Each mother closely monitors the development of her baby. In a child’s life, more and more often happens in stages, but sometimes he skips one of them and moves on to the next. In this case, the parents are proud of their child. And if the child is crawling back, is it necessary to worry and relearn it? We will talk about this in the article.
When is the time to crawl?
According to scientific research, a fully developing baby at six to seven months old, sometimes a little later, begins to crawl. However, some babies miss this stage of development. Parents believe that it is not necessary to crawl and accustom him to walkers. They suggest that he will develop faster intellectually and physically. As a result, the baby begins to walk, bypassing the crawl stage. In addition, parents get used to the fact that the child should sleep on his back and during wakefulness forget to turn him on his tummy.
As a result, he gets used to this position, when he turns on his stomach, he starts to act up, and his mother returns him to his usual position. The muscles of the limbs, which should gradually strengthen, remain without training. And by the due date, at best, the child begins to crawl backward or does not do this at all.
Opinion of Dr. Komarovsky and B. Spock
It’s quite difficult to say exactly how many months your baby will begin to crawl. However, if he knows how to roll over and likes it, then he will soon try to move around. B. Spock claims that children begin to learn this process at five or six, and already crawl very well by seven months. Moreover, they have different ways of crawling. In some families, as early as four to five months, the child crawls back, in others - right on all fours, but this happens later, at seven or eight months. However, both are considered the norm.
Pediatrician E. Komarovsky believes that the child himself knows and decides when to sit, crawl and walk. And parents should not interfere with this, their duty to make these processes give the baby joy, and not be hard work.
The formation of motor activity of a child is affected by:
- psychological atmosphere in the family;
- personal and physical characteristics of the baby;
- his state of health.
In other words, crawling is a certain stage of development that some babies miss and immediately start walking. However, this is also a variant of the norm.
Do I need to learn to crawl?
You should not force the baby to lie on his stomach, but gradually it is necessary to accustom, preparing him to crawl. After all, this is a very important period not only for physical development, but for the subcortical structures of the brain. In particular, cerebral dysfunction resulting from a severe labor or birth injury is compensated to some extent during crawling. During this action, the baby strengthens the musculoskeletal system, trains the arms, shoulders, elbows and wrists. Therefore, crawling children are more physically developed than babies who missed this stage. Training the ligaments of the wrists and hands is useful for the development of fine motor skills.
Such kids will quickly learn to hold the spoon and pencil correctly. In addition, crawling, the child learns to navigate in space and control the body. Thus, the crawl stage is useful and important, it must be encouraged and supported. If your heir chose the crawling style on his own, then it is better not to interfere with him - advises children's doctor E. Komarovsky. The child crawls back or with the help of one leg - it does not matter, he carries out his individual development program. During this process, the baby's first spatial orientation skills are laid.
Why is the baby not crawling?
Often, children pass this phase and immediately begin to walk, since the physiological development of each baby is individual. Here are some reasons why the kids do not want or cannot crawl either forward or backward:
- injuries
- weak muscles;
- the use of walkers for a long period (more than sixty minutes);
- overweight;
- the consequences of rickets;
- forced immobilization of limbs;
- temperament of the baby.
Why is the baby crawling back?
He can do this:
- Consciously. For example, I saw how my mother washes floors and moves backwards or spied on playing older children.
- Forced - tried to crawl forward, but the arms were weak, he fell and hit.
- Intuitively - the child’s body understands that some muscles must be preserved, while others can be relied on. Crawling back, the baby spends less energy.
According to pediatricians, this is not dangerous and the baby does not have any pathology. However, if the baby does not attempt to crawl forward after two or three months, it is recommended to evaluate its muscle strength. In some cases, the cause is hypertonicity or muscle hypotension.
So, if the baby crawls back for a long time, then corrective gymnastics is necessary, since movement in one direction does not allow the development of all muscle groups.
The child began to crawl back: pluses
Consider the positive aspects of this skill:
- An increase in muscle load occurs gradually. Thanks to the pushing away it’s quite easy to move around. The development of joints and the development of the vertebral regions pass without unpleasant sensations for the baby.
- It turns out that teaching a baby to crawl back is harder than forward. In addition, during this movement, muscle groups work that are not involved in moving forward.
- According to scientists, with this method of movement, the vestibular apparatus is trained.
Learn to crawl correctly
The child crawls back, but how to teach forward and can this be done? First of all, be patient. It takes some time for the kid to master a new skill. The following guidelines will help you cope on your own:
- It is necessary to evaluate the quality of the coating on which the child moves. The surface should be pleasant and not slippery.
- Put your favorite toy in front of him and let him reach it. However, you should not help him with this.
- Encourage and praise the baby when it crawls correctly.
- Show your example how to move.
The most important thing is that the baby should have fun and interesting learning to crawl forward, and this requires a lot of time to be devoted to such activities.
Russian medical standards
In accordance with these norms, the baby must master the technique of crawling in six to seven months, that is, during this period he tries to make the first movements. This stage is preceded by the ability to roll over on the tummy and hold your head. Initially, the baby tries to crawl on his tummy, as he still does not know how to move his legs. The entire load falls on the muscle apparatus of the upper limbs. Then he begins to understand that you can use the legs - push them off or pull them up.
During this period, some crumbs and begin to crawl differently. After a short period of time, the little one already feels confidently and moves freely. Sometimes he does it backwards, and alarmed mothers ask doctors what to do if the child crawls back? After a while, most children begin to crawl in the right direction and no further action is required. In case of hypo- or hypertonicity, special gymnastics will help, with the help of which the muscles are strengthened.
The importance and benefits of crawling a baby
Thanks to crawling, a sense of balance, balance, and also strength develops. In addition, this important stage forms and strengthens the emotional, visual understanding, motor skills of the baby. So, thanks to the crawl:
- There are motor skills and the ability to perform small and precise movements. When crawling, all muscle groups work, motor-visual coordination is developed, and the ability to control the small muscles of the body is established.
- The spine is fixed and aligned. When the baby begins to crawl, he not only learns to control the limbs, but also forms the muscular system that strengthens the spinal column.
- Develops visual perception, brain, vestibular apparatus. Crawling, the little one uses binocular vision, as a result he forms a reaction that will be useful in the future for reading and writing skills. During this movement, the vestibular apparatus also develops, which helps to improve equilibrium. When crawling, the impulses of the motor nerves with great speed change places between the two hemispheres. This contributes to the development of neurological skills.
Conclusion
If a child crawls back, then it’s so convenient for him. He is trying to master his body, coordinate movements. Of course, not everything turns out right away, but there is no need to panic. This phenomenon is not considered a deviation from the norm. All the kids are different. Let your baby develop individually and make you happy every day with new small achievements that bring him joy and delight.