1) Put him on the carpet. The very first thing any baby must master before there's any hope of learning to crawl is being comfortable in the tummy lying position. You'll get great results doing this if you talk to and play with your baby when she's on the carpet or a blanket. Jett was happy on his tummy if I put him on the sofa and I sat down on the floor next to him. That way, we were face to face and both comfortable. (This worked until he was able to roll over then, of course, we had to move to the floor!) See Tummy Time for more tips.
2) Put together a roller. Roll an ordinary bathroom towel into a "sausage". Of course, you can also buy any other type of roller. They're soft cylindrical shaped toys... preferably solid. You can get inflatable ones, but solid ones normally last much longer.
3) Position her elbows. Gently hold your baby by the elbows and draw them towards her body. It will almost seem as if your child wants to lie on her elbows. Continue to provide support. I did not do this with Jett; it may not be necessary.
4) Position on roller. Gently position the "sausage" under your baby's upper body… arms hanging over the front of the "sausage". The rolled up towel supports the upper body - NOT her stomach - with her elbows just touching the carpet. It should slightly raise her upper body thereby allowing her to discover the surroundings. Make sure her elbows touch the carpet - they must not be hanging in the air.
5) Perform in front. This is the most important step. Get down on the floor directly in front of your child and face her. Now, let your baby look at your face while you talk to, amuse and encourage her. Many parents also found a crawl mirror is a great help.
The idea is to encourage your baby to enjoy longer sessions on her tummy. She must focus on you and will then spontaneously develop a sense of using both elbows and legs for support. If it's done right, you'll soon see her supporting herself on both knees and straight arms... ready to crawl.
The power of this 5P System lies in raising your baby's upper body to look at her surroundings... all while lying down.
It also only takes a few minutes daily to start seeing results. Obviously, if you can fit in more than one session per day, results come faster.
How to encourage moving forward instead of flailing about or in circles
When your baby is able to hold his head up and seems to want to move forward, but can't, just press your thumbs on the bottom of his feet. When he feels the pressure there, he will learn that he can press against you and push himself forward! Jett loved this and was moving forward right away.
How to encourage crawling forward instead of backward
Jett could army crawl backwards quickly and easily and could do it when he felt the pressure of our thumbs on his feet, but to teach him to move forward on his own, my husband made a crawling track (looks like a slide with sides). If you put the track on an incline, and the baby on top, gravity will help him to move forward. After just a couple of sessions in the track, Jett quickly figured out that he can move forward on his own! I've heard some parents used their coffee table on an incline as well.
Crawling Track
http://www.childandme.com/babys-physical-development-crawling-creeping-and-brachiating/
and http://schmlloyd.blogspot.com/
Note: Be sure to use nontoxic items in your crawling track. Vinyl is toxic, foam is a neurotoxin and most glue is toxic as well. I have a list of nontoxic supplies that I need to find and post. Just post a comment and I'll find the items sooner than later!
If your baby is army crawling, but not on hands and knees:
What worked great for Jett to encourage creeping (on hands and knees) over army crawling is climbing stairs. I put away all his toys in the nearby area. Then I set up the sofa cushions like stairs (we don't have stairs). Then I put his favorite books, toys, and even his therapy supplies that he's not allowed to play with on top. He happily and excitedly goes up the stairs and expects a book to be read, to play with a very interesting toy for a little bit, or a short therapy session. After a story or about 5 minutes of play time/therapy session, I bounce him back down the stairs to the bottom. He laughs and laughs. I gave him a lot of praise the first two times he climbed the stairs, but it's completely unnecessary after that. His reward is at the top of the stairs.
You can also roll up a small sheet or towel and loop it under his stomach and lift him up as he's trying to army crawl.
And you can set up a mini obstacle course. Cover 2 x 4s with a blanket or towel and set them down on the floor with spaces in the middle so your child will have to lift himself up to crawl over them. It's usually too uncomfortable for them to drag their body over in an army crawl.
Also, creeping is more comfortable on the carpet. Army crawling is more comfortable on harder floors or floors with scratchy covering. On hard surfaces, I put sweat pants on Jett so It's more comfy to crawl upon.
Once I started doing these things with Jett, especially the stairs, he started creeping more and immediately started to pull himself up into standing position. (But crawling is more important for brain development, so I encouraged crawling over furniture cruising!)
Teaching Baby To Crawl After He Can Sit
If your baby already puts himself into a sitting position (you sitting him up doesn't count), then you can try this "stretching" method. Once he is sitting, simply place a colorful toy or plaything on the floor, slightly in front and to either his left or right.
Let's say you're standing behind your child, looking in the same direction as him. And let's say the 12 o'clock position is straight ahead. Then you need to place the toy roughly in either the 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock position.
If you place the toy outside your baby's reach, he will have to stretch and support his upper body with the other hand.
Keep on repeating this activity and in a little while your baby will be crawling.
Have a particularly stubborn baby? (Just kidding!) Once you understand the importance of crawling rather than sitting, you may need to resort to tying a (non plastic) bag of uncomfortable-to-sit-on-items to your child's bottom. Or stuff his pants/diaper cover with such items. He won't want to sit on them, so he'll decide to crawl instead. You gotta do what you gotta do!
Another idea to help encourage your baby to crawl forward instead of sitting is to use the crawling track on an incline with a super exciting toy (or Daddy) at the end. In just a couple of days in the track, Jett was able to crawl forward (but he did crawl before sitting).
Crawling Track
http://www.childandme.com/babys-physical-development-crawling-creeping-and-brachiating/
http://schmlloyd.blogspot.com/
Jaidin's Journey, a DS-related blog with a great post on how they made their Crawling Track.
Sources
http://www.babydevelopmentnews.com/teachingbabytocrawl.html
Kay Ness, Neurodevelomentalist, SENC
Q. Fish's book Down Syndrome: What You CAN Do
Related Posts
Tummy Time
Toys that Support Crawling
Crawling: More Important than Sitting or Standing
Milestones: Sitting
Milestones: Standing
Low Muscle Tone: What to Do
Deep Pressure Tactile Therapy
