Outgrowing an Infant Crawling Track

[carpe vestri vita]

I've finally convinced my husband that, at the very least, a physical program is a good idea. (Tell a Canadian father that something might make his child a better hockey player and he jumps at the idea!  )

He's now very excited to build an infant crawling track, but has questions I can't answer (and couldn't find in How Smart is Your Baby? or How to Teach Your Baby to be Physically Superb).

If a child is sleeping in the track, when will they outgrow it? Outgrow in either the sense that they physically won't fit, or in the sense that they won't stay in it to sleep anymore.

I believe the track becomes pointless during the day once a child begins creeping. And it is mentioned in H.T.T.Y.B. To Be Physically Superb that Douglas Doman removed the crawling track from his son's room before he 3 months because "He had graduated from it." I assume because he had began creeping. Can anyone else confirm this idea?

Do babies stop crawling in their sleep once they begin creeping while awake? Or will we need to make arrangements to make sure he doesn't fall out of bed or run into things when he should be safely asleep?

What is the next step for sleeping location? A crib? A mattress on the floor? A toddler bed? A cage suspended from the ceiling? Just kidding about that last one, although my mother-in-law tells me that would have been the only thing that could have stopped my husband from climbing out of bed once he figured out how.

Anyone have any experience with this?

As an aside, if people are interested I'll take photos of the building process and write out detailed directions, materials, and cost (in money and time). I think it would be useful information for people that are unsure if they'd rather build or buy.

[Skylark]

I would not have an experience with crawling track for sleeping... But we did built a crawling track, the straight one, like in the book. We only built it when our daughter was 6 months ( so it was quite late..), she used it for a few days, and it obviously motivated her for crawling, a week later she was crawling and we did not really used the track after that, as she prefered crawling everywhere else and was pulling herself up on the sides of the track ( so it was not safe) I do not know whether it was coincidense that she started to crawl so soon after we introduced the track.. I tend to think, that being in the track in slight incline motivated her, but can not say for sure. I will definetly use it with our next one much earlier... So in our case she graduated from the track in about a week, at just after she turned 6 months...

However, the interesting point, she was not an active crawler, even though she was able to crawl when she wanted to. She was more motivated to pull herself up, and trying to walk since 7 months. Once she took her first independent steps at  8 months and few days, all of a sudden she also became an extremely active and fast crawler. I think would we have given her a chance to crawl in the crawling track earier, she would have enjoyed it more...

[Plarka1]

I am very interested in hearing more replies and also how you get on making your track!  Im in the UK and having trouble finding foam rubber, and all the materials are very expensive.  What are you exactly using?  Are you using the dimensions from the Physically Superb book? I noticed that the crawling track they now sell on the Doman website is wider and taller on the sides.  I wonder if they would say to use those dimensions now?

[Plarka1]

I have just discovered that naugahyde and leatherette and vinyl contain PVC, which is toxic!  Please make sure you check what your fake leather covering is made of!  I am now thinking of just using camping mats on the crawling track for the foam, as it is the only foam I can find and is made of EVA, which is non toxic.  I will not be using any covering over it!  Yikes!

[carpe vestri vita]

Plarka - I think all waterproofed fabric is at least semi-toxic, because it has been coated in plastic of some sort. Naugahyde brand fake leather claims not to use VOC or ODC in the manufacturing of their product, which would reduce the amount of chemicals it emits. Honestly, it doesn't even smell like PVC normally does and some types could be mistaken for leather if the underside wasn't visible.

We had to special order Naugahyde because the upholstery fabric stores here do not stock it. We looked at all the other waterproofed fabrics ranging from Scotchgaurded fabric to 5mm thick vinyl, and everything else felt and smelled bad. We contemplated shellacking our own fabric because I know shellac is non-toxic once it dries (toxic while applying however and we didn't want that in the house). Ultimately we decided just to order the Naugahyde. When it arrives (should have been friday  > ) we're going to test a small piece to see if it can be boiled it to reduce the chemicals it emits further. If it won't melt at that temperature, that is enough to make me confident it's not going to harm the baby. If it does melt though, I'm not sure what the plan will be. Maybe we'll air it out for a while? We have still weeks before the baby is due to arrive.


As for the progress on the track itself, we've decided on an L shape. Which it turns out, due to faulty math, actually can't be cut from a single sheet of plywood. Of course we only bought one sheet before we figured that out, but thankfully we hadn't cut it yet. We decided we're going to make the sides out of 2x6s rather than buying another sheet of plywood for 12". For the foam we opted for an environmentally friendly carpet underlay. It's made from recycled foams held together by low VOC glue. It passed the sniff test too. It doesn't smell chemical like the upholstery foam we looked at, and has more flex than yoga mats or sleeping mats at the same thickness. The only problem is that it's only 8mm thick. We decided on a double layer, although in retrospect I'm not sure why, it's a good texture at one layer thick. To assemble it together we bought low VOC glue, some staples and upholstery tacks (to mark distances along the side). As soon as the fake leather gets here, we'll start construction on it.

The cost was $28 for the plywood, $11 for the 2x6s, $13 for the glue, $60 for the underlay, $3 for staples and tacks, and $105 for the fabric. For a total of $220. It's taken us probably 4 hours to source the materials.

We've cut the plywood to width (but not length yet) which took less than 15 minutes.

[khatty]

Guest,
I'm curious where in Canada you are located? 

Chapters.ca has a few copies of HTTYB to be Physicall Suberb. I first borrowed the book from the library a few months ago, but just recently decided to buy the book.  I am currently waiting for Slow Slow Canada Post to deliver it to my SK mailbox.  My 'baby' is almost 2 years old so way too late on the crawling track, but I would consider it if I ever have another.  I want the book because we are going to try to make the Monkey Bars in our basement this winter.  SK is a long cold winter.

Very interested in seeing pictures of your finished product!

Good Luck.

[carpe vestri vita]

Well we've discovered the Naugahyde problem. It turns out "my" naugahyde did come in on time, they just didn't realize it was mine because it wasn't white, it's gold! The salesperson wrote the wrong code down. Unfortunately there isn't time to get in the right colour before the baby is born, so we kept the gold (for a sizable discount of course).

My baby is so spoiled he's going to sleep on a gold crawling track!

Boiling the fabric did all sorts of things to it, none of it helpful. So we unrolled it and let it air out for 36 hours. After about 24, the cat decided it was her new favourite place to sleep. Cats have a much better sense of smell than we do, so it must be okay if she likes it

The track will be finished over the weekend and I'll have the instructions typed out shortly afterwards.


Khatty,
I'm from just outside Calgary.

I have How Smart is Your Baby and the monkey bars are in there too. How soon are you expecting your book? I could send you scans of the diagrams in mine if you'd like.

I was told quite emphatically that if I want any help, I am not to start any more projects until the spring, so mine will have to wait.

I attached a picture of my 3/4 completed track. The fantastic gold fabric needs to be stapled under, the bumpers I made for the ends need to be installed, and the distance markers need to be attached.

[laughingwater]

I found that when my daughter was first born the crawling track was great. She crawled 5 feet, at an incline, when she was 5 days old - and I was thrilled!  By about 3 months old I found that when she put her arms out they got stuck and there was not enough space for her to bring them forward. If I had to make the crawling track again I would make it wider than the dimensions in the book.  Then at about 5 months she was strong enough to push her upper body up and bring her arms under her, so the crawling track was useful again because it was easy to put at an incline. Then at 6 months she started crawling on her own without the incline, at which time we retired the track.

[khatty]

Guest,  thanks for the offer,  Canada Post came through on Friday.  Of course, now I have to motivate my significant other to build it, that might be slower than even Canada Post!

[carpe vestri vita]

My life has been needlessly hectic this last month, so while the track is finished, I still haven't put the instructions together.

It wasn't too hard to do and took us between 12 and 20 hours depending on how much non-work is counted. We needed to get materials (4 hours), cut the wood (which took us twice as long as it should have because in November the sun sets before 6pm, so we were working in the dark), debate how and when to cut the foam and fabric (not all that productive, but took hours!) in addition to actually building the thing.

Assuming Naugahyde (or an alternative that you're comfortable with) is readily available, I would rate this project as a two person, single (but full) weekend project, costing between $200 and $225 CDN without paying the labourers.

To make just a straight track, like the Asics, would have cost much less, and the cuts would have been much less complicated, so it would have taken less time as well.

[Verafelice]

Hi, Anyone interested in selling their track to me? Txs Vera [email protected]

[MommyofEva]

Hi, I am looking to buy a second hand crawling track. If there is anyone out there who wants to sell, please message me? Many thanks.

[Plarka]

I have one but I live in the UK. Where do you live?

[MommyofEva]

Hi Plarka, we live in the US. Shipping will be expensive from UK....

[mmartens3]

Hey, I am looking for a second hand crawling track as well! If anyone has one to sell, let me know! I will buy it and pay for shipping!

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