Pure Parents

Question:

>>Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home.

So do I, and it didn’t seem to bother my little guy.  Infact, I can’t see how it would cause more dificulties than rug-burn.  Heed the advice on those first steps, Baby will need traction, either ler her go barefoot, or have non-slip socks, or shoes on her.  Mine never had a big problem unless he stepped on something that was on the floor, like a napkin that might have been dropped, or a book or something, it would just slip right out from under him, along with his feet. my toddler didn’t really crawl on all fours, he liked to do the army crawl, pulling with his elbows, and pushing himself along with his toes, always dragging his belly, it was cute.  But I have a ton of stained onesies, cause he mopped up every speck of grime off the floors with his tummy, ICK! She’ll be ok. Krystal

Response:

Nathan crawls all over the hardwood and ceramic tile too without slowing down!  Looks like it would hurt to me!  Only hurts when he stands up and crashes he says…smart guy is now staying on the carpet for hat!  -Jennifer – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. >My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins >crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We >keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands

Response:

> Hello, > We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. > My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins > crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We > keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t > want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any > suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m > sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a > rookie at this parenting thing. > Danielle H.

We found that our son’s knees got even more red and irritated (in the beginning) on carpet.  You know, rug burns!  In the end I’d be more worried when they are learning to stand and slipping on the wood floor. You probably need to make sure they’re wearing sneakers all the time. Larry — GrowthSpurts.Com – Get your baby’s own personal web site! Track you baby’s growth and development online with our statistical database.  Stop by today to test drive GrowthSpurts.Com with your FREE trial membership! http://www.growthspurts.com Free Newsletter – http://www.growthspurts.com/newsletter.asp

Response:

|   > We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. |   > My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins |   > crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We |   > keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t |   > want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any |   > suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m |   > sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a |   > rookie at this parenting thing. |   > |   > Danielle H. |   Hey, thats *not* a dumb question.  I have NO carpet (unless you count |   the mat we wipe our feet on) and I wondered the same thing.  Victoria |   doesn’t seem to mind crawling on the hard floor, it’s me that has a hard |   time with it Interesting.  I thought the exact opposite – fine to let him crawl on the hardwood floor, but that carpet!  I was never sure of how clean it was.  At least with hardwood, you wash it, you *know* it’s clean.  Who knows what’s left in the wall-to-wall carpet even after a good vacuuming? Anyway, it wasn’t a problem.  Kids who are crawling don’t weigh much and their hands and knees are still well-padded.  The one thing to remember is that when the child learns to walk, you don’t want to have socks or slippery baby shoes on their feet.  Bare feet are best for new walkers anyway.  We’ve let Kenneth go barefoot, at his PT’s suggestion, since he was out of one-piece sleepers.  He never has cold feet indoors, even in Norway in midwinter – because he’s used to being barefoot, his body has adjusted to keep his feet warm.  If you’re still convinced that you absolutely can’t let a child go barefoot in your house, look for socks with non-slip bottoms (or use puff paint, which you can get at crafts stores, to make your own), or soft slippers with suede soles.  Those will allow the child to grip the floor and cut down on falls. – Cindy Kandolf, mamma to Kenneth (5 years)   Bilingual Families Web Page:   http://www.nethelp.no/cindy/biling-fam.html

Response:

>Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. >My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins >crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We >keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.

            Don’t worry too much, babies have chubby hands and knees for a reason!  Trust me, a baby WILL let you know (quite vocally) if something was causing her discomfort!   A word of caution about hardwood floors though; when she begins to cruise and take those first steps, make sure she has socks with treads on the bottom.  That will prevent many slips and falls. Good Luck and Enjoy this wonderful stage!! Cymrucelt

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I just remembered a very special pair of corduroy pants with shoulder straps someone gave us as a gift for our little cannonballer.  It had generous knee pads sewn onto the inside of knees.  Check the stores, baby departments and catalogues. We only had the one pair.  He did not have them on all the time. I suppose one could sew in some home-made pads too with a hand held sewing machine or a needle and thread if baby has scraped knees. Upstate NY Mom – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. >My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins >crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We >keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t >want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any >suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m >sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a >rookie at this parenting thing. >Danielle H.

Response:

HeeHee!  I bet that was cute!  My nephew did that army crawl thing…pulled himself along with his arms and didn’t use his legs.  But he didn’t learn to crawl until AFTER he walked!!! Lisa Mom to Kelsey (2) — Visit my website… http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/9283/

Response:

> Hello, > We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. > My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins > crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We > keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t > want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any > suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m > sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a > rookie at this parenting thing. > Danielle H.

Hey, thats *not* a dumb question.  I have NO carpet (unless you count the mat we wipe our feet on) and I wondered the same thing.  Victoria doesn’t seem to mind crawling on the hard floor, it’s me that has a hard time with it — Paige GO LEAFS!!! proud to be Outlandish I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a  vegetarian. (to e-mail double the p and take out the "reston")

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My two both learned on hardwood with no problems.  they didn’t seem at all bothered by it as long as I kept them in long pants. TR – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. >My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins >crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We >keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t >want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any >suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m >sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a >rookie at this parenting thing. >Danielle H.

Response:

I was more worried about their heads — they don’t have great balance and used to flop down wherever.  I’d just wait and see how she does … –Janet Triplets  (10/21/96) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Hello, >We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. >My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins >crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We >keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t >want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any >suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m >sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a >rookie at this parenting thing. >Danielle H.

Response:

My son scooted around on his bottom – never on his knees. It looked like he was imitating a crab. In any case, your baby will stop crawling on the hardwood floor when and if it hurts them. Meanwhile, there are crawling kneepads you can buy. Heidi

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You can also make (or buy) some knee pads for them. We did that with Kelsey. Just take a pair of thick socks and cut one end out.  Roll them up and put them on their knees.  Make sure that it doesn’t cut circulation off though. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  They’re tougher than you think! Lisa Mom to Kelsey (2) — Visit my website… http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/9283/

Response:

I made sure they wore corduroy pants while they crawled on the bare wood floors.  The skin on the knees does get red and raw until their calluses build up.  By that time, they are walking anyway. Upstate NY Mom – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Babies are born without kneecaps.  If you ever see an x ray of a baby’s >legs, it will freak you out.  This helps with situations like this.  Human >growth and development is an interesting thing, remember back earlier in the >century when there weren’t many houses with carpet and everything was fine. >So now that you know that’s safe, get ready to put ALL your valuables waist >high, get the elec. socket blocks, the cupboard locks, etc.   Leslie : ) > Hello, > We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. > My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins > crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We > keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t > want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any > suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m > sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a > rookie at this parenting thing. > Danielle H.

Response:

Babies are born without kneecaps.  If you ever see an x ray of a baby’s legs, it will freak you out.  This helps with situations like this.  Human growth and development is an interesting thing, remember back earlier in the century when there weren’t many houses with carpet and everything was fine. So now that you know that’s safe, get ready to put ALL your valuables waist high, get the elec. socket blocks, the cupboard locks, etc.   Leslie : ) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hello, > We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. > My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins > crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We > keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t > want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any > suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m > sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a > rookie at this parenting thing. > Danielle H.

Response:

Hello, We have hardwood floors in the living room and dining room of our home. My daughter is 6 months old, and I am thinking about when she begins crawling.  I’m a little hesitant to let her crawl on the bare floor.  We keep it clean, but I’m a worried about her knees and hands.  I don’t want to limit her play space to upstairs which is carpeted.  Any suggestions, or can anyone set my mind at ease?  Thank you, and I’m sorry if this sounds like a stupid question.  What can I say, I’m a rookie at this parenting thing. Danielle H.

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