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Last Updated on October 18, 2023
On April 18th, the Little officially became a crawling baby. He graduated from his systematic stretch and then push up and moved into crawling towards the dog. I did not do a lot a tummy time with him because he hated it and I didn’t worry that he wasn’t crawling at 9 1/2 months. All my mama friends got that strange look of fear in their eyes when talking about their mobile babies so I just enjoyed my stationary one.
Then it all changed and now he’s crawling and pulling himself up all over the house and hardwoods. Yes, our 60-year-old oak floors may have sold us on our home but they are not soft or flexible. It’s amazing how many tumbles and knocks the infant body can take when learning the act of moving and walking. I don’t think the boy in the bubble had health issues, I think his parents couldn’t take the little mishaps of balance.
We didn’t just sit around and watch our child tumble. I bought a nice thick carpet pad to stick under our living room rug and then got him the Joovy Room2 which, by the way, rocks. It’s an amazing large playpen and I put extra padding underneath the fitted mattress sheet. He, of course, prefers to slam his wood toys on the hardwoods and follow me around while squealing with happiness. Then his arm gives out and he slams his face in the ground and we both cry. I’m thinking about buy him an infant bike helmet which he will need later when Mr. Bejelly and I go mountain biking this summer.
I found these sites helpful for tips on dealing with the accident prone toddler:
When to worry when your child hits his head
Now on to child proofing because I know my crawling baby will soon turn into a walking one!
For you mamas out there, what did you do?
Tweeted and G+! Nice writing!!
Thanks Carolyn
I did not have to child proof from my daughter…my son who is know 15 months old is another story. My best tip is invest in thick/tight rubber bands (come on asparagus bunches) for kitchen cabinets. Do you need to worry about his little fingers reaching up and touching hot flames on the stove? We do- might want to invest in a stove top guard depending on your situation. Best of luck!!!!
Never thought about using rubber bands so thank you for the tip. Most of our cabinets are drawers so I’m going to have to buy some baby proofing gear.
Congratulations on his milestone! Baby proofing is so hard because no matter what you do, they still manage to get into something or figure out how to work around the baby proofing. We did some basics with electric socket covers, cabinet locks and baby gates. Now that she can walk, she plows right through the baby gat =/ Good luck! =)
Thank you Trisha! Walking is just around the corner and I am a f r a i d 🙂
i learned early not to overreact when Aidan fell, bumped into things, and fell of the sofa etc. if they see that you get upset they will too. i would instead start to clap saying yea he would look at me and start to laugh and also start to clap. i now have an 11 month old who is now crawling and trying to take steps but gets scared. i know once she does its time to setup the gates.
Precious times, enjoy it goes fast.
Thank you! I am. I’m videoing everything.
So cute!! My granddaughter crawled at around 4 1/2 months.. She was crawling before she could sit good LOL… Child proofing came early for sure.
Wow, 4 1/2 months! That is young. When did she start walking?
THat is super young!! I have never thought of rubber bands for that- Thank you:) Super cute post!
Meant super cute picture:) Great tips!
Thank you Melissa. That is not my little guy though 😛 My husband doesn’t want face photo on the internet.
Congrats! Glad to hear he’s making progress 🙂
We made sure to keep all sharp edges covered when baby is trying to pull him/herself up. Luckily baby only has to fall so far being so small, but we always tried to be around to catch them.
Oh man, I remember those days!! Thankful I never had wood floors, but there were always corners to watch out for!! He’ll be walking in no time. lol
I remember when my daughter was mobile for the first time >.< talk about continuous heart attacks!
My son used to fall, a lot. I’m not sure who would cry more, him or me.
Beautiful photo, and congrats to you both.
Such sweet moments!
Do all you can to childproof your home. You can never be too safe!
Boo-Boos Sponge
Tip – For the inevitable bumps and bruises, this is what I ALWAYS had on hand:
1. Get a clean sponge. You can cut it up into different sizes or get bright colors to make it fun and a good distraction.
2. Wet the sponge and squeeze out some of the excess water.
3. Put sponge(s) in a ziplock baggy and place in freezer.
4. Take out sponge when needed (and it will be needed).
(Note: If it gets soiled, you can place in dishwasher to clean and then start back with step 1.)
This saves time when you are trying to bring relief to any boo-boos instead of looking for ice cubes (which are very hard) .
Good luck!
Patti
There are bound to be tumbles, but I’d be surprised if any little one made it through childhood unscathed! I did the same thing you did. I just tried to make it the least dangerous environment possible.
What a handsome little fella!
thank goodness those days are gone but I can so relate
With my first, I went all out with the baby proofing– bumper pad on the coffee table, door handle covers, etc, etc. My second was only 14months behind, so much of it was still in place. Now that they are 3 & 4, all that is left are two door handle covers.
Our biggest concern was our steps. So we put up 2 baby gates so he couldn’t fall down the stairs or climb up them (unless we opened the bottom gate and were right there with him) and fall back down.
We kept gates up so he couldn’t get to rooms that weren’t as childproofed. That was the main saving grace.
My son would fall all of the time. It got to the point where he was afraid to walk. He was 2 1/2 before he walked independently.
So cute! I get nervous watching my nephew walk.. he’s so new to it!