Nearly every parent wonders at some time or another if what their baby is doing is normal. Is that behavior part of development? Maybe they have some reason to be concerned about what the child is doing or attempting to do.
One of the things that concern many parents is their child’s attempt to crawl. They seem to begin and sometimes to continue to attempt to crawl in reverse. There is a very logical reason why your baby will crawl in reverse that may help to alleviate your concerns.
Your baby will begin to crawl, or pull themselves along when they get to about six months old. You need not be concerned however unless they have not begun until about ten months.
Your baby will probably select the most energy efficient method of crawling according to pediatricians and that is usually going to be in reverse. Baby arms are a lot stronger than their legs are in the beginning. This means that your baby will push with his or her arms and very often will scoot in reverse rather than crawling forward for a time.
Crawling backward is normal, very common and doesn’t seem to be upsetting to your baby as long as they can get themselves to where they want to go. In most cases they will learn quickly to crawl forward without any help or encouragement from you at all.
If you would like to entice your baby to crawl forward then it is sometimes helpful to use toys. Lay the toy in front of your baby by a few inches so that she has to reach out about an arms length to get to it.
This will encourage the baby to crawl forward. It may at first make the baby a little frustrated as they attempt to strengthen those legs and move in the right direction. Your baby will try to grab the toy, or move forward to get it. This will help to strengthen the muscles that they need to crawl forward. In no time at all your baby will be crawling forward instead of in reverse.
