Most babies don’t start crawling until 7 to 10 months old, so at 6 months your baby likely isn’t behind. What you’re seeing right now are the building blocks: rolling, pushing up on straight arms, and pivoting on the belly. These are exactly the skills that lead to crawling, and there’s plenty you can do to strengthen them.
What 6-Month-Olds Are Actually Doing
At 6 months, the CDC lists three key physical milestones: rolling from tummy to back, pushing up with straight arms during tummy time, and leaning on hands for support while sitting. These movements build the core, shoulder, and hip strength your baby needs before crawling becomes possible. Some babies also start pivoting in circles on their bellies around this age, spinning to reach toys placed around them. That circular movement is a strong sign the muscles are developing on schedule.
If your baby is hitting those marks, they’re right where they should be. Crawling itself is still a month or more away for most kids, and the range is wide. One baby might crawl at 7 months while another waits until 11 months. Both are normal.
Build Core Strength With Tummy Time
Tummy time is the single most effective exercise for preparing your baby to crawl. Pediatric guidelines recommend at least 15 to 30 minutes of total tummy time per day starting around 2 months, with longer and more frequent sessions as your baby gets older. By 6 months, your baby should be doing most of their tummy time on the floor rather than propped on your chest or a pillow.
During tummy time, your baby’s core muscles work constantly to hold their head up, push their chest off the ground, and shift weight from side to side. That weight-shifting is what eventually lets them get onto hands and knees. If your baby fusses during tummy time, try getting down on the floor face-to-face with them, or play peek-a-boo to keep them engaged. Short, frequent sessions throughout the day work better than one long stretch that ends in frustration.
Use Toys to Encourage Reaching and Movement
Strategic toy placement is one of the easiest ways to motivate your baby to move. Place favorite toys on either side of their body, just beyond arm’s reach, while they’re on their belly. This encourages reaching and turning, which builds the rotational strength needed for crawling. A toy that makes noise works especially well because your baby will lift their chest and extend their arms to find the source of the sound.
Once your baby can hold a hands-and-knees position briefly, try dangling a set of keys or a rattle at their eye level to encourage them to reach forward with one hand while supporting their weight on the other. That single-arm weight bearing is a critical step. When they’re comfortable doing that, move the toy slightly farther away to see if they’ll shift forward. Don’t place toys so far away that your baby gives up. A few inches beyond their fingertips is the sweet spot.
You can also position your baby on all fours over your legs with their hands resting on a book or mirror on the floor. This lets them feel what the hands-and-knees position is like with some support, which helps their body learn the pattern.
Set Up the Right Surface
The floor surface matters more than you might think. Carpet is the best surface for learning to crawl because it provides natural grip and cushioning. The slight resistance of carpet fibers gives babies’ hands and knees something to push against, which actually helps build the muscle strength needed for coordinated movement.
If you have hardwood or tile floors, lay down a yoga mat, play mat, or exercise mat to create a non-slip crawling zone. Any non-slip mat works. Let your baby practice with bare feet and bare knees whenever possible, since socks and pants reduce traction on every surface. The key difference between surfaces is friction. Hard floors are slippery and require significantly more strength and control, which can be discouraging for a baby just learning to move.
Give Plenty of Floor Time (Not Device Time)
Babies learn to crawl by spending time on the floor, not in bouncers, walkers, or activity seats. Those devices have their place, but they don’t build the specific muscles or movement patterns that lead to crawling. A baby in a bouncer is upright and supported. A baby on the floor has to figure out how to hold their own weight, shift it, and eventually propel themselves forward.
Create a safe, open space on the floor where your baby can move freely. Clear away anything they could bump into or pull down. Spread out a few toys to give them reasons to move in different directions, and let them explore. You don’t need to structure every minute. Unstructured floor time where your baby rolls, pivots, reaches, and experiments with movement is exactly the kind of practice their body needs.
Baby-Proof Before They’re Mobile
The time to baby-proof is before your baby starts crawling, not after. Once they figure out forward movement, things happen fast. Start with these priorities:
- Anchor heavy furniture to the wall so it can’t tip if bumped or eventually climbed on.
- Cover electrical outlets and keep all cords out of reach, including window covering cords and monitor wires.
- Latch cabinets that contain cleaning products, sharp objects, or anything small enough to swallow.
- Secure rugs with non-slip pads so they don’t slide under your feet while you’re carrying the baby.
- Install window guards and remove anything hanging above the crib that your baby could grab once they’re on hands and knees.
- Move pet food and water dishes out of reach, along with tablecloths, dish towels, and anything else a baby could yank off a surface.
Get on the floor yourself and look around from your baby’s height. You’ll spot hazards you’d never notice standing up.
Signs to Watch For
Not crawling at 6 months is completely normal and not a concern on its own. What does matter is whether your baby is meeting the foundational milestones for this age. By 6 months, your baby should be rolling from tummy to back, pushing up on straight arms during tummy time, and using their hands for support while sitting. If your baby isn’t doing any of these things, or if they seem to strongly favor one side of their body, or if they’ve lost skills they previously had, those are worth bringing up with your pediatrician. A delay in these building-block skills can sometimes signal that a baby would benefit from early support like physical therapy, which is most effective when started early.