Great Toys & Tips For Getting Your
Baby Crawling

"What can I do to get my baby crawling?" is probably one of the most frequently asked questions relating to baby development... both online and offline. Maybe it's because parents know about the physical and perceptual stimulation the milestone brings... or maybe, it's because it's such an easy milestone to track.

Regardless of the reason, let's look at a great technique and a few learning toys that get results playfully.

Baby crawling tips and technique

Probably the best thing about the 6-step baby crawling technique described below is...

1. Put your baby on his/her stomach on a carpet on the floor.

2. Gently hold your baby by the elbows and encourage supporting him/herself on elbows. Continue to provide support.
3. Measure or estimate the distance between the floor and Baby's armpit in the supported position.
   
4. Use a roller with approximately the same diameter as you've just measured. Rollers are soft cylindrical shaped toys... preferably firm. You do get inflatable ones, but firm, dense ones normally last much longer and can also be a valuable aid to get Baby to sit and walk.
   
   The roller will be placed underneath Baby's upper body for support. It's important that your roller isn't too big. Baby's elbows must still reach the floor when lying on the roller
   
   If you'd like to make your own baby crawling roller, click here for one of the easiest ways
    
5. Carefully place the roller underneath Baby's upper body... elbows touching the ground in front of the roller. This supported position also allow Baby to lift his/her head and discover the surroundings.
6. Get down on the floor directly in front of your baby, facing him. Now, let Baby look at your face while you talk to, amuse and encourage him to lift his head and take part in the conversation.
   
   Step six is probably the most important step of this activity. It focuses your baby's attention on you and the surroundings, rather on the activity.

The biggest advantage of using a roller lies in helping to raise your baby's upper body thereby giving him the chance to look around. This not only gives some stimulation from the surroundings, but also necessary physical strengthening.

Remember, the goal is for your baby to naturally develop a sense of using both legs for support. Use this technique for 3-5 minutes daily... maybe even longer if your baby would endure it.

In no time you'll see your baby supporting his upper body using straight arms and bearing weight on both knees... ready to crawl.

Of course, using a roller is not the only way to stimulate baby crawling. Many of the leading educational toy brands nowadays also make playthings to get such results. One thing I know... they're much more fun!

Here are 4 such toys to help baby crawl. Click any of the links below to go directly to our description of that learning toy.

• Lamaze Mirror Crawl Toy
• First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time
• Alex Jr Learn to Crawl Tunnel Toy
• Baby Einstein Animal Exploration Tunnel

Lamaze Mirror Crawl Toy

As infants master baby crawling, they also discover newer worlds. It comes as no surprise then that, toys that help stimulate and encourage a child to crawl, are said to be extremely important in a child's growing years.

The Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy is one such object that can literally help boost your child's skills.

Designed to intrigue your baby and encourage her to move forward, the Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy is the perfect amalgamation of safety, utility and beauty. The toy works by tickling almost all the sense of the baby and luring her towards the toy.

Remember just like adults, kids will also be attracted to colorful things rather than dull ones.

Visually this toy is a delight from a toddler's point of view. The lovely array of primary colors combines with the animal pictures on the side of the wheels to excite the visual senses of the baby.

The baby proof mirror gets your child to squeal with delight ever so often on seeing her own reflection in the toy. The lights help grab your child's attention and beckon the baby to come closer. As the toy rolls slightly, the need for further visual stimulation drives the child to move closer to the Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy and explore it some more.

The Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy comes with something for the auditory senses too. The music and the rolling sound of the beads are highly fascinating for your child. Wanting to have a closer look at a toy that creates this music, your child is tempted to crawl behind the toy while it rolls.

The best stimulation of the toy comes in helping your baby understand the cause and effect relationship as a default advantage to learning how to crawl. As the baby pushes the Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy, it rolls further, creating some light and sound.

Over time your baby learns that in order to create the desired music and light effect, one has to push the toy with some force. Soon enough the child will learn that to create a certain effect, it is important to cause it. Wanting to repeat this action over and over and take pride in her discovery, your child will make all efforts to crawl along with the toy.

The last but definitely not the least; The Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy is completely baby safe. All the edges have been rounded off and there are no small parts that may pose as a chocking risk to the baby.

Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy is a wholesome contraption for a child who is on the threshold of learning how to crawl. Every aspect of the toy is designed to attract your baby and then entice her to crawl towards it.

It would not be wrong to say that the Lamaze Mirror Crawl toy is indeed the perfect way to let your child learn to crawl and have fun at it too.

First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time

Crawling is the first real taste of self inspired mobility that your baby experiences. And helping her in this attempt may also work rather well in her physical and mental capacities.

The First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time is a toy designed mainly for stimulating baby crawling.

This 3 pound (1.4kg) toy helps children to develop the muscles of both their upper and lower body. The happy flyer seat is where the baby is placed tummy down. As the child uses her arms and legs, not to mention tummy muscles, to move the seat round and round, she gains strength in these body parts.

Stronger tummy, leg and arm muscles eventually assist your child to crawl. The experience of being suspended in air adds to the magic of the toy and children seem happy to play around in a floating mode.

Shaped like an airplane, the multicolored mat serves as a great tool to stimulate the mind of the child in order to build on her physical facilities.

The baby proof mirror, the teething ring, the soft squeezing toy and the several textures of the mat combine to entice the child to spin the flyer seat in order to examine each aspect of the mat.

By focusing on your baby’s sense of touch, sight and sound, the mat serves the dual purpose of developing both her mental and physical abilities.

The First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time has been designed with great attention to detail. Safety is given primary importance. The material of the mat is user friendly and the toy has no small parts that can pose any chocking hazards.

However, it is suggested that you use the toy only under adult supervision.

Comfort is primary to a child. Irrespective of the purpose or the look of a contraption, the baby will only enjoy it, if it is comfortable to use.

The First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time's seat is properly padded to avoid any bruising. And the edges are smoothened out to prevent any injury.

Bottom line is, there are no pokey parts in the toy that could cause discomfort or injury to your child while she is enjoying her flying time.

It would not be wrong to say that the First Years Happy Flyer Tummy Time creates the desired environment to encourage baby crawling. Once your baby learns to move and starts crawling all over the place, the seat of the toy can be removed. Even if you then only use the mat, it's still great to fascinate, stimulate and entertain her!

Alex Jr Learn to Crawl Tunnel Toy

While baby crawling comes quite naturally to most infants, it is also true that many of them may not seem too eager to master this activity. That's where the Alex Jr Learn to Crawl Tunnel Toy seems to be a great tool to help baby crawl.

The toy is in the shape of a tunnel that allows the child to pass through only in the crawling posture. There is a mat below which protects the baby from skin burns and cold too.

The basic aim of the tunnel toy is to encourage baby crawling, but to make is seem like a game rather than a chore.

The top of the tunnel is netted in order to allow you to easily watch your baby and also prevent her from possibly feeling scared or lonely. The side panels of the tunnel come with pictures of various animals... right from lions to butterflies. The insides of the tunnel do not offer any distraction to the baby and simply assists her in keeping focus on the other end of the tunnel.

The mat is also a plain green color with small blue polka dots. It therefore does not distract your baby from her mission... crawling to the other side of the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel there is a reward - a large baby proof mirror where she sees her own reflection and celebrates her victory with this ‘other friend’. If you like, you can also put a toy at the end of the tunnel to motivate her to crawl through. Of course, you can call and encourage her from the other side.

The power of the Alex Jr Learn to Crawl Tunnel Toy lies in its simplicity.

This toy is so effective in encouraging crawling, simply because it does not allow any other visual or auditory distraction. Once the kid goes in from one end, there is not much to do apart from crawling to the other side.

This baby crawling toy packs up into a small bag that can easily be stored or carried around. Another advantage I like is that even older kids can have fun with it by crawling though. Although now specifically designed for that, this tunnel also helps children get over possible fear of closed spaces.

This 1.3 pound tunnel is indeed a great tool to encourage any reluctant crawler to get on the mat and go through the tunnel.

Baby Einstein Animal Exploration Tunnel

Once babies begin to crawl, they go all over the place. Blink and you will find your toddler five feet away from her last position. Indeed baby crawling is the first step your child takes towards freedom.

This is one of the reasons why pediatricians will also use baby crawling as a bench mark to judge any child’s physical abilities and growth. While forcing babies to master this activity would be rather negative, exposing them to toys and fun situations which may help Baby crawl is a good idea.

The Baby Einstein Animal Exploration Tunnel is a great toy for babies who are barely learning to crawl. 

The Baby Einstein Animal Exploration Tunnel creates a safe yet highly stimulating environment for your baby to develop her crawling skills. Right from the mat to the tunnel, every aspect of the toy has been designed to perfection. The array of colors and animal pictures keep your baby’s interest focused. 

The tunnel area has strips of fabric and net that allows your baby to easily look out without getting claustrophobic. What's great is that you can also watch your child from the outside.

The mat is full of pictures of various animals and cartoons to encourage baby crawling. There are several loops provided on the inside of the tunnel top allowing you to place your child’s favorite toys and add to the charm of crawling inside the tunnel. 

The basic idea of the Baby Einstein Animal Exploration Tunnel is to first create an intriguing atmosphere for the baby. The colorful pictures of animals and the toys placed in the tunnel are highly stimulating.

The height of the tunnel is perfectly designed forcing your baby to go into a crawl position to explore further. The length of the tunnel ensures that your baby remains in a crawling mode for a few paces, before being able to sit up again. 

The mat and the pictures on the inside panels of the tunnel, along with the rewards at the end of the tunnel, all combine to make crawling a fun activity for your child. You'll also find toys for stimulating hearing senses, like the red chirping bird and the sun rattle.

Then there are toys like the water teether for encouraging your child’s sense of taste too. The colors and images excite visual senses and keep your baby fully occupied.

But if your baby is scared of the long tunnel, you can simply open it part by part rather than all at one go (do not leave your baby unattended in the tunnel).

All these props work together to make this tunnel a great fun time activity for your child, who does not even realize that she is also learning to crawl. 

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