When will he crawl? Driving me maaaaaad....

[Spudlet]

DS is 8 months old, has been desperate to move for weeks and weeks. For the last two weeks he's been able to get onto all fours but all he achieves is rocking until he collapses or going backwards (normal, I know).

He's a big lad, been on the 91st percentile from day 1, so there's rather a lot of him to move...

Can anyone give me hope he's going to get this soon? The constant frustrated grizzling is driving me insane! All day and all night, the second you put him down he flips onto his front, tries to get moving, then gets gradually more and more frustrated and loud until he ends up lying on his face, wailing in rage . I'm trying not to intervene too much and to give lots of encouragement, show him what to do etc as I know that frustration will motivate him, but it's beginning to get to me!

He's such an unhappy boy at the moment, I just want him to be happy (and ideally also less whingey)...

[judybloomno5]

If he's rocking backwards and forwards then he's very close! My DD didn't crawl until 9 months and was the same

[EsmesBees]

Oh that's a very annoying stage. Sounds like he'll be on the move really soon and you'll be rushed off your feet. I remember dangling a biscuit slightly out of reach to encourage my dd to crawl.

[villainousbroodmare]

He's so close! A bit of surface friction will help. DS cracked it on grass first.

[MessyBun247]

Know how you feel OP.

My DD just turned 7 months, has been commando crawling for about 3 week now but she isn't moving as fast as she wants and gets so frustrated! Lots of whingeing, screeching, wailing etc.

For the past week she has been getting up on all fours and doing the rocking thing, then just goes down flat on her tummy.

Really hope she starts properly crawling soon, it's so draining at the minute

[ThisIslandGirl]

Watching with interest. My DS is exactly the same at the minute and the same age!

He is SO grumpy and unsettled at the minute, I know the exact grunting you are talking about! Hoping he will be a happier chap once he gets moving!

[Hockeydude]

He might never crawl, don't worry about it. Neither of my kids ever crawled, they just got up and cruised.

[OiWithThePoodlesAlready]

My dd1 was similar. She finally cracked it around 8 months but was still very slow then a month later she started walking. Crawling just wasn't her thing.

Dd2 on the other hand decided to start at 6 months. I was hoping for a few more months of her staying where I put her!

[Spudlet]

Months, Katiegg? Oh my gawwwwwd [gets more wine]

to all of us in this boat. May they get moving (or at least cheer up!) soon (at which point we shall no doubt all start complaining that they never stay still )

[DramaAlpaca]

He's nearly there, OP. They often crawl backwards before they manage to go forwards, all three of mine did, but they all cracked it at around 8 months.

What got them crawling forwards eventually was putting a tower of stacking plastic cups just out of reach in front of them. They were so desperate to knock the tower down they worked out how to go forwards

[ThisIslandGirl]

Spudlet and Messybun, how are your DCs getting on with the crawling? My DS seems to have properly cracked it yesterday but he was still crying and wingeing all day, even when he was actually doing it! Saying that he had the best nights sleep he has had in weeks last night (he's still asleep now!) so fingers crossed he is better today!

[Sandsnake]

DS did this from about 5 - 6 months until he finally crawled on his 8 month birthday. He was SO much happier when he could do it - crawled around with a big, smug smile on his face for weeks!

[SoupDragon]

The problem is that "When will he crawl?" is rapidly followed but "why won't he stay put?!" :)

[SoupDragon]

And it's like having a puppy following you around... Happy memories :)

[MessyBun247]

thisislandgirl Lots of commando crawling, shes getting quicker at it. She crawls to my feet so i'll lift her and carry her about. Sigh!

Since saturday she has done a tiny amount of proper crawling, but doesnt have the hang of it yet so just reverts to commando.

Shes pretty close though i think! First 2 teeth about to pop through so still quite a lot of whingeing. Hopefully in a couple of weeks she will properly be on the move just in time for me going back to work

[MadeForThis]

Google crawlerz baby gros. They can be good to help them get a grip on the floor.

[MolesBreathless]

There is very little to be gained from rushing through developmental milestones, and actually missing stages (crawling being a good example of this) isn't great for overall development - babies gain quite a lot from crawling and it's not really in their interests to miss out on this stage.

Also, the window between them becoming mobile and being old enough to have some understanding of danger/ability to reason is a really difficult stage to manage. There is quite a lot to be said for having a late crawler/walker for this reason alone...

[MessyBun247]

I have a crawler! She took off this afternoon. Time to get a stair-gate.......

[ThisIslandGirl]

Yay! Way to go baby Messybun! It's not until now that you realise just how dangerous your house is though, isn't it!

[MessyBun247]

Definitely! Also realising how much I need to scrub the floors

[blueturtle6]

Get balloons, they move away as they try to get them and that's how my little one got moving. Also take him to playgroup/soft play with older kids they learn from older ones