Now that babies are put in cribs on their backs (for safety reasons)…they aren’t crawling as early or in the same way (we get so many reports of that half scrunching across the floor). Because babies are not having a lot of tummy time–those muscles that are used for crawling are not being used as often.

Finding toys that will encourage that up and forward motion are even more important. We got several new rolling toys this season–our favorite is the new Lamaze Fun Mirror Crawl Toy from Learning Curve ($29).

Another fun choice is Follow Me Fred or Crawl Along Leo from Tiny Love. Both move slowly across the floor-encouraging babies to follow along.