Crawling at 6 months... help!

[Linguaphile]

I had no idea babies could get the hang of crawling this early on, but today, DT1 figured it out (after a few days of rocking) and now she's off. I'm terrified of this stage as DT2 is already very mobile with backwards scooting and is getting into everything. Aside from putting them in baby jail and (obvs) baby proofing, how did you manage this busy stage? I'm especially concerned as they still seem quite young and don't understand 'no'... not that they'd listen even if they did

Help! I'm not ready for this!

[neversleepagain]

Baby proofing is your friend. I am not a fan of baby jails but if you have one room in your house that is completely safe you can leave them in there while you go to the loo, answer the etc.

Get down on the floor and look at the room from their level and it will give you an idea of what needs to be made safe. You may find you have happier babies now that they can move, I find both of them walking hard as they are much quicker now then when they were just crawling.

Instead of baby proofing the kitchen we just put a stairgate on and they are not allowed in the kitchen at all.

[Linguaphile]

Thanks, neversleepagain, we're getting on the baby-proofing ASAP. My biggest problem at the moment is that they're both curious about what's under the furniture, and they end up getting their heads wedged underneath (which naturally results in a red mark on the head and lots of distressed wailing). How do I baby proof that? Just cover the bottom of the cabinet and sideboard with cardboard until their heads get bigger?

[neversleepagain]

I guess they will learn that that is not a good place to explore :)

It is harder when they learn to crawl earlier on, when I was childminding I had a boy who crawled just shy of 6 months and it was very hard compared to two boys I had who crawled at 12 months. It doesn't last long, as they get bigger they can be entertained with toys and books rather than bits of fluff and eating the pot plants

Mine have started climbing now and I find one trying to climb the bookcase and one on the dining table

[beachesandbuckets]

Wow, kinda cute in a way (my 7 monthers are still thankfully stationary). Having got 2 older children, I wondered where our coffee table, house plants, bookshelf, ornaments had gone from our living room, just remembered they were all removed when dcs were tiny! Yep, clear one room of stuff that could present danger, stairgate over door, safety plugs in, and travel cot in case you need to go into another room for a while. enjoy!

[HighVoltage]

I confess I have a baby jail.

Two babydan playpens connected together so it's an open prison shall we say - room enough for me and DS1 to sit in with them.

We've just moved house and I have one very mobile and inquisitive twin so it's been really helpful for keeping them in, keeping others out and a place to chuck all toys at the end of the day.

[Mabelface]

I am a fan of baby jails, and think they have their place when you can't have eyes in the back of your head. Very useful if you need to nip to the loo or cook dinner etc, knowing that they're safe.

[Ludways]

My dd was walking at 9 months, my dh walked at 8.5 months.... Get ready!!

[elQuintoConyo]

Oh, I remember this! DS crawled at 5mo and walked at 8mo+3wks! Incredibly cute, and they get fast quickly!
Babyproofing is essential, good idea from pp ^^ about getting down to their level. Also check blind cords and lamp cables/tv cables as they're likely to get pulled as dc pull themselves up.

Have fun