I am a 168 days / 5 months 2 weeks 4 days old baby
Dad wants me to crawl (Indonesian, merangkak). It unlikely occurs at least anytime soon. I cannot do tummy time unassisted by mom and/or dad, how could I do beyond that?
Crawling is something harder to do than tummy time. So, expecting me as a five month 2 weeks old baby doing crawling is too much.
That's said, dad got a tips from a parenting expert on how to encourage baby crawling faster and fun:
It Works On Babies As Young As 3 Months Old
Here's the exact technique to get your baby crawling in six easy steps.
Step one, place your baby on his/her stomach on a carpet on the floor.
Step two, gently hold Baby by the elbows and encourage supporting him/herself on elbows. Continue to provide support.
Step three, measure, or try to get some measure of the distance between the floor and Baby's armpit in the supported position.
Step four, get a roller with approximately the same diameter as you've just measured. Rollers are soft cylindrical shaped toys... preferably firm. You do get inflatable ones, but firm, dense ones normally last much longer and can also be a valuable aid to get Baby to sit and walk.
Step five, put the roller underneath Baby's upper body... elbows touching the ground in front of the roller. This supported position also allow Baby to lift his/her head and discover the surroundings.
Step six, get down on the floor directly in front of Baby, face towards Baby. Now, let Baby look at your face while you talk to, amuse and encourage Baby to lift his head and take part in the conversation.[1]
Another expert offers five steps (known as Five P) technique to teach a baby to crawl:
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P - Put on the carpet. The very first thing any baby must master before there's any hope of learning to crawl… is being comfortable in the tummy lying position. You'll get great results doing this if you talk to and play with your baby when she's on the carpet.
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P - Put together a roller. Roll an ordinary bathroom towel into a "sausage". Of course, you can also buy any other type of roller. They're soft cylindrical shaped toys... preferably solid. You do get inflatable ones, but solid ones normally last much longer and can also be used to get teach your child to sit and walk.
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P - Position the elbows. This step requires you to do something. Gently hold your baby by the elbows and draw them towards her body. It will almost seem as if your child wants to lie on her elbows. Continue to provide support.
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P - Position on roller. Gently position the "sausage" under your baby's upper body… arms hanging over the front of the "sausage". The towel "sausage" supports the upper body - NOT her stomach - with her elbows just touching the carpet. It should slightly raise her upper body thereby allowing her to discover the surroundings. Make sure her elbows touch the carpet - they must not be hanging in the air.
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P - Perform in front. This is the most important step. Get down on the floor directly in front of your child and face her. Now, let your baby look at your face while you talk to, amuse and encourage her. Many parents also found this crawl mirror a great help.[2]
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Note:
[1] Educational-toy-guide.com
[2] Babydevelopmentnews.com
