babyreview.com.au

This morning I woke to find baby standing in her cot looking at me with a big grin on her face. Her sense of accomplishment was clear, she had managed to maneuver from a crawling position, to a sitting position and then grip on her cot railings to pull herself up.

There was no doubt, baby had reached another milestone in her development and it was now time to ‘raise the bar’ – physically and metaphorically.

Her cot made by Boori Country, has the functionality to raise and lower the mattress, as well as raise and lower the bar. It was now time to lower the mattress and raise the bar.

Baby’s current stance means that as a parent I will need to ‘raise the bar’, be more attentive and aware of baby’s physical capabilities. It feels like it won’t be too long until my baby is walking and I’ll be pleased that I have baby proofed the house!

Baby’s movement has progressed from rocking side to side, to her first roll, to lying on her tummy resting on her forearms, to finally placing a hand in front of each knee and successfully crawling. Yes, we have a crawler in the house!

To encourage this new skill, I am placing a toy in front of baby and watching her try to reach the toys with whatever movement she can muster. At first there was a combination of commando rolls and awkward crawls to reach the toy. Now, she has figured out that crawling is by far the most efficient method of travel and her speed is increasing by the day.

With this new found skill, comes the responsibility of parents to ensure a thorough ‘baby proofing’ of the house has been completed. I’ve found Kidsafe Australia to be an organisation that provides a great deal of quality information. You can visit a Kidsafe House to see everything you need to babyproof your house.

Talking of health and safety, we hope all those in Queensland and Northern NSW, who have been evacuated from flooded houses or who are currently in their houses but without electricity, stay safe over the coming weeks.