How to Master the First Two Stages of Crawling

As a new parent, watching your baby grow and develop during their first year of life is exciting. It can also be overwhelming. One of the most thrilling milestones that your baby will soon achieve is learning to crawl. Today we’re going to discuss how to master the first two stages of crawling so you can best support your little one during this crucial time.

How to Master the First Two Stages of Crawling

Learning to crawl is an essential step in every baby's development. It helps them build muscle strength in their shoulders, arms, and legs while also aiding them in coordination and balancing skills.

Learning how to crawl not only marks important physical progress but also helps to introduce new social interactions. Moving from place to place also offers them even more opportunities for exploration and discovery.

Crawling happens most commonly between 7-10 months. However, some babies enter crawling a bit earlier. If babies are not showing signs of crawling by 10 months, consider discussing this with your pediatrician. Babies should be crawling and pulling into standing by 1 year of age.

While there are four main stages in the entire process, today we will focus on how to master the first two stages of crawling.

Stage 1: Pre Crawling

The pre-crawling stage is an important and exciting time in your baby's development. Most babies typically enter this stage around 5-6 months old when they are comfortable with tummy time and starting to roll.

Activities in the pre-crawling stage are designed to make the transition from being unable to crawl to crawling as smooth as possible. These activities involve strengthening muscles, increasing mobility, developing fine motor skills, and more.

There are several specific skills you should look for during the pre-crawling stage. Pulling up onto straight arms to reach and play with toys is often one of the first signs. Babies will also start to pivot on their stomachs from side to side or in a full circle as seen here.

During the pre crawling stage, babies should start by going in a circle first. Next, they will often scoot backward on their bellies and then finally forward!

Parents can help their babies reach the milestone of crawling by encouraging tummy time, teaching them how to roll over, and encouraging other interactive playtime activities that increases their movement range.

Pre-crawling is a very important part of your baby's growth journey that should be nurtured with love and care.

If you have any questions regarding this important stage, my Learning to Crawl eBook & masterclass phase 1 covers everything families need to know to move their baby from tummy time & rolling into mastering pre-crawling!

Stage 2:  Belly Crawling

The second stage when learning to crawl is called the belly crawling stage. This is the ONLY optional phase of crawling. Some babies will skip belly crawling and go straight to transitioning to their hands and knees and that is perfectly fine.

Belly crawling occurs when babies start to adjust their weight on their arms and legs, pushing their bodies forward in a scooting motion.

Belly crawling can look a little asymmetrical and awkward at first. However, as long as babies don’t have any other asymmetries in other movements, they will become more coordinated with their arms and legs after a few weeks of practice. 

The best way to get babies to move forward is to work on making them move in a circle. Many people take their baby's toys and place them really far in front of them, but this will just cause your baby to get super frustrated. 

Most babies are ready to make the transition to hands and knees after about 6-8 weeks of belly crawling, but some babies get stuck in the belly crawling stage. They become very fast moving around this way and often struggle when learning to transition onto their hands and knees to crawl. 

If you feel as though your baby is stuck in the belly crawling phase, my Learning to Crawl Masterclass or eBook will easily guide you through the transition.

It is fascinating to watch your baby learn to crawl. Once your baby knows how to master the first two stages of crawling, they are well on their way. Do your best to encourage and nurture your baby during this exciting time. Most importantly, enjoy it because before you know it they’ll be running!