How to Encourage Crawling and Walking

Crawling and walking are natural activities for a child. As such parents can do certain things to assist in the development of both crawling and walking. Here are some ideas that worked very well for our children. When our children were infants and toddlers we lived in a foreign country. Everyone had what were called "baby susters." These were nurses trained to help mothers with daily chores encountered while raising a child. In that culture children were almost always carried at least until over 18 months. Often this continued until three years of age. This was not something that made me happy.

In order to fit in the culture I took the training of my girls to the bed in our master bedroom. The bed was over sized and very firm. In their turn as each grew up they learned to look up, roll on the side, roll over and always we provided a lot of encouragement when some new level of movement was achieved. Those first three accomplishments are all part of the learning process that leads to walking and good motor control.

We made sure the best nutrition and medical treatment possible was given to the girls. Their diet was approved and a few supplements added by the doctor to make up for local deficiencies of certain minerals and vitamins lacking in availability in the local natural foods.

The fifth step to crawling and walking was when the child started reaching for things we placed just beyond her reach. She would see or want something. We placed it close but did not always give it to her. She would lift her legs up in the air and roll them to the side, knowing she would roll over to her stomach. She had learned, with encouragement, to lift her head up and hold that position with her arms. Then as her strength grew in time she would reach out for objects. We would put them close enough at first that she did not have to reach far. What was important was success. As she became confident the distance to reach was increased and soon she was automatically getting up on not just her arms but her knees as well. It was not too many days after that before she was trying and starting to crawl around the bed. Enough so that we had to put heavy bolsters all around for safety.