Crawling and Cognitive Development in Babies
When a baby learns to crawl, she's demonstrating progress in physical development. As she's progressing physically she's also developing cognitively. Cognitive development involves the building of thought processes such as decision making, problem solving and memory ability.
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Significance
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When a baby begins to crawl she integrates sensory information. The process of crawling allows your baby to organize and put together all the things he sees, smells, touches and hears. Putting together all this sensory information gives your baby the opportunity to form a complete picture of his world. Being able to organize all this information is part of cognitive development.
Benefits
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Babies learn to concentrate and comprehend as they crawl. Crawling movements stimulate many different parts of the brain. All of these parts are crucial to future learning. As crawling stimulates brain activity your baby develops the cognitive processes of comprehending, memory and the ability to concentrate.
Time Frame
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When a baby reaches, this may initiate crawling. Most babies will get on their hands and knees by the age of 6 months. Crawling typically begins when a baby is in a sitting position and, seeing something she wants, reaches forward with her hands figuring out that she can move a bit closer to the object of her desire. Most babies begin to crawl between the ages of 6-9 months.
Effects
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As the cognitive processes of concentration, memory and comprehending begin to develop, these, in turn, help your baby further develop gross motor and fine motor skills. Fine motor development involves your baby being able to pick up, hold on to and focus on something she sees while crawling. The gross motor or large muscles of the legs develop further, laying the foundation for your baby to concentrate on what is involved in learning to walk.
Considerations
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Your pediatrician will know if your baby is on-track developmentally. Not all babies develop at the same rate. If your baby isn't crawling by 9 months of age there's no need to worry right away about physical or cognitive developmental delays. But it's always wise to check with your pediatrician.
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All parents of newborns should know the definition of the grasp or grasping reflex. Its perhaps one of the sweetest involuntary movements that babies exhibit. The grasping reflex allows newborns to grab your finger and hold tight. Learn more about
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The gross motor skills of blind babies, including walking, are generally on track with babies who can see, according to WonderBaby.org, a website published by the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts. Blind babies may need a little extra coa
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When a baby begins to motivate --- generally between 7 and 10 months of age --- he may scoot instead of crawl. Scooting takes place while the baby rests on his belly or bottom, as he uses his arms or legs to propel himself across the floor. Although
