When Baby Starts Crawling?

I am a 207 days / 6 months, 4 weeks old baby

This kind of question is all around dad and mom's head.

You know, I am almost 7 month. Just 3 days from now. Yet, I am still unable to sit well, not to say crawling.

Is it ok?, they said to each other. Moreover, there's a neighbor who is younger than me but he's able to sit well and is now learning to crawl.

Does he grow faster or do I develop slower?

According to askbaby.com, baby's ability to sit and crawl varies (emphasis mine).

At about six to eight months most babies will learn to balance on their hands and knees. Babies work out how to move forwards and backwards from this position by pushing off with the knees. However some children never crawl because they get comfortable with some other method of locomotion. Instead they bottom shuffle, slither on their tummies or go straight to walking. It does not matter how your baby gets around, it is getting mobile that is important.

Crawling is your baby's first way of getting around by himself, it strengthens the muscles in preparation for walking, ensuring arm, leg, and back muscles are strong enough to keep him from falling on the floor.

According to Parents.com, 7 to 9 months of age is a ready period for baby to crawl.

For the first six months of his life, your baby has relied on you to set him in motion. You've carried him, bounced him, rocked him, propped him up with pillows, and danced with him on your lap. Now he's driven to move and groove on his own.

Baby's Body Is Ready

Two developments converge to help baby put one arm in front of the other and crawl. For one, your baby's sense of balance dramatically improves. Second, your baby's muscles have grown stronger from having had a repertoire of experiences in different positions. Here's a typical scenario: Your 7-month-old is sitting up on her own and reaches across her body to grab at a toy. The act of reaching causes her to lose her balance. In an attempt to right herself, she twists her body and thrusts her hands out in front of her, landing on her tummy. Once on the floor, she may raise her head and gather her knees under her as well as her hands. She's on the runway in crawling position![1]

How it develops

Your baby will likely start crawling soon after he's able to sit well without support (probably by the time he's 6 or 7 months old). After this point, he can hold his head up to look around, and his arm, leg, and back muscles are strong enough to keep him from falling on the floor when he gets up on his hands and knees.

Your baby will gradually (over a couple of months) learn to move confidently from a sitting position to being on all fours, and he'll soon realize he can rock back and forth when his limbs are straight and his trunk is parallel to the floor.[2]


A technique to train your baby crawl faster

There is a technique which claims to help your baby crawl earlier (should you wish him or her to). In essence the technique makes your baby more tolerable to stomach lying.

* Step one place your baby on his or her stomach on a carpet on the floor.


* Step two gently hold your baby by the elbows and encourage supporting him or herself on elbows. Continue to provide support.


* Step three measure, or try to get some measure of the distance between the floor and your 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. The roller should be placed underneath your baby's upper body for support. It is important that you do not buy the roller too big. Your baby's elbows must still reach the floor when lying over the roller.


* Step five put the roller underneath your baby's upper body with elbows touching the ground in front of the roller. This supported position also allows your baby to lift his or her head and discover the surroundings.


* Step six get down on the floor directly in front of your baby, face towards your baby. Now let your baby look at your face while you talk to, amuse and encourage your baby to lift his head and take part in the conversation.


* Step seven step six is the most important step of this activity. And your baby will surely endure longer sessions and crawl sooner if it is enjoyable.Remember, your baby should focus on you and naturally develop a sense of using both legs for support. In no time you will see your baby supporting the upper body on straight arms and bearing weight on both knees ready to crawl.

Spend three to five minutes daily, results will come even faster if you can do more than one session per day.[3]

Update:

Telkom Speedy internet connection is back this evening after a week of outage due to the (yet again) cable theft. A good news. For the time being at least as dad expect it will happen over and over again until the thief is caught.

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Note:
[1] Parents.com
[2] Babycenter.com
[3] Askbaby.com