trying REALLY hard to crawl....... Already?

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Gage has just learned how to roll from back to tummy. Every time I leave him on the carpet to play, I come back and he is on his tummy . Yeah for Gage!!! However, he is getting very upset "just" being on his tummy. He raises his head and legs up and down and grunts/cries. It looks like he is trying to crawl. Should he be doing this already? He is barely 5 mths. I let him work at it, but he gets sooo mad that I have to change the scenery. Does anyone know how should I help him? I feel bad as he is trying so hard.

[maggieruth]

good for Gage!  he is doing well to be so good at rolling over from his back to his tummy and i bet he does feel its pretty upsetting after a few minutes. after all its not a great position to play in or explore in until babies can support their weight through their upper arms or hands to reach for toys or get a better look around.
my bet is he wants to figure out how to roll back to his back... this can be a pretty hard thing to do too...  you know him best through, what do you think?
in the meantime, give him some support under his tummy with a towel roll or place a childproof mirror close to him so that he has got something entertaining to play with or check out some of the other tummy time ideas or ideas about how to teach rolling over on other threads....
HTH

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Oh, I didn't even think that he might be trying to roll back. Duh! I just assumed that he knew since he has fallen back over before (probably on accident). I will definitely give your suggestions a go. Thanks so much

[deb]

By ALL means HELP him go forward if he looks like he wants to!!!!!

Babies are born moving their arms and legs in a crawling pattern and will wiggle along on their bellies given the chance till they can get up on all 4's. We did this with Natalie and she was crawling, on her hands and knees, just before 5 months, so we know from experience it works. Use a relatively friction-free surface and put your hands behind his feet and he'll get the idea.

It also means you have to childproof sooner, but hey, what a fun ride!!!

[Liam's Mama]

I believe it! Our LO (even though he is still working on rolling over completely) started inch-worming while visting his grandparents, and that was about 3 1/2 months ( I swear!!) We got it on camcorder and, he hasn't done it since. I think it was him trying to get back on his back but instead he started pulling himself forward on the carpet! It is so great that your LO is learning to move around!!

[maggieruth]

yes yes, i am with Deb too, don't stop helping him explore the things that he is interested in!  the more things he has to do, the more stimulating his life is!  if he is coping with all the fun then keep it up!
x

[Sylvia.]

well done to gage, my dd rolled a bit under 3 months, i really freaked, anyway i was advised by pediatrician to give dd heaps of opportunities to roll the other way, she moved forward at approx 6 months, but didn't start walking until 16 months, but boy was she a fast crawler, really she has not stopped moving since she was born, hardly ever sits still, she has so much energy, have fun with this exciting time

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Maggieruth thanks for the mirror idea, Gage really likes this.

Deb, do I just put my hands under his feet? I tried lifting his tummy up to put him on all fours, and he didn't like that too much. I realize that his tummy muscles aren't yet developed, but I thought I could give him the sensation of moving this part of his body. Also, he is a hefty bub (19lbs), and I thought he may need some help.

He is moving though. I put him on his back and came back and he was on his tummy a few inches away from his original spot. I am not sure how he got there, but Go Gagie GO!

Thanks ladies for sharing my excitement!

[Idahomom]

How exciting for you!! DS started creeping just before his 4mo checkup.  I don't think the ped believed us until he did it right in front of her on the examination bed.  She literally jumped back and gasped.  He can roll over both ways, "stand" with help, creep and sit without help for a few minutes now and is only 4.5 months old, so it can happen!!  I agree to start babyproofing now.  They way I helped my ds is to put my forearm up against the bottoms of his feet and he pushes off my arm toward a toy he wants.  Now he does this on his own.

[deb]

Deb, do I just put my hands under his feet? I tried lifting his tummy up to put him on all fours, and he didn't like that too much. I realize that his tummy muscles aren't yet developed, but I thought I could give him the sensation of moving this part of his body. Also, he is a hefty bub (19lbs), and I thought he may need some help.

He is moving though. I put him on his back and came back and he was on his tummy a few inches away from his original spot. I am not sure how he got there, but Go Gagie GO!

He scootched on his tummy! And yes, if you put your hands behind his feet for him to push off of, he'll scotch some more on his tummy till he's strong enough to get his tummy off the floor, and meanwhile he's developing strength and coordination and even respiration. When Natalie had a horrible croupy cough and we ended up at the doctor for 6.5 hours, her O2 saturation was still at 100% even though she had a hard time breathing; she was just in great shape!!!

[Mom to M&M]

DD (6 months) will totally creep along if I put my hands or leg behind her feet to push off against. And she'll go towards her toys that way. But she can't do it without my help and then gets upset - do I just keep helping her or is there anything else I can/should do to help her be able to do it on own?

[Jasminemum]

Hi! My dd tries to creep forwards if I put my hands behind her feet. She can lift her head really well, elbows off the floor but hasn't figured out that she needs to move her arms forwards so she ends up flat on her face! Will keep trying her with it. She loves to stand too and has only needed me for balance for a few weeks.
Harriet

[rebecaq]

Hi hi!

Ds did the same thing, and boy do they get mad!!!  He worked real hard at for a few weeks, and finally got the knack of it 3 weeks ago and has been crawling up a storm since, not only that but he pulled up the same week he crawled!!    Anywhoooo, it might help to make an obstacle course for him.  I used to take pillows and cushions and lay them on the floor at different heights.  Then when ds would come to a "steep" hill I would place the palm of my hand against the bottom of his feet to help him push.  HTH