Olivia is almost nine months, and she
still is not crawling. Lest you think this means she is not yet mobile, be not deceived, she
is quite the mover. Rolling (and rolling, and rolling) is her primary mode of transportation. She can scoot forward, but hates it (she cries if we put something in front of her that she wants...even
after she gets it...as if she is angry that we made her exert so much effort when we could have effortlessly given it to her). Therefore, the scooting forward
rarely happens. She does, with some frequency, scoot backwards. This makes for finding her in some interesting positions. Like this one, yesterday.
I have heard that crawling helps babies develop part of their brain that will later help them learn to read. Anyone know if this is true? I try the putting something in front of her (to screaming results) and also crawl around on the floor myself to try to show her how it's done, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. In reality, I'm not
that concerned about it, and I'm sure she'll probably crawl when she is good and ready, but in the meantime, anyone have any tips for my poor girl who keeps backing herself into corners?
5 comments:
On the crawling/reading thing, what I've gleaned in my reading is that it mostly just has to do with using both sides of their body so that they use both sides of their brain. Then when they read, they can convert what they see (one side of the brain) into language (other side of the brain). So really it doesn't matter if she "crawls" per se...moving in some way that uses both sides of her body, alternating between the two, accomplishes the same thing.
So when you find things like this statement - "The amount of crawling and creeping a baby does will have an effect on how well that child can see and hear and how well he will be able to speak and read." - don't let it freak you out. They're taking something that's somewhat true and blowing it out of proportion so that you'll buy their stuff.
For example, I don't know if you remember much of my little girl (she was about your baby's age during the play project), but she had already used "mama" and "dada" specifically, plus could say "cracker," "juice" and "blankie" at that age. Now at three, she's learning to read. And she never crawled. At all. Scooting or otherwise.
So basically, I would say just enjoy how hilarious the backwards scooting is, and watch how amazing your little one is/will be!
(Sorry for the lengthy rant...the doctors etc that put such emphasis on all babies developing the same way get me a little worked up. :-)
Yah, Sarah, don't worry about the crawling. Caleb didn't actually crawl until about 3 or 4 weeks before he learned to walk. He cruised everywhere, and army crawled. She'll do it if and when she wants to. :)
Josh NEVER crawled. He did this scoot thing, that you can only understand if you imagine a homeless man with legs amputated just below the knees, using one hand on the floor to lift the rest of his body forward in the scooting motion. Weird I know... and he was extremely fast with his scoot. Moving all around, but getting rug burns on one leg, poor kid. I've heard the same myth about not crawling and not reading, but don't know any facts about that yet. Josh started walking at 11 months and now crawls around with Jacob occasionally. Jacob started crawling when he was just shy of 10 months. See my November 8, 2009 post. It took a while of me putting him on all fours and he eventually started rocking back and forth and THEN started moving. Slow and steady. He is now 13 months and is super fast. He can take about 4 steps on his own, with mom or dad awaiting him with open arms. He isn't a confident waker or stand along little guy quite yet. I'm pretty sure you shouldn't worry unless Olivia is 15 months, not crawling and not walking. I love the backwards scoot. I think they are so funny with the things they get themselves into.
Both my boys HATED learning to crawl. The videos we took of them first crawling they are both in tears!
I love that picture. She really did roll herself into a tight spot! And I agree with your last paragraph. She'll crawl when she's good and ready, or she'll skip it and walk. There is only so much a parent can do and the rest is up to her. :)
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