Dear Dr. Debbie,
We’ll be visiting the in-laws for a couple of hours next weekend. The last time we were there, our little one was barely crawling. Now, she zooms around after the cat with glee. We have the staircase to the upstairs blocked with a baby gate, and the basement stairs are kept secure with a closed door.
Should I bring the baby gate with us? Otherwise, I’d be trying to keep her on my lap the whole time.
Crawler’s Mom
Dear C.M.,
Crawling is such an exciting phase! It would be very frustrating for your baby not to be allowed to continue practicing her mobility skills during the visit. Maybe the staircase at her grandparents’ home will be her first successful summit. Eventually, she needs to master going up and down.
Independent Movement
Imagine the thrill she gets in her newfound ability to move her body across the floor. Already this skill gives her a new game to play with the cat. (I assume the cat is a cooperative playmate.) A new crawler is supported by brain development, muscle strength, coordination, and the motivation to get from here to there. She’s literally on her way to being an independent person.
Depth perception turns on around the time a baby first gets on her hands and knees. Typically this is around seventh months of age. She can see farther from this height than when she was on her tummy. Suddenly, objects on the other side of the room become appealing and, with much effort at first, attainable.
Interestingly, crawling is not universal. We’ve had two bottom scooters out of five grandchildren in our family. Other babies efficiently use rolling to get from Point A to Point B before learning to walk. Hands and feet crawling is yet another mode that some babies find success with. Whatever mode works for them, babies are driven to figure out how to control their bodies to travel across space.
Clear the Floor
With a bit of preparation, there will be new lands to safely explore at her grandparents’ home. Zero to Three, a well-respected authority on what’s good for babies and toddlers, suggests a good child-proofing by this stage if not before. Since it may have been some time since the grandparents’ home had a crawler in it, mention these, or send the link ahead of your visit:
- Cover electric outlets – with heavy furniture or outlet covers.
- Secure loose electric cords with strong tape.
- Remove tablecloths that drape toward the floor.
- Place potted plants and fragile knickknacks well out of reach.
- Soften the corners of the coffee table with “bumpers”.
The best surfaces to crawl on are hazard free. A good vacuuming should take care of tiny bits that may tempt your crawler to taste them. Small, loose rugs may pose a challenge, sliding around as knees and hands alternate bearing the baby’s weight.
Hopefully the grandparents will be amenable to some slight adjustments to make the visit a satisfying one for all. If not, you will definitely need to be crawling around with the baby.
Be Her Shadow
Independent mobility does not automatically grant a baby the wisdom she needs to keep herself safe. You’ve passed the stage of babyhood when just being able to see you and hear you, and pass a toy from hand to hand and into her mouth was sufficient for her mental stimulation. She’s entered the Age of Exploration.
Close supervision is required. Tiny hands can reach under the couch to find long forgotten tiny objects – a paperclip, a throat lozenge, a dime. To help your little one enjoy her time at her grandparents’, it will be necessary for someone to get down on the floor with her. Look ahead to where her self-propelled body may take her. Does she want a book from the shelf? If there aren’t board books there, help her to treat a book gently and put it back.
If she discovers the staircase at her grandparents’ home, this could be the perfect opportunity for you to spot from behind and encourage her to climb. It might just be a few steps this time.
Going down is another story. Some babies figure out how to reverse the process of crawling up by crawling backwards to come back down. She may expand this trick to crawling forwards all the way up, then, with concerted effort, to crawl backwards all the way down. Her purpose at this time may not be to get to the second story. At this point, she may be satisfied to merely to master the coordination of her body to change its elevation. Her first stair challenge may simply be to successfully go up a few steps. You may have to show her how to go back down. Then she may find it fun, since babies love repetition, to go up a couple, down a couple, repeatedly for several minutes.
At some point you need to help her master going downstairs independently. Crawling backwards is just one way to do it, and makes sense while she’s still in her crawling stage. Another technique, known in our family as “bumping stairs”, works well with a well-padded behind. A diaper is a convenient cushion to land on when one is in a sitting position traveling from step to step from the top to the bottom of the staircase. (Your adult frame should be able to take some of the impact in your hands and legs.) You can introduce this maneuver with the baby on your lap for several descents. Then stay a step below her as she tries it on her own. When she’s a competent walker, you can have fun bumping down the steps side by side – close enough to catch her if she starts to tumble.
A baby gate is great for when no one is watching the baby. Otherwise don’t miss out on the excitement of exploring with her!
Dr. Debbie
Write your question to Dr. Debbie! Please include age(s) of your child(ren) and other details about the situation or concern.
Deborah Wood, Ph.D. is a child development specialist and founding director of Chesapeake Children’s Museum, located at 25 Silopanna Road in Annapolis.
The museum is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm. Online reservations are available or call: 410-990-1993. Each Thursday there is a guided nature walk at 10:30 am. Art and Story Time with Mrs. Spears and Puppy the Puppet are on Monday mornings at 10:30 am.
