Crawling opens up the whole house—and pulling to stand means a whole new perspective on everything.
These activities develop crawling coordination, strengthen legs for pulling to stand, and build the balance and confidence needed for cruising along furniture.
Your baby crawls with confidence, pulls to stand, and starts cruising along furniture. They can sit down from standing intentionally — lowering themselves carefully instead of just falling. This controlled movement shows sophisticated motor planning.
Create safe spaces for practicing new skills. Arrange sturdy furniture so your baby can cruise between supports. Provide push toys for pre-walking practice. Movement is their primary occupation right now, and they need space to do it.
Confident crawling and cruising at eight months build the bilateral coordination, balance, and motor planning that prepare your baby for walking.
Your baby may be pulling to stand on furniture. Make sure their environment is safe for exploration—they'll cruise before you know it.
The pincer grasp is developing! Offer small, safe foods like puffs or soft fruit pieces to practice picking up tiny objects.
Stranger awareness peaks around now, so don't force social situations. Let your baby warm up at their own pace—it's healthy development.
Lay out different textured surfaces in a path for your baby to crawl across — a sensory-rich adventure that builds motor planning and exploration.
Set up a furniture path with interesting toys at each stop to encourage your baby to cruise along — a natural bridge to independent walking.
Stack soft blocks in front of your sitting baby and let them knock the tower over — a satisfying game that practices sitting balance and reaching.
Play a gentle tug-of-war with silky scarves to build your baby's grip strength and upper body coordination — a fun two-way game.
Roll a soft ball toward your baby and encourage them to reach, grab, or crawl after it — a classic activity that motivates movement across the floor.
Help your baby practice pulling up from lying down to sitting with your hands as support — a milestone-building activity for growing core muscles.