Baby Looking Through Its Legs: Reasons Why It Happens

Kids, and especially toddlers are very interesting to observe. They are the purest form of freedom and don’t care if anyone is watching them having fun. 

Just observe the behavior and you’ll see all kinds of crazy things including them looking through their legs. Sounds familiar? 

Have you ever wondered what a baby looking through its legs means? Well according to some it can mean that you are pregnant, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

What does baby looking through legs mean?

A baby looking through its legs is a common thing and a lot of toddlers do it. They might look like they are doing yoga and they make you wonder how can they get into a downward dog so easily and stay there while you can’t even hold the pose for 30 seconds without your arms violently shaking. Well, kids are strong for their size and the real reason behind this strange position may vary. 

Growth and development

As your baby grows it starts to explore the world around it and all the things it can do with its body. Just a while ago it could only sit and lean over, and now they are walking and stumbling around, can you imagine how exciting this is for a little kid? 

All of a sudden, they can walk across the room, jump, run, tumble and put both their feet and head on the floor, it must be a whole new world. 

All of these movements show a sign of developing good locomotive skills. So, if your baby wants to do little exercises here and there let it. 

Of course, you have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get hurt or fall over on a hard surface. The next time your baby starts doing gymnastic-like movements let it be, it’s a good way to work on its motor skills and improve its balance and coordination. 

If your toddler especially likes putting its head between its legs and similar activities, maybe you should try doing baby yoga. You can take your kid to class, or you can both start exercising at home with the help of YouTube classes. 

My recommendation is this YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/CosmicKidsYoga/videos

Exploration 

Babies and toddlers are very curious. At the age of around 12 to 14 months is when your baby becomes the most curious about the world around it. 

As you can imagine this is also around the time when you can see your baby looking through its legs and you start to wonder what does this mean and why now?

The answer might simply be that it is a new fun way to look at the world. For them, It’s a new skill they developed. When they first start crawling they do it all the time, same goes for walking. 

Once a baby starts to walk, good luck getting it to stay in one place. So it should come as a surprise that once babies learn that they can look through their legs and everything is upside down, they will do it more and more. 

The world you are used to is a strange and wild place for your baby, so no wonder they want to explore it. Doing it from a different angle is just their way of staying curious. 

Everyone else is doing it

You probably know by now, if you’ve been around kids for some time, that what a baby sees a baby does. 

So, if your baby sees another baby putting their head between their legs and laughing chances are that they will try to do it as well. 

And they won’t stay there, they will probably do it continuously until they start feeling very dizzy or until they simply get bored of the activity and move on to the next one. 

Because of you

Babies not only explore the world around them but they also take notice of the people in their lives. We all want to fit in, it’s our instinct to try to be accepted by others in order to survive in a group. 

Babies are no exception, if they see that you’re intrigued by something they do, they will want to do it again just to get a reaction from you. 

They see that you are amazed by the fact that they are looking between their legs and they want to do it again so you will pay even more attention to them.

Finding what feels good

Going back to self-exploration. Babies are getting to learn their bodies, what feels good and what doesn’t. All of a sudden babes have new muscles they can use to twist, bend and stretch and they want to explore all the options. 

There is also a theory that babies like this bent-over position because they spent the last trimester in the womb in a similar position. 

This position is useful for the baby’s braid development. When they are bent over it takes certain strength and skills not to fall over. Learning new things creates new pathways in the brain so that the baby can make sense of everything that is going on.

Superstition

Some old superstitious stories think that when your baby is bending over and looking between its legs that it’s predicting the future. 

Some say that when a baby Is bent over like that it’s looking for its sibling, and if they don’t have a sibling, well it’s time for a pregnancy test. 

This claim is just a superstitious tale and has absolutely no scientific evidence behind it and yet some people still swear that after their baby started to bend over and look between its legs, they became pregnant. 

Is it safe?

Babies get into all kinds of weird positions that we as adults can only achieve if we intensively practice yoga for years. 

Even then we might struggle to safely get into a difficult position without tearing a muscle. Babies on the other hand have different proportions and are more flexible when it comes to some positions.

As long as your kid is laughing and having a good time, putting its head between its legs is generally safe. You as the parent need to make sure that there are no sharp objects around where they can bump into. 

If you notice that your little one is making grumpy faces this can mean that they are in pain so it will be best to contact your pediatrician just to be sure. Also, keep an eye out for any kinds of bumps or abnormalities on their spine when they are bent over. 

Conclusion 

Not every question about your baby has an answer. Sometimes babies look between their legs simply because they can. Sometimes they do this to get attention or because someone else is doing it. 

Either way, when your baby is moving and getting better at it every day, that means is a sign of growth and development. If you think you have a reason to be concerned you can always call your pediatrician to reassure you that everything is fine.