crawling/scooting

[kksmommy]

Kayla has begun scooting on her butt, which I am happy about. Its just that she falls a lot and we have tile so she falls right on her head. Did any of your kids scoot rather that the traditional crawl. Is there anything I can do to help her become more competent and not hit her head. I am getting a BIG scrap of carpet to put in the living room but I am afraid if she falls too many times she'll learn to quit scooting all together.

[joseph]

Joseph just started scooting. He tried the traditional crawl for a while but it didn't quite work the way he wanted it to. My son is in OT three times a week and I truly believe it helps him with his balance. What we did was have him sit on his bottom and kinda rock him to one side until he learned to throw out his legs to counter his weight. He has gotten very good. He still falls on his head on occasion. I just try to be there for him when he needs kisses. If she has just started scooting, I'm sure she will soon learn how to move so that spills are less common. Just like learning to do anything else, it takes practice.
Breonna, Joseph's mama, 11 months lobpi

[joseph]

P.S.
Babies are meant to move. If she gives up on scooting all together it means she hsa found another way to get to where she wants to go.

[claudia]

What seems like a million years ago... Juliana scooted. And she was FAST!!!

Juliana had (okay, has) balance issues. So she fell all the time. Over air. In late June she had to have stitches because she fell and bit thru her lip. She is almost eight years old. Some kids are just "trippy".

We did have success in improving her balance by adding physical therapy to her therapy plan. The pt worked on the balance issues more, and on her weight bearing (she kind of walked like a crab). We also saw an incredible improvement when she started horseback riding therapy. If you can find it near you, I think it is a fabulous therapy.

good luck,
claudia


Message was edited by: claudia

[Mica]

Ashley,

One-step-ahead sells a padded helmet (called the "bumper bonnet") that will keep Kayla from hurting her head, even if she falls. It looks kind of silly, but the kids don't seem to mind it.

My husband and I are considering keeping it, even after our daughter becomes more competent at moving around. We figure it'll be good protection against boys during her teenage years!!!

I believe the bumper bonnet cost us $12.95, and it's available online at www.onestepahead.com

Good luck!

mica

[BIGJAVSMA]

Jody did kind of an army crawl on his belly or rolled. He has just learned how to crawl on ALL 4's!! He is 3 and we are very proud. He sat, crawled, and walked all in the normal age ranges. Don't worry kids will find a way to get around.

Marlyn mom to Javier 3 y/o ROBPI

[Jake'smom]

I was going to mention the helmet by one step ahead also. Our son crawled, but he still hit his head alot (still does 18 months) We almost bought this but didn't. Babies and toddlers take a lot of tumbles though and they seem to turn out ok. I wouldn't worry about a few small bumps, but this helmet may help her from really hurting herself!

[ccorkra]

My daughter Lucy, now 2, scooted as well. She never attempted to crawl, she did roll for a little while but once she was able to sit up and was steady she started to scoot. She looked like a little octopus shimmying across the floor. As cute as she was doing it, our OT and PT really tried to get her to not do it and really worked on trying to get her to crawl. They really wanted that sensory input into her arm from the weight-bearing. We never corrected her because she was going to do what she wanted to do when it came to getting around.

Lucy didn't really start falling a lot until she started walking. She had bruises all over her head and face after that first weekend of walking and standing up without pulling up. She did fall A LOT in the beginning and some of those falls sounded like they were skull-cracking but she was always fine after a little while and some ice. We thought about getting the bumper bonnet too but our BPI doctor said that kids' heads are hard as rocks and that she would probably be fine without one. At 2, Lucy has pretty good balance but she will fall occasionally but not quite so hard.

Carol, mom to Lucy, 2, LOBPI

[tylergsmom]

My son, Tyler, scooted. He did sord of a one handed monkey scoot. He'd ball his fist up on his uneffected arm, and use it to scoot around. He really did look like a monkey! He never actually crawled tho...just scooted and went right to walking.

~Laura

[janalee]

Hey, this is Summer's mom. She scooted on her butt and never crawled. She didn't have the best balance to begin with, but eventually got it. Then we couldn't stop her. She also started standing straight up, not holding onto anything when she was 8 months old. I think their legs get stronger while they are scooting.
Jana