10/04/2024
Very interesting read!! I never knew this but it all makes sense on babies/children’s development ❤️
Crawling is actually a stage that happens BEFORE sitting up!
Some children crawl on all 4s
Some children crawl on their bellies.
Some crawl like a bear, straight legs and using their feet instead of their knees.
Some children might miss the stage
completely ? Every child is unique ♥️
Do you want to know WHY at The Curiosity Approach, we encourage freedom of movement and therefore don’t prop up babies? We don’t sit babies up, prop them, park or get them to balance.
Because when we do this we are not allowing children the opportunity to crawl, the time and space to master crawling and THEN get into the sitting position themselves.
Babies progress from rolling over to being on their fronts. To then supporting themselves on their forearms
They then begin to straighten their arms lifting their trunk off the floor
Shifting their weight to their shoulders, allowing their knees to draw up.
Watch in fascination as a baby’s natural development unfolds and they come into a crawling all 4s position.
Why some babies might bum shuffle instead? 👍🏼
Some babies might bum shuffle instead of crawling because they have an urge to move, to reach things.
Movement is a driver and an URGE they have to figure out how to get out of this seated position that they have been sat or ‘parked’ in ! They want to move 🙌🏼♥️
Do they fall forward onto their face and get back onto their tummies ( they don’t understand to use their hands to cushion the fall )
or maybe they sit waiting for an adult to come move them, rescue them.
Do they learn to cry to get assistance ?
Perhaps they have been placed in a seated position and have worked it out, found a new mode of movement, skipping the crawling stage completely? Starting to hitch forward on their bum?
All children are utterly unique, amazing and different. Adapting to situations. 💯♥️
But what about crawling ? It’s important we recognise the importance of crawling for all children. The evolutionary stages of coming up into a standing position.
If children miss out crawling
Primitive reflexes may get stuck if we don’t provide opportunities for crawling for all children. This can cause difficulties later on
EG - with sitting still at school, shoulder strength and stability.
Difficulty with strength in pivotal joints, strength and eventually hand writing skills. ( see previous posts on handwriting)
Research also suggests skipping the crawling stage can be a contributing factor and cause fussy eaters! 😳🤯
Why? Because they haven’t been through the process of textural input for hands
It’s OK ! This isn’t all doom and gloom if a child has missed the crawling stage 🥰
We can instead look to offer physical activities to help children experience the stage that they missed🙌🏼♥️
Offer lots of crawling about games
Crawling through tunnels
Clambering under nets,
Swinging
Rope swing
Climbing trees
Yoga
Physical movements
Digging
Tug of war games
Working / playing off the ground - leaning on hands / supporting body weight.
Hanging upside down from a climbing frame.
Playing on the floor
Painting vertically
Pushing and pulling heavy objects
Remember previous posts on pivotal joints ? See all the connections coming together! It’s child development and the natural stages of unfolding as children have autonomy over their own bodies and freedom to move.
Let’s reflect WHY as Early Years educators we are propping up babies, sitting them up before they are ready and let’s consider what development we may be interrupting?
We have spoke previously about understanding stages of development when it comes to handwriting! To not rush those pre requisite skills in a hurry for children to hold a pencil!
Then WHY shouldn’t we give as much consideration to not rushing the ‘sitting up’ stage for babies and refrain from putting them into positions they can’t get into naturally and unaided ?
Sitting up comes AFTER crawling. Give babies the time and freedom to get into the seated position unaided. THEMSELVES
We will later discuss container babies and sedentary life styles. Why not join us for more info.
This informative post and others will get written up as a PDF download - once complete 🙌🏼
