Don’t rush them
The first thing is first: don’t rush them. Ask any pediatrician about milestones, and they'll tell you that your child is going to meet them at his or her own pace. But then why does it feel so anxiety-inducing if your friend's baby starts crawling before yours does? Even when you know it's not a competition, if your kid can't be bothered with crawling, you might be feeling, well... bothered. While it's completely normal to feel worried, trying to rush things can actually do more harm than good. Let them hit milestones at their own pace. I promise that 99.9999% of the time, they WILL hit them on their own. There’s no point in stressing about it, or trying to rush the process and then do more harm than good.
Encourage crawling
While you do not want to rush them, you do want to encourage crawling. There are so many benefits! Recently, the CDC took crawling off the milestone chart, which has a lot of PTs and OTs very upset. These milestones were created in 2004 and had not been updated since, so this new updade (frankly) made no sense at all. Especially since there are so many benefits when it comes to crawling. Children's says, “Crawling is considered the first form of independent movement. It helps develop and enhance our vestibular/balance system, sensory system, cognition, problem-solving skills, and coordination. To help your baby succeed at crawling start with exposing them to tummy time while playing and awake at an early age.” And this is just the start of all the benefits.
Focus on safety
When your baby becomes more mobile, you definitely will want to think about safety. Put locks on all of the cabinets except the one containing her unbreakable plates and food containers. Anchor the furniture to the walls. Put up safety gates. Move all knick-knacks to higher ground. Buy new trash cans with lids. Resign yourself to the fact that she loves playing with the recyclables and decide not to care. Let her wander around, secure in the knowledge that she (probably) can't injure herself. If you need to move around furniture, or temporarily move it to storage for safety purposes (or even just because you need more room), Youngstars moving & Delivery can help you out, if you are in TX like me. They are labor movers in Dallas, but also provide help with long-distance moving services, as well. It doesn’t matter if you are moving one piece of furniture, a whole house, or an entire business. They help with it all, and they have you covered every step of the way. Their mission is simple: to provide high-quality services in a timely manner. They say, “Since opening our doors, we have been committed to providing service of the highest quality, paying particular attention to working efficiently while keeping the lines of communication with our clients clear and concise. Our team is made up of movers with many years of experience in the moving industry, and we pride ourselves in competitive prices and most of all, customer satisfaction.”
Safety is very important when your child is starting to become more active and one aspect of this is your furniture. Make sure it is stable, secure, and in proper spots, so that your child/children cannot get hurt. If you need help with this process, Youngstars can give you a hand!
Get creative when trying to get things done
When your child starts to become active, it might be a little harder to get things done easily. You’ll have to get creative with this! Work or get things done during nap times, or after they go down to bed. Get them involved with the process of getting things done (when they get old enough), and give them things that keep their interest while doing tummy time, to give yourself a little bit of extra time, before they start to get on the move again.
