Infant Development: Crawling & Sitting

We’ve moved pretty quickly through some of the main stages of development from newborn to nine months, but now it’s time to slow things down a bit.

Remember, the key to your baby developing awesome movement patterns is to not skip stages. This isn’t to say that some babies won’t develop faster than others, because some will. They may move through the stages and be “ahead” while others may take a bit more time and be “behind.” It’s really all relative. The important point is that your baby is going through each stage, not the speed at which she does it.

In ideal development, baby crawls after being able to sit, which from my experience isn’t something people realize. In fact, according to Marianne Hermsen-Van Wanrooy, baby will learn to sit in several ways before or during learning to crawl (p. 64).

Once she can crawl, she will move into a high kneeling position in preparation to stand. It’s important to not have objects that are too high for her to grab and pull herself up with because this high pulling with her arms can put extra pressure on her back. Instead, have something like a low ottoman available. You can assist this development by placing a toy of some sort on the ottoman to motivate her. Also, avoid holding your baby’s hands to help pull her up. This also isn’t good for her back. (Source: Dr. Husband.)

Finally, I need to mention shoes. As cute as they are, it is best for baby to be bare foot as much as possible. If she needs shoes, the thinner the soles the better. Our son wore Robeez brand, which are basically leather socks.

As Dr. Husband said, “Dressing a baby in soft shoes is like putting hockey gloves on someone’s hands while he or she learns to type.” Meaning, your baby needs her feet to be able to feel and grip the ground. Shoes with thick, soft soles take away this ability.