handle for the toy, you move it away, the baby puts his hand closer to the cherished goal. This is the first step towards crawling and proper hand movement.
6. If the baby crosses hands well, but pulls his legs, you can do so. Roll a towel into a small roller, put it under your arms in the armpits area, so that the little one can rest on this roller. Lie down in front of the child, gently, carefully and slowly tightening the roller on yourself, the baby will have to touch the legs.
7. In some cases, kids perfectly master the skill if they see a clear example in front of them. Try to crawl more often in front of the child on all fours, he will certainly want to repeat after you.
8. Buy a tiny bright ball that rolls up, for which it is interesting to watch and move.

As soon as the baby learns to crawl, pay attention to the security measures. There should be no sockets and wires in the accessibility area - all electrical parts should be hidden. At the corners of the furniture you need to attach special silicone lining, which will protect the baby from injury. The floor should be clean - the child often licks hands after movement. The floor should not be how much or cold. Try to remove the carpets and rugs, which the baby may falter. Workout clothes should be comfortable and comfortable.

Water treatments to strengthen the back muscles

Massage, exercise and swimming perfectly affect the health of the crumbs. After such manipulations and nourishing dinner, the baby will sleep for at least 5 hours in a row with a deep and deep sleep. If you perform the entire sequence of the actions described by the course - every day for 10-15 days, the child’s muscles will noticeably grow stronger, the pipsqueak will begin to creep so that you cannot keep up with him!

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