To carpet or not to carpet

[Greenery87]

Hello all, just looking for some advice - we have wooden floors in the downstairs or our house but our baby is slowly but surely, very much on the move.

I'm wondering if we should get at least our living room carpeted? Will the wooden floor hurt his poor knees when he starts crawling? Is he more likely to hurt himself in general?

If anyone has any experience with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :-)

If the floor isnt in good condition baby might get splinters? It wont be crawl friendly - but you could put down rugs whilst baby is crawling and dont forget little ones are very wobbly when starting to walk and will fall over a lot so might need some cushioning.

They don’t seem to mind about their knees, it’s more that they fall backwards and can’t stop their heads banging! In the grand scheme of things that doesn’t last too long though then the spilling things/ toilet accidents/ muddy feet starts! If you don’t wants carpets long term I’d go for rugs.

Rugs. Nice patterned ones that don't show every little speck.

you might also consider a cushioned vinyl. Very easy to keep clean, soft on knees. Preferably tuck the edges under the skirting and seal with white silicone after a week. Prevents spillage and insects getting in the gap.

If you have floorboards, I'd put down 4mm ply first. Put the factory joints together starting in the middle of the room (they will be perfectly straight and square) and any DIY cuts and trims round the edges.

Hardboard can also be used but won't last so long.

Leave the wood it’s much more forgiven for spills etc

We had a mat out for crawling and he was slower to crawl as it’s a bit slippery but it’s all ok

Wooden floors are fine for crawling, my dd used to prefer crawling outside...

Wooden floors here - definitely better for spills and the occasional misdemeanour with the crayons. 2 of mine learned to walk very speedily because they have knobbly knees. The other one took ages to walk because she could crawl after me so fast. Be careful if you use rugs that you don't create trip or slip hazards. We had a play mat for playing on the floor rather than crawling / walking on.