Toys that Support Crawling

When your child is working on crawling (army crawl) and creeping (on hands and knees), toys that roll or glide across the floor may motivate your baby to give chase.

While nothing motivates a baby more than a possible snuggle in Mommy or Daddy's arms, rolling or push toys are also fun for the newly mobile baby.

Here are some non toxic selections:

Rolling Toys

Grimm Blue and Green Baby Roller Wheel with bell and balls inside $40 at ape2zebra.com

Plan Toys Roller $11 at childtrek.com
When the brightly-colored roller moves, the wooden ball inside hits the panels and creates sound that stimulates both vision and hearing. Helps your baby make early learning, cause and effect associations (when this rolls, it makes sounds). Encourages babies to crawl after the roller, thus strengthening gross motor skills.

Haba Viva $20 at childtreck.com
HABA Viva is a brightly-colored, manipulative toy for babies. It is fun to press and collapse. Your child will also love the delightful little bell as it is rolled around. Safe for teething. Wooden parts threaded on elastic band. Made of beech wood and maple. Super fun and safe teething toy. Made in Germany. Child-safe and non-toxic.


Push Toys

Selecta Rollina Rolling Beetle $12 at blueberryforest

Non Toxic Balls

Wonder world Peek-a-Boo Ball $20 at sears
Haba Animal Den Softball $18 at blueberryforest,
Miyim Sensory Ball $10 at childtrek.com,

Everlast sells a seven pound non toxic medicine ball.
Ape2Zebra sells a non toxic wooden ball.
non toxic/eco friendly golf balls $10 a dozen at ecogolfballs.com
corn ball, shopping info, health info

animal print tiger ball: shopping info, health info
giraffe print ball: shopping info, health info

football or soccer ball

Related Posts:

Teach Your Baby to Crawl
Crawling: More Important than Sitting or Standing

Crawling: More Important than Sitting or Standing!

When will my baby crawl?

The average age that an untreated baby with Down Syndrome starts creeping (crawling on hands and knees) is 17 months. Jett, who is treated, started army crawling (later referred to as "stomach crawling") at 10 months even though he had heart surgery at 6 months. He was creeping by 13 months (and pulling himself to stand at 14 months). You can get your baby to crawl much, much younger than that if you work on his muscle tone and do as much tummy time as possible, as soon as possible. I didn't do tummy time intensely until Jett was 3 months old. When we brought Jett home at birth, he was crawling on us immediately. But, I didn't realize that he would lose this ability as he gained weight if I didn't provide ample opportunity for crawling. And I also didn't realize how important it is for proper brain development.

Why is crawling important?

It helps your baby organize the wiring to his brain for higher level, cortical functions. Cross pattern activities help develop good communication between the right and left sides of the brain, which helps to avoid future problems of long-term memory, stuttering, etc. It also helps him feel and understand where his body is in space, as well as promotes good bladder and bowel control. Coordinated physical movement is dependent upon developing good tactility and corresponding good cross pattern movement.

-- Kay Ness, Jett's Neurodevelopmentalist


Down Syndrome: The Importance of Crawling on the Stomach

by Robert J. Doman, Jr. and Ellen R. Doman, National Association for Child Development

One of the areas of parental concern for the development of any baby is the area of mobility. Watching a baby learn to crawl, creep, stand and walk are thrilling to all parents. As a parent we can see our child learn to better explore their world and move from dependence to independence sometimes in the time span of the first year.

As a parent of a DS child, you may have a special concern about your child’s development of mobility. Cardiac conditions can slow down the emergence and development of mobility. The potential or reality of low muscle tone and poor tactility can also slow down development in this area drastically. Parents are often tempted to skip mobility developmental stages in an effort to reach the coveted skill of walking more rapidly. The consequences of this strategy can be very long lasting and impact other developmental areas as well.

Why stomach crawl? Crawling on your stomach on the floor in a cross pattern is hard work. Aside from people training in the military, few of us have spent any time past our first year of life utilizing this movement. What is to be gained by doing it, and why does your baby need this essential first form of locomotion? There are several reasons.

Your child’s eyes begin the work of learning to focus and converge together on near-point objects, a skill which is needed for everything from reading to depth perception. The tactile feedback given by the entire body moving against the friction of the floor teaches your child the location of the entire torso, arms and legs, and feet and hands.

Proprioception, knowing where your body is in space, is based on these early messages of tactile input on the floor and feeling every movement through the feedback of this contact. The child is learning that they have two legs, two arms, two feet and two hands because they can feel these parts moving against the floor. Crawling engages virtually all of the muscles of the body, from the arches of your feet to your abdominal and neck muscles, all of which are used in the process of moving your body forward across the floor. Arm, chest and back muscles are utilized in pulling the arms forward and then pulling the body forward. Quads, hips and hamstrings are worked during the leg movement. This is a workout!

Learning coordinated movement starts here with crawling on the floor. Whether the child picks up the cross pattern movement on their own or they learn it through parent assistance, this is the beginning of that very fundamental movement of a right arm and left leg, left arm and right leg-- the movement we use to walk and run, climb stairs and climb hills. When the child learns this by working on the belly crawl, they get all of that helpful tactile information through the limbs and through the torso, laying a strong foundation for more advanced forms of mobility.

They also develop a very critical physical piece through crawling-- muscle balance. The crawling movement is one of flexion and extension of the arms and legs, pushing and pulling using the flexor muscles, then the extensor muscles. One of the issues confronting many parents of children with Down Syndrome is that they are often advised that the child needs to begin developing trunk strength and tone through sitting because it is this lack of trunk strength and tone that creates the problem with crawling and walking. If sitting were the best thing for the development of the trunk, every adult would have strong backs and great abs. Sitting is not what develops the trunk; crawling and creeping is. The child should not sit independently until they can get themselves into that position independently, which is typically after they have learned to crawl on their tummy and creep on their hands and knees.

Another very significant aspect of crawling involves the integration of sensory input. Crawling provides the brain with what is quite possibly the best integrated sensory input that a child ever receives. This act of crawling sends simultaneous information to the brain from all of the tactile and proprioceptive receptors, the surface receptors, the deep receptors and the proprioceptive receptors in the joints. And not only is the brain receiving all of this input, it is receiving it through the simultaneous input from the movement of the right arm and left leg, and the left arm and right leg. This is very powerful sensory-integrating input.

Many children, when they start to move forward on the belly, have to learn where their pieces are before they can really start coordinating their movement. Many start by just pulling with both arms together or both legs together. These children are learning where their arm and legs are. Then with a little time and help they begin to alternate arms or legs, and sometimes they get the arm and leg moving on one side of the body, or leave out one leg.

As children go through these phases, they are getting more and more input, developing tactility, strength, tone, muscle balance, vestibular balance function, and proprioception. Furthermore the brain is learning to integrate all of this critical information. Given some time and some help, their brains and bodies can learn all of these critical developmental pieces and establish the foundation they need for all future physical and neurological function. It is also important to note that those children who find it the hardest to crawl need it the most, for they are the ones who really need to put all these pieces together properly.

Some children move through this stage very quickly and move on to creeping on hands and knees. Some children take longer to learn this stage and may need a great deal of extra input to locate their limbs in order to be able to control those movements. This may take longer than parents expect, but is time well spent. Children moving from a good cross belly crawl to a good cross pattern creep on hands and knees are in good shape to move on to developing proper walking. Children moving from rolling to scooting to sitting to walking have not had the opportunity to learn where they are in space and how to move their limbs in an organized fashion, nor have they developed the proper muscle balance or strength. They potentially have not even learned how to focus on close objects or to use their eyes together for depth perception.

Short cuts and quick fixes will lead to later repercussions. Don’t take the chance. Try to do it correctly the first time and avoid thousands of hours of time in the future in physical and occupational therapy trying to overcome the problems that are often created by skipping this critical developmental activity.

--

Creeping and Crawling Foundational to Child Brain Development

In the beginning of the crawling stage the infant may move in no recognizable pattern or he may crawl in a frog-like pattern called homologous movement. He may also crawl using the arm and leg together on the same side of the body, which is called a homolateral pattern. The child soon abandons these movements in favor of the most sophisticated pattern, the cross-pattern. In a cross-pattern the left leg and right arm coordinate with the right leg and left arm. We walk and run in a cross-pattern. Nevertheless, a baby may use homologous and homolateral patterns before he develops the cross-pattern, both while he is learning to crawl and later again when he is learning to creep.

Stage II - Crawling

Children who are given abundant opportunity to learn to crawl in an infant track can enter stage II in the pons at 1 month of age, instead of 2 1/2 months, which is the norm. In stage I the newborn gained initial control of his limbs. In stage II he will master crawling. An infant enters stage II when he can crawl 2 or 3 feet non-stop in about 10 minutes. This makes him a beginning crawler.

It is wise to baby-proof your house before a child begins to crawl. You can make the environment safe by seeing that there are no uncovered electrical outlets. Remove cords and lamps and other items a baby could grab and pull over onto himself. See that furniture is stable and that there are no sharp edges or pointed corners. Also, check that there are no splinters on furniture or floors. Remove unsafe objects a baby could put in his mouth or choke on. And keep all poisons and toxic products well out of the baby’s range.

The more crawling a baby does the sooner the child will enter stage III of brain development and begin to creep. The best thing you can do when your baby is learning to crawl is to get down on the floor and provide love and encouragement. If you cheer the baby on and encourage him or her to crawl, your baby will make a greater effort. Your baby is delighted to have your attention, so always give him plenty of love and hugs whenever he crawls to you.

Another thing you can do to encourage crawling is to place toys and safe objects on the floor, out of the baby's reach but not out of his crawling range. Entice him to go after things. When he finally reaches an object let him enjoy it for a while. Immediately taking it away will frustrate and discourage him, which will dampen his eagerness to go after things for you. Dads are sometimes guilty of this. When the baby reaches the teddy bear, dad backs it up so that the baby has to go after it again. It's a fun game for dad but not too much fun for baby.

Your baby will learn to crawl like an expert in stage II if you continue to give him at abundant opportunity daily to master crawling in the track and on the floor. If you encourage him to crawl 15 times, each day, he will soon be crawling in a cross-pattern and will rapidly increase his capacity to 150 feet of crawling in a day. After so much crawling, the baby will then push himself up off the floor onto his hands and knees, which will mark his entry into stage III. This can happen sooner rather than later if you give your child abundant opportunity to crawl and plenty of encouragement to develop mobility.

Stage III – Creeping

After a baby has developed the cross-pattern and after much crawling, he will get up onto his hands and knees and begin to creep. Having mastered Stage II in the pons, he enters the midbrain area and Stage III of brain development. His infant days are just about over, so you can put away the track and save it for your next child. However, a baby will still be doing a lot of crawling in stage III, especially when he wants to get somewhere fast, but he will be working on learning to creep.

Now that the baby is starting to creep he will be everywhere he can get to in the house. To provide greater opportunity for creeping, just as you would do with a crawling baby, you get down on the floor with the baby and encourage him or her to creep. Creep beside the baby and cheer him on. Play games and have the baby go after you. Continue to use objects to entice the baby, and reward him with love.

In the midbrain area and Stage III of brain development the goal is for the baby to creep 400 yards in a day. (In Stage I, the medulla and cord stage of reflex response, the goal was for the infant to crawl 2 or 3 feet, nonstop, in ten minutes. The goal in Stage II in the pons was to reach 150 feet of crawling in a day.) How quickly your baby reaches mobility goals will entirely depend upon how much opportunity, how much love and encouragement you can provide.

The creeping baby definitely needs long pants and long-sleeved shirts. This goes for girls too. They shouldn't be wearing dresses; they get hung-up in the skirts. A creeping baby should wear socks, but not shoes. Thick rugs are best for learning to creep. Thick rugs are not as hard on elbows and knees. A kitchen floor is not where a beginning creeper does his best.

Your baby will still be crawling in stage III. He's not an expert creeper yet but, day by day, he will gradually do more creeping and less crawling until one day creeping will replace crawling entirely. You can then expect that his next accomplishment will be standing-up.

You help bring your baby to this point in Stage III of brain development by encouraging him or her to creep in many, many short creeping sessions. Doman says to get down on the floor 20 or 30 times a day with the baby and motivate him to creep. This seems like a lot, but the sessions are very brief at first. Then they gradually increase in length of time and decrease in number.

A baby remains in stage III until he is actually walking. One day after much creeping he will pull himself erect, and holding onto a piece of furniture he will stand. He will then pull himself up on every table and piece of furniture he can reach, and holding on to the edge he will walk its whole length. This is called cruising. His days in the midbrain are coming to an end. One day after much cruising, he will come to the end of the sofa and eye the chair and take his first independent steps, from the sofa to the chair. Now, the line is drawn. He has left stage III forever and has entered stage IV of brain development in the initial cortex. If you have given your child extraordinary opportunity to develop mobility from birth, walking can begin earlier as well.

Sources:
http://nacd.org/newsletter/1009_down_syndrome_crawling.php
http://www.internationalparentingassociation.org/BrainDevelopment/mobility3.html

Related Posts

Teaching Your Baby to Crawl
Toys that Support Crawling
Milestones: Sitting
Milestones: Standing
Low Muscle Tone: What to Do
Promote Walking: Are Treadmills Good?
Tummy Time
Deep Pressure Tactile Therapy

Teaching Your Baby to Crawl

The average age an untreated baby with Down syndrome crawls (on hands and knees, otherwise known as "creeping") is 17 months old. This is twice the age of a typical baby. Of course, your baby's above average because he has you to cheer him on! How can you help him creep or army crawl sooner? First, you need to address the low muscle tone. Even if he doesn't appear to be "floppy," if he has a T21 diagnosis, chances are his muscles are weaker than a typical baby. (See Low Muscle Tone: What to Do) Next, you need to get him comfortable on his tummy. (See Tummy Time) Then you are ready to try the 5P Crawling System....

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/2010/02/how-to-build-infant-crawling-track.html
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/2010/02/how-to-build-infant-crawling-track.html
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