Sitting to Crawling Position

As I mentioned before, babies' torticollis may improve once crawling becomes established.  That's why I spend time doing physical therapy exercises that encourage crawling.  This specific exercise will help my daughter become more comfortable moving from the sitting position to crawling position.  When babies first start crawling, they will often get into crawling position from the seated position.  So this exercise encourages that natural transition that babies will often make into crawling position.  I am including a video  and written directions (with pictures) below to demonstrate how I do this exercise with my daughter.

Video Tutorial:




Step-by-Step Written Instructions:

1.  Start out with baby sitting down on a soft, carpeted floor.  Position a toy diagonally in front of her towards her right.

Step 1 and 2

2.  Position baby's right knee to point towards the toy. The left leg can be positioned in the manner displayed in the image above.

3.  Draw baby's attention to the toy. You want baby to lunge forward on her own towards the toy.  If she doesn't lunge, you can gently assist her to a lunge. Be careful to spot baby the entire time to prevent her from falling on face.

Step 3

4.  Ideally, you want baby to end up in crawling position. However, if baby is not ready to be on "all fours", it is fine for her to simply land on her tummy until she is ready.

Step 4

5.  The more comfortable your baby becomes with this exercise, the less manual guidance she will likely need.

6.  Repeat this exercise to the right about five times. Then, do this same exercise five times to the left side.  Make sure toy is positioned to left with babies left knee pointing towards the toy.

Disclaimer: I am not a physical therapist or medical professional.  If you wish to do any of these physical therapy exercises on your own child, you should first seek approval from your child's physical therapist.  Click here for full disclaimer.