It's the cutest thing ever to watch your baby bustle across the floor, wagging her tush in the air. Just don't be shocked if she doesn't do a neat hands-and-knees crawl like the tots in the diaper ads. There's no one right way to crawl -- though you should tell your doctor if your child uses only one side of her body to get around. Here are some completely normal variations you may see.

Commando Style (also known as the belly crawl) 

A commando kid keeps her body low to the floor and uses her arms to pull herself along on her tummy.

Scooting
In this variation, your baby props herself up on her hands and then pulls her knees and lower body behind her (like the Terminator, except hopefully your kid's eyeballs aren't sinister, red, and glowing).

Crab Walk 
Instead of pulling herself along with arms, she pushes, which can propel her backward, sideways—or nowhere. Prepare for tears over this one!

No Crawl At All
"If a baby is frequently placed in a standing position, she may skip crawling and go straight from sitting to pulling up and cruising," explains Jennifer Shu, M.D., a pediatrician and coauthor of Heading Home With Your Newborn. Most kids, however, spend at least some time on all fours.

Once your baby learns how to motor about, she'll quickly pick up speed, so step up your childproofing. Before you know it, she'll be walking -- and then running!

Stumble Upon Facebook Del.icio.us Google Yahoo Digg it