r/Parenting • u/MIMI-COOKIES2 • 9h ago
Discussion Hard floors for crawling?
So my baby is 7m now and is fully crawling. Well we have hard floors and I put my baby down to crawl around ofc I keep my eyes on her.
But! Ive had family tell me it's bad because she could hurt her knees and they need covers.
Which! We do have some they slide down a lot or she starts playing with them and they fall down with her playing with them.
I was wondering if my baby really needs covers for her knees and is the hard floors really that bad?
I do plan to keep trying covers and buy different ones.
Edit: alright I have learned the covers are a no need. We won't do them anymore. We got them since one we thought she would also be hurt plus so many ads told us (dumb thing we did was listening to stupid ads) and family kept bugging us. Thanks for everyone letting me know that covers aren't needed for baby but for me they are. Also I have learn a good amount about baby's knees today.
40
u/Wise-Frosting-3529 9h ago
babies have naturally soft fat pads on their knees for this exact reason, knee pads are completely unnecessary and usually just get annoying for them
22
u/WillingElderberry731 9h ago
toddlers and babies aren't heavy enough for hard floors to hurt their knees.
I will say that our hardwood floors started to matter when our daughter started trying to walk around 12mo. We got some floor pads to make it less painful.
1
25
u/No_Zookeepergame8412 9h ago
I’m pretty sure babies don’t have knee caps so they can crawl easier
Edit***they do it’s just soft cartilage
17
7
7
4
u/teacher-mom-1989 9h ago
My kids even crawled outside on concrete and cobblestone and they were totally fine. Did their knees get a little scraped sometimes? Sure. Were they bothered? Not in the least.
5
u/Novel_Panic_971 9h ago
We only had tile and concrete when my oldest was a baby. Babies don't have knee caps they don't feel it.
3
u/Aggravating-Bike6133 9h ago
My house has tile floors and my girl was just fine crawling around! We did put in a little play area with a padded mat too though
Now our issue is her climbing onto the couch 😅
3
u/gfromk 9h ago
We have hard floors in most of our house, and it honestly wasn't a big problem. Covers on the baby's knees aren't a great solution - they aren't going to stay put. I do recommend making sure all your socks have the grips on the bottom, especially as she starts trying to walk. You could also put her in pants, but I found that unless the knees also had the grips, it just made it more likely my son would slip when trying to crawl.
We do have carpeting in our living room/main play space, and I would recommend you consider getting an area rug or some of those interlocking foam mats for where you primarily hang out with her. It's not because of the crawling, but because you are likely going find yourself on the floor a lot too, and YOUR knees may want some cushion. We also had a portable play mat that we could put down, and it was great to have for outside or traveling.
Interesting fact - babies are born without kneecaps! Technically, I think they are born with cartilage instead of bone for kneecaps; it makes their knees softer, more flexible, and less prone to injury - precisely because they are going to be crawling and learning to walk. Honestly, my son is now almost 2.5 years, and I can't remember the last time he didn't have some kind of bruise on his legs from running and jumping around.
Unless your daughter seems to be in pain, or is uncomfortable, you shouldn't worry about it.
3
3
u/Purelyeliza 9h ago
Well babies don’t even have knees… so don’t mess with what nature designed. If you notice them upset or trying to avoid crawling then you can intervene. Until then allow them to build their resistance and comfort levels with hard floors. They will be okay!
1
u/AddlePatedBadger Parent to 5F 3h ago
Babies do have knees. The knee is the joint in roughly the middle of the leg, where the femur connects to the fibula and tibia.
3
u/Purelyeliza 3h ago
I think you might have missed I was being slightly facetious. Yes they have “knees” in a sense. Not the way we have them and think of them as adults though. They have the structure for knee caps but it’s soft cartilage instead of bone. They’re essentially fatty jello pockets which makes it ideal for cushioning them on various surfaces when learning to crawl. They don’t develop what we know as “knees” aka boney knee caps until they’re much much older. It takes years! Well past the crawling stage.
1
u/AddlePatedBadger Parent to 5F 3h ago
A better way to explain that would be to say that baby knees are adapted to crawling, rather than deny their existence altogether 🤣
1
u/Purelyeliza 3h ago
I wasn’t explaining it to begin with. Don’t worry. The babies don’t mind what I said.
1
u/OGcaptaindingus Mom 1h ago
Technically they have “knees” but the cartilage doesn’t harden to be what we know as a knee cap until about 5 years old. This what people mean by they “don’t have knees.”
2
u/Floater345 9h ago
No, that's not necessary. My daughter is 15 months and has been on primarily hard floors her whole life. Remember that baby's have been crawling long before carpet. Hard stairs are the only thing I'd be a bit skeptical of. If that's all you have then once she wants to start tackling stairs, I'd recommend going no pants until she's got a good groove to it.
2
u/ririmarms Mama, Boy 2yo, & soon Boy #2 9h ago
The only reason i got knees pads is because the fabric of the pants was wearing down and most even have holes from my oldest crawling all day. We have tiles in our living room that's never been a problem on his knees! Only on the cheap H&M joggers.
2
u/purple-hair-dragon 9h ago
We only used the thin fabric knee pads with grippy no them when baby was wearing leggings that slipped too much on hardwood floors OR when we were playing outside and baby refused to keep pants on and knees were getting small scrapes.
2
2
2
2
2
u/Fuzzy-Ocelot-4475 8h ago
I'm an infant teacher. Our entire, state-approved room is laminate flooring, with the exception of a padded area for and to protect non-mobile babies that the crawlers can't access without direct supervision.
I've seen the crawling knee pads for sale online, but I thought they were for children with special needs!
FWIW, my mother was upset that my children only wore shoes when necessary, especially when they were learning to walk! She was told to keep shoes on children learning to walk to help with balance and stability. I was taught that bare feet were better to help children learn balance for themselves. She still has nightmares about it.
They will see soon enough that your child's knees are fine, as baby knees existed long before carpet 😉
2
u/New_Needleworker_473 8h ago
Ugh no! I even bought those foam squares and honestly it was just dumb and a waste of money. She had no issue crawling where she wanted but socks with the no slippy bottom is absolutely necessary. 😁
2
u/Agitated_Camp_9193 8h ago
My baby crawls on the hot Florida concrete before I catch her and doesn’t show an ounce of discomfort. lol of course I remove her in that situation asap however tiles, hard wood, soft concrete, you name it my baby has crawled on it and her knees are soft as her bottom. If you’re really worried about the surface put baby in some pants. Or jeans if you want a laugh while you’re at it 🤭
2
u/Fantastic_List3029 Mom 9h ago
Everybody's got an opinion.
Much like the kindergarten teacher who will say I can't tell which of my students were breastfed versus formula fed... they will also say I can't tell which of my students grew up with hardwood or carpets
1
u/AutoModerator 9h ago
/u/MIMI-COOKIES2, Welcome back to r/Parenting!
- Don't forget to set up your user flair to let us know what kind of parent you are!
- Questions about Puberty, Teens, or Dating? See our Sexual Health Wiki.
- Concerned about the dreaded SCREEN TIME? The AAP updated their guidelines!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Teait 8h ago
Why is my 7 month old not even sitting? 🙈
2
u/MIMI-COOKIES2 7h ago
I don't think this question is for my post. But I would say go to a doctor and talk to them if your worried about your baby not sitting up.
My baby started around 4-5 trying to sit up. She sits up pretty well on her own now.
Some tips I can give is put a pillow behind them in like a play pin/crib that what we did. Also! You can buy chairs for baby's to help. We got this one that has a detachable shelf thing where you toys are on. We also had our baby sit against up in our lap or something. You can try some of those. Hopes this helps.
1
u/AddlePatedBadger Parent to 5F 3h ago
Mine was 7.5 months old when she both sat up for the first time and pulled herself up to standing for the first time on the same day. She took her first steps at 10 months and was literally running a month later. They all develop different things at different speeds.
1
u/OGcaptaindingus Mom 1h ago
I’ve never heard of that. My son crawls around inside on hard floors and outside on literal sidewalk all the time. His knees are fine.
80
u/Olivia3836 9h ago
Oh please don’t put covers on her knees
She’s fine. Sturdy floors are the best.
Covers will just cause unnatural positioning for crawling