A mom writes in asking about her 6-month-old baby, who has started crawling. She says that, in her current living situation in her mother-in-law’s trailer, there are no carpets. She worries that the baby crawling in this environment is dirty and dangerous. She asks our community of moms whether it would be bad to stop her baby from learning to crawl.
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A member of the community asks:
“Would it be wrong to stop my child from learning to crawl?
I have a question, I currently live with my mother-in-law with our 6-month-old. Now, my MIL’s trailer had her floors redone, but there’s no carpet and since its just wood it attracts a lot of dirt no matter how much you sweep and she doesn’t want to get a carpet.
I suggested just putting blankets down so he can learn to crawl and develop those muscles but when I asked her she didn’t say no and she didn’t say yes, she just said something along the lines of there’s no stopping him if he wants to crawl. So my question is would it hurt my baby if I prevent him from crawling, like would he have a problem developing and growing.”
– Mamas Uncut Community Member
Community Advice for This Mom Who Wants to Know if It Would Be Wrong to Stop Her 6-Month-Old Baby from Crawling
To see what advice the Mamas Uncut Facebook community has for this mom in need, read the comments of the post embedded below.
Advice Summary
The community offered this mom in need a lot of great advice. Read some of their responses below.
“Even if you don’t like it you need to let your baby learn to crawl because it doesn’t look good on your part if at 6 months old you’re not letting your baby learn to crawl. My daughter is almost a year old crawling and there are hardwood floors where I live and I’m not preventing her from crawling. If she crawls, her clothes get dirty so therefore I put them through the washer and dryer. Just make sure you get some shout spray and spray his clothes before putting them through the washer.”
“Ridiculous. Let the baby crawl, then bathe the baby… Seriously, are you gonna hold him back because he’ll get a little dirty??”
“Yes, it would be wrong to prevent your child from learning to crawl. Absolutely.”
“Yes, buy carpet to put in your room… Like a throw rug.”
“This is ridiculous. Why on Earth would you want to put an intentional delay in your child’s development?? You’ll just have to sweep/mop daily, like the rest of us. A little dirt will not hurt your child.”
“What? What if he wants to crawl in the grass?? You’re gonna have a lot more to worry about with a toddler and some dirty knees. Get over it and let the baby explore.”
“y carpet has dirt literally soaked into it no matter how much I clean it. It was like that when we moved in. So my 14-month-old has literally black knees and black feet from walking and crawling on it. I give him a bath and wipe those areas good before bed. Please let that baby be a baby and learn!!! He’s gonna get dirty no matter what.”
“All of my boys 5 have been raised with wood floors. They get dirty, you wash them. You will come to know boys get dirty, you get dirty, literally everything gets dirty, soooo dirty lol! They need to build their muscles and also their immune system. Let that baby crawl and you shouldn’t hold them back from things that help them develop.”
“You can clean wood floors! Swiffer!!! Daily, multiple times a day. My goodness.”
“I have 3 teenage girls now and we had wood floors when they were small and were fine learning to crawl on it and as long as its swept etc regularly the amt of dirt or whatever may still be there isn’t going to hurt. A little dirt won’t kill em lol.”
“Never try to hinder your child from learning/growing.”
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