playmat for crawling

[speffles]

We are about to move to a new house with laminate flooring downstairs. DS is coming up for 8 months and I'm a bit worried that it will be too slippery for him when he starts crawling. He's not a fan of tummy time at the minute, finds it frustrating. I don't want to make it even more difficult for him.

Does anyone know of a good play mat we could get for him? Any other tips gratefully received as well ;)

I'd go to Ikea and get a cheap rug, personally. We've got both a rug and a large playmat, and the playmat just gets rolled around and scrunched up, they play under it more than on top of it! It was good when the boys were only sitting, but not once they started crawling. I wouldn't worry too much about your laminate though, we've got wooden floors and there was about a week where DS2 would only crawl on the rug, but he soon mastered the wooden floor too. Leaving socks and trousers off will help.

tbh I always bought a king size quilt from primark and put some toys on it. It always seemed fine. he will only use it for a few weeks before he is off exploring

My older two DC started crawling on wooden floors, we did have a small rug but they usually rolled off it. They did commando crawl for longer than DC3 who started mostly on carpet.

Those foam squares which interlock make a good playmat for sitting/lying on, and won't scrunch up like a playmat or blanket. Though they are easily chewable so you do have to keep an eye out for small pieces coming off etc.

Both my DDs learned to crawl on laminate. They started off by pulling themselves along on their belly, and the slippery floor actually seemed to make this easier- they were both mobile by 6 months. It's more of an issue when they start pulling to stand- tumbles hurt more. A big rug would help.

I have no experience but I have seen a few websites selling socks with rubbery dots that would probably help with slippery surfaces. We have a dog, so any rugs (in my mind) will be out of the question when the baby is born, but I would happily consider these socks... cheaper also

We have laminate flooring and DS didn't have any problems learning to crawl on it. We did have a section of our lounge with those interlocking foam mats you can get from elc/tesco etc.

Once your DS starts pulling himself up it's best to keep socks off, and if you do have rugs make sure they have a non slip backing.

Thanks for all the replies! It's good to know that it's unlikely to be a big problem. Pozzled - I'm interested to see if he can pull himself along on his belly now! Also going to have a look at the foam rubber mats.

A couple of months ago there was a thread on MN about how toxic the foam rubber mats are, I think they are banned in Belgium if I remember correctly? Especially with a crawling baby, who is more likely to lie face down on the mats and chew on them? There was a link to this as well.

OP, once your LO starts crawling he is unlikely to stay on a mat, I second the idea of a carpet, altough we have laminate and DS had no problem with it. It can be cold though. One tip his CM gave me for making the socks stay on is to get longer socks and tuck the trousers in.

tootired, do you think you could find that thread? 8 month old ds has the interlocking mats and is always pulling them up and chewing the edging! I'm worried I'm letting him poison himself now.

If they aren't toxic, I really recommend them for warmth on a wood floor, as well as being less slippy!

I bought one from amazon by tiny love. It's a good size and has things to play with that might encourage tummy time. I could also put DS' toys in it and fold it up to get everything out of the way in the evening.

We also have the Tiny live one and it's great! I got it as a present from work when I went on maternity leave and have used it pretty much every day since dd was a few months old. She is now 20 months and we use it as a mat to play on as we have wood floors. It's big enpugh for about three people to sit on and play, is really quick to wash and dry and dd loves atamping on it to find the squeaker thing, feel the different textures etc. Definitely the most useful baby present we were given!

Agh, Tiny Love!