My little guy is almost 11 months old, and he just learned how to crawl this week. I actually didn’t think he would do it at all. He had become so efficient at his little army crawl that people frequently commented on how fast he was! Since we have all hardwood floors, scooting on his belly was a very efficient way to get around. He mastered the art by pushing off with one foot, while pulling himself in true army crawling fashion with one of his arms. I always looked at him though as he did this and thought about all the effort it must take him to achieve such a fast speed scooting on his belly.
He started scooting like that at around 6 months old. So for 5 months that is how he has gotten around. That is a LONG time. And, since he is starting to cruise along furniture like a champ, I figured that he would go straight from his army crawl scoot to walking. But, I guess he had something else in mind.
It happened one day last week when we were visiting somewhere that was mostly carpeted. I noticed that instead of scooting (which is harder for him on carpet, and with long pants) he was getting up on all fours. He was trying to figure out how to crawl. After that day, he came home, and I saw him get up on all fours again. He couldn’t quite figure out at first how to put one hand in front of the other and move, so he started putting his feet flat on the ground and raising his bum in the air. It was a funny sight, but pretty cute too!
Then, it was like one day it clicked. He just started crawling. Now he alternates between the two all the time. Every baby moves at their own pace. There is no need to worry if your baby is not doing what he “should” right on schedule. He will eventually get there. And, some babies even skip these stages. So, just know that your baby is perfect just the way he is.