Crawling is the start of a whole new world for your baby, and also for you!

Now he or she can start to explore the world. and start to be more independent of you.  Crawling is important for your baby to learn coordination, build confidence and spatial awareness.

For now, your baby still needs a lot of supervision and encouragement.  You might have to think about the balance of “letting them have a go” and keeping it safe.

You can encourage your baby to make the most of crawling by:

• making sure it is safe to crawl.  Check the floor for sharp objects or small items they might put in their mouth.  Fit safety gates on stairs and anywhere else that needs them.

• Try to avoid using a baby walker. These encourage the wrong kinds of movement for walking, and should never be used unsupervised as babies can get up a surprising amount of speed in them! It is better for your baby to be able to explore getting about by crawling.

• Make the room interesting to explore – interesting toys and objects, look together under things (chairs, etc), over thresholds, cushions.  Explore different surfaces – carpet, rugs, laminate, grass.  Try going up or down a step (click here for advice on stairs and climbing)