Baby development stages

Very often we receive questions on our website about what time a child should begin to roll over, make attempts to stand on his feet, and when he should learn to “walk.” Parents are worried if the baby is in no hurry to sit, talk, or hold his head up. What is the norm? And does a delay in some stage of development indicate a disease?
Today we will try to answer frequently asked questions from readers. Consultant – VLASOVA EKATERINA VALERIEVNA, PhD, neonatologist, neurologist.

When should a child hold his head up, roll over, sit, crawl, stand up, walk?

In assessing the psychomotor development of a child important points are 3, 6, 9, 12 months. To get started, here are the approximate dates: neuropsychic development child. Average terms and possible boundaries of development of motor acts in children of the 1st year of life [Mazurin A.V.. Vorontsov I.M., 1999].

Movement or skill	Average term	Temporal boundaries
Smile	5 weeks	3-8 weeks
Booming	7 weeks	4-11 weeks
Head holding	3 months	2-4 months
Directed hand movements	4 months	2.5-5.5 months.
Flipping	5 months	3.5-6.5 months.
seat	6 months	4.8-8.0 months.
Crawl	7 months	5-9 months
Voluntary grasping	8 months	5.5-10.5 months.
Getting up	9 months	6.5-12.5 months.
Steps with support	9.5 months	6.5-12.5 months.
Standing independently	10.5 months	8-13 months
Walking independently	11.5 months	9-14 months

Head hold:
At 2 months The baby makes his first attempts, lifts and briefly holds his head while lying on his stomach.
At 3 months The child begins to hold his head upright on his own (in the arms of an adult).
At 4 months The child is able to hold his head upright and easily turn it from side to side.
At 5 months begins to lie on his stomach for a long time, leaning on the palms of his straightened arms, with his head raised.
Normally, a child holds his head confidently vertically by 4 months, horizontally by 5 months, and briefly before that. Some children can hold their head upright by 3 months, which is less common.

When should a child sit:
After 4 months the child begins to sit down. Raise your head from a supine position. This stage appears after confident turns from back to stomach and is the phase of transition to independent sitting. Also, a child may stretch if an adult takes him by the hands. Some children, which is considered an option normal development, first get on all fours, then sit down, stand at the support. So it's possible here different variants. But it is believed that by 8 months the child should sit up independently.

Crawl:
The child begins to crawl by 7-9 months. Sometimes it happens that children do not crawl at all, but begin to walk immediately, which is the norm.

The child gets up:
Standing develops, on average, by 9.5-10 months. Usually children begin to stand at the support, walk along it, then sit on their buttocks, it looks like falling, but that’s how it should be.

The child walks
After 10 months, the child can walk with the support of an adult, and begins to walk independently at 11.5 months. Of course, these are averages. There are certain “boundaries” for all these stages. 3-4 months required. after the start of independent walking, so that the coordination system is then sufficiently developed for confident walking. Usually at this age, children already feel that they can run, but the coordination system is not developed enough, they cannot evaluate themselves, which is why falls are possible.

Speech development in a child.
The development of speech is associated with the emergence of children's consciousness and social relations child.
Early vocalization – humming (1-4 months). Vowels and consonants are formed in the back of the mouth, these sounds are similar to cooing, gurgling water.
1 month – smiles;
2 months – hums (coos);
4 months – turns to the voice, laughs loudly.
Babbling (3-15 months). Babbling consists of pure vowels and consonants of different tones pronounced by the child.
5 months – turns towards sounds;
6 months – imitates speech (babble);
8 months – understands the word “no”, pronounces “dad”, “mom” unconsciously;
9 months – gesticulates;
10 months – calls parents “mom”, “dad” consciously;
11 months – pronounces the first word (besides “mom”, “dad”);
12 months – pronounces words meaningfully, but the speech is incomprehensible;
15 months – correctly names 4-6 objects when they are pointed out to him.
Development of speech (18-50 months). Speech consists of a limited number of sounds and their combinations.
16 months – speech is understandable;
18 months – knows the names of three parts of the body, names an object in a picture, recognizes family members, uses 7-20 words;
21 months – combines two words, uses 50 words. Finds the desired picture;
24 months – builds sentences from two words.

By the age of 2-3 years, the child is sociable, positive, friendly, easily makes contact, understands spoken speech, and imitates the activities of adults. At one year of age, a child’s speech is 25% understandable, at 2 years – 50%, at 3 years – 75%, at 4 years – 100%.
(Source: Textbook for medical universities / Edited by N. P. Shabalov. - St. Petersburg: SpetsLit, 2003. - 893 p.)

General principles child development

The development of a child is determined by the formation of certain functions to ensure life. Each function is at a certain stage at birth, many are at zero, and during the first years of a child’s life the final stage is reached; when development stops at zero or intermediate levels, a disease occurs.

In the first month life, the adjustment of vital functions takes place: breathing, swallowing, holding and assimilation of food.

Next two months a child’s life is a critical period of perception of the external environment with the help of auditory and visual analyzers, the emergence of emotional contact with the mother and relatives. Starting from the 2nd month of life, all healthy children develop visual fixation and tracking in the horizontal and vertical directions. Auditory skills emerge; during this period the child reacts to sound by freezing and shuddering. A cry appears to appeal to relatives.

At three months are fading away automatic reflexes, providing food intake, the tone of the speech muscles decreases. The child begins to understand and respond to spoken speech, intelligence, gross and fine motor skills develop.

At the age of 6 months functions are given priority fine motor skills hands, understood speech, auditory, and especially visual perception. The "weak" functions are gross motor skills, spoken speech and intellectual development.

Age 9 months characterized by a pronounced decline in the pace of development. Practical brain activity appears, the child voluntarily organizes and regulates movements, manipulates each hand separately, and prepares for independent walking. The child begins to understand some words and phrases of adults, i.e. gives adequate behavioral reactions to speech statements addressed to him. IN social development a differentiated attitude towards familiar and unfamiliar people is formed, embarrassment appears when seeing stranger. Auditory perception is characterized by the emergence of such auditory skills as recognition (the ability to select a specific sound, including speech, signals among other known sound signals) and recognition (the ability to repeat or imitate sounds, including speech).

At 12 months The priority function is intellectual. The child begins to recognize objects in pictures. The auditory-verbal memory of the brain is formed. At the same time, the function of understandable speech develops. The impressive vocabulary is expanded - a set of “speech clichés” most often used in the speech of others, other components of speech are remembered - tempo, rhythm, intonation, logical stress, pausing. Situational and personal forms of communication can be traced in behavior. The development of motor skills during this period is characterized by the improvement of balance systems for the formation of the walking function, which is the most important final goal of general static development. At this age, the child makes attempts to walk independently, but this ability appears only after the formation of coordination in the hands.

At 1 year 6 months The child begins to master fine motor skills of the upper limbs: he grasps a pencil and spontaneously draws doodles. The formation of fine motor skills of the hand at this stage creates important prerequisites for social development. During this period, the development of speech understanding is a priority. It is from this age that the child should begin to eat thick foods with a spoon and drink from a cup independently.

Clinically, developmental disorders of the nervous system are characterized by an anomaly or delay in the development of basic psychoneurological functions - motor, perceptual (mainly visual, auditory and tactile perception), speech, intellectual, communication; as well as the emotional-volitional sphere. These violations can be observed both in isolated form and in various combinations, have a quantitative, tempo character (delay or advance of development according to age periods) or qualitative (development along an anomalous path).

Thus, motor development disorders include various forms of cerebral palsy, but also variants of minimal static-motor dysfunction; perceptual development disorders include visual and auditory dysgnosis, the so-called. perinatal blindness and hearing loss, to disorders speech development– dysarthria and dysphasia, delayed speech formation. Disturbances in the development of intellectual, communicative functions and the emotional-volitional sphere can manifest themselves in the form of minimal psycho-speech insufficiency, mental retardation, mental retardation, deviations in behavior and communication with others, various autistic and autistic-like syndromes, emotional smoothness with decreased interest in others or increased excitability with emotional and motor disinhibition.

Children at risk for neuropsychological development disorders
Which children are most likely to develop abnormalities? These are genetic, hereditary factors, severe pregnancy, childbirth, and so on. Here is a list of such risks.

• mother with an antisocial status, addicted to drugs, alcohol, nicotine;
• mother with chronic diseases that require continued medication (for example, Diabetes mellitus, epilepsy);
• bleeding, gestosis, severe infectious diseases during pregnancy and neonatal infections of the child;
• prematurity (less than 36 weeks), extremely low birth weight (less than 30 weeks);
• malnutrition at birth (less than 3 percentile for gestational age);
• multiple pregnancy;
• severe natal/neonatal asphyxia with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (severe perinatal damage to the central nervous system);
• severe labor and neonatal complications (cardio-respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, artificial ventilation, recurrent apnea, surgery, neonatal convulsions);
• persisting pathological changes with ultrasound and MRI studies of the brain.

The main risk factors in the 1st year of life:

The first year of life is very important in terms of development. Diseases and injuries during this period can cause further developmental disorders in the child.

• severe illness, repeated operations, prolonged hospital stay, chronic diseases (birth defects heart disease, cystic fibrosis, etc.);
• heavy allergic diseases;
• social isolation;
• frequently changing guardians;
• poverty, asocial status of parents.

Recorded by Julia Siebert

The first hesitant step is a great joy for parents and, naturally, a real success for the little winner. Everyone is looking forward to this moment with great impatience. But we should not forget that development in children occurs in different ways - some babies confidently stomp already at nine months, while others have not even tried to learn to stand at one year.

Do we need to rush?

All parents want to know: When can a child be put on his feet? In fact, there is no answer to this question, since you can only indicate the points that you need to know. Many experts are confident that due to early stress on the spine there may be various Negative consequences.

Despite this, the baby’s independent attempts to sit down or stand on his feet should be encouraged in every possible way. Massages and walks are invariably beneficial for a child’s development. fresh air, breast-feeding and, naturally, the love of parents - all this contributes to the desire to start learning independently.

As for orthopedists, their opinion is divided. Some say that a child can be put on his feet no earlier than ten months, since at this age the spine and hip joint are already well strengthened and there is no need to worry about skeletal deformation.

Others are confident that the first attempts to stand can be made almost from the age of three months, since at this time the baby still has step-by-step reflexes.

Often, with hypertonicity, a baby may try to get up before he turns six months old. Don't be too happy about this early development your baby, since at this time the body is simply not ready for this - deformation of the foot is possible due to a very heavy load. In addition, standing at this age is very early; the child quickly gets tired and begins to stand on tiptoe. Parents can be advised to distract the baby from standing in every possible way, not to allow him to remain in this position for too long, and even better, to support the little one under the armpits.

Is your baby ready for such a load?

Doctors note that the baby’s readiness to stand depends on the following factors.

• Genetics. Remember that thoughtfulness and a phlegmatic mood are already traits of a future character: after all, some are naturally lively, while others are thoughtful and balanced. It makes sense to analyze the family pedigree. If the baby’s parents were large children, and, moreover, rather slow, then their baby is unlikely to be too playful. But there is a chance that he will get on his feet later than other children and will move slowly.
• Physical development. There is no child who develops according to the table proposed by pediatricians, because they offer an average option. Large and plump babies need more time to get on their feet, but small and puny babies can do this much easier and faster. If your baby is too inactive and lazy, ask your pediatrician to prescribe you a massage and special exercises - this has never harmed anyone.
• "Verticalization". To stand, the baby must learn to maintain balance and control his limbs. All this is very difficult - from the point of view of the nervous system. Kids get used to it gradually. First, the baby looks at objects, then he begins to touch them. At first the baby will try to sit up, then crawl, and only after that will stand on his feet. If your child has and has had neurological problems, then this may delay the process of walking for some time - do not worry, this will happen as soon as the nervous system matures.
• Phase rotation. The period of physical growth and intellectual development always alternate with each other. It's quite normal. In the case when a child, as they say, “takes a break,” do not rush him - you should not force him to do something.
• Wish. Does your baby have a desire to stand? It is possible that the child lacks motivation to start walking. It is very important for him to see other children who have already gone, or interesting things that he cannot reach himself, so he needs to get up.

Many parents anxiously await the moment when their baby stands on his feet for the first time. Often mothers and fathers wonder at what age this will happen, is their child lagging behind in development? We will try to answer this and other similar questions in order to dispel doubts and unjustified expectations. We will tell parents about simple and effective exercises, which help strengthen the muscles of the back and legs, thereby stimulating the child to quickly learn to take an upright position.

The ability to stand independently is a huge achievement for a baby

The main stages of child development from 3 to 8 months

First, you need to figure out at what age a child should learn to stand on his feet. We will also find out what stages of development precede this moment. Dependence of the baby’s achievements on the number of months lived:

• From 3 to 5 months, most babies learn to lift their upper body while lying on their stomach. They straighten their arms and look around with interest. Many people begin to roll over from their back to their stomach, tucking their arm under them (we recommend reading:). Some do it later.
• At 6, the baby can learn to roll over from his stomach to his back. Sometimes during this period the baby makes his first attempts to crawl.
• At 7, the baby begins to crawl more actively, knows how to transfer a rattle from hand to hand, and also strives to reach a bright or rustling toy.
• At 8, the baby is no longer afraid to get up, holding on to a chair or sofa.

These observations are conditional; some children do not try to crawl at all, while others do not want to assume a vertical position even closer to one year. You need to understand that developmental milestones are individual, it is only important to support the baby in his desire to learn new things and stimulate him to the next achievements.

If the baby does not stand on straight legs, although he will soon be one year old, his previous achievements should be taken into account - for example, the baby has learned to roll over from his stomach to his back and, conversely, at least tries to crawl and actively rattles the rattle. There is nothing to worry about in this situation. Probably, the baby has his own development plan and the baby grows, focusing on it.

If the baby completed the rest of the “plan” perfectly, then there is nothing to worry about

Parents' job is to ensure safety

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When the baby first assumes an upright position, it is advisable for the mother to double her vigilance. The baby, having reached a certain level, will strive to take the next step. For example, it's time to lower the sleeping area in the crib to a lower level. The child can rise in his crib and, leaning down, become overweight and fall.

When the baby tries to stand on his feet, he may periodically fall on his buttocks. Softens the blow well disposable diaper, as well as a rug on the floor. Sometimes a child, after assuming a vertical position, does not know how to lower himself onto his butt again. It is then that the mother is obliged to lend a helping hand to the baby so that next time he tries to do it himself again.

The vertical position gives the baby new opportunities: he sees more objects in the room and may well try to pick up something that was previously inaccessible to him. You should assess the risks and, if possible, protect your baby from danger: buy plugs for sockets, cover sharp corners of tables, hide objects hazardous to health.

Mistakes parents make

Pediatricians note that many young parents can’t wait to brag to their friends about their offspring’s achievements. In this regard, some particularly impatient people make multiple mistakes:

• Noticing that the child stood up for the first time, moms and dads immediately buy him a walker. This should not be done before 9 months, since the muscles that hold the spine are not yet sufficiently developed. You should give the baby time - perhaps he won’t need a walker.

Trying to speed up the learning process with a walker may backfire

• You need to understand that from the moment a child learns to stand with support until the time he can stand on his own, some time must pass. You cannot deprive your baby of support if he is standing, encouraging him to take a step. It’s especially bad if the baby only took a vertical position for the first time yesterday. It’s better to wait for the natural course of events to film the baby’s first steps.

According to experts, it is easier to teach a baby to stand without support starting from 10-11 months. However, premature babies or those who were traumatized at birth develop on an individual schedule. Such kids may well not meet the described age standards.

The child stood up too early

Sometimes a child is ahead of his peers, this is especially noticeable in early age. If the baby is trying to get up before 7 months, there is no point in preventing him. Parents must understand that the baby will still do this as soon as the mother turns her back. However, at 4 months you cannot stand on your feet - the skeletal and muscular systems are not sufficiently developed, such a practice can greatly harm the baby. Getting up so early is extremely rare.

If a mother is too worried about her baby standing on straight legs early, she can take the advice of pediatricians. It is recommended to encourage the baby in every possible way to crawl instead of taking a vertical position. To do this, you can place an interesting toy at a distance that he can only overcome by crawling. While crawling, the baby develops well, strengthens the muscles and skeleton, preparing the body for walking. Also, some pediatricians believe that during this period the baby rapidly develops its thinking.

Children usually go through a crawling stage before walking independently.

Dr. Komarovsky notes that parents must be aware of their role in the development of their offspring. Their task is not to force or persuade the baby to learn to climb, but only to prepare the ground for the baby’s timely achievements - to harden him, strengthen his muscles, and prevent the development of rickets. Healthy child He himself will make it clear that he is ready to sit, stand, crawl.

Factors influencing the speed of development of the baby

Pediatricians' observations indicate that a child is not required to grow and develop in accordance with age standards. Each baby can have his own development plan. However, experts have identified a number of factors that have a positive effect on the formation of motor functions of the baby:

• absence of serious diseases;
• rare diseases of ARVI (during illness the baby fights the virus, he does not have extra energy to learn something new);
• the character and physique of the child is active, not too plump or even thin;
• a favorable atmosphere in the house - absence of scandals, benevolence of parents;
• the presence of an older brother/sister who, by their example, inspires the baby to learn to crawl, stand and walk (we recommend reading:).

How to encourage a child to stand on his feet?

Before encouraging a child to stand up, you need to give him the opportunity to complete the previous points of the development program. It is advisable that the baby is already 9 months old and knows how to crawl. Sometimes the crawling period is prolonged, but usually it lasts from 3 to 5 months. If babies do not want to crawl, it is not recommended to put them there ahead of time - it is better to wait a little until they start doing it themselves.

It is advisable for parents to wait until the child is interested in standing up.

In order to give your baby confidence in his abilities, you need to help him develop and strengthen all the muscles of the body. Massage, exercises for arms and legs, as well as exercises in the pool work well (see also:). Children feel great in the water, especially if their mother is nearby. Today, almost any swimming pool has special classes for mothers with babies.

There is a simple and effective workout for 8-9 month old babies. You need to sit the child on the floor or other hard surface and let him clasp his index fingers with his hands. Then put the baby down and sit him down again.

Learning to stand on your own

If your baby is already standing on his feet, but is still afraid of being without support, you can try a few exercises that will help him feel more confident. How to teach a child to stand? We have already written above that this should not be done if the baby has just assumed a vertical position. The recipes will be useful to parents of those kids who have been standing on their own for some time, holding on to a chair or bed rail:

• The fitball will be an ideal exercise machine for babies. To make it easier to practice, the ball does not need to be fully inflated, only 2/3 of the volume. It is necessary to sit the baby on the ball with the back of his head facing him, holding him well by the hips. Then tilt the baby in different sides- forward, backward, left and right. Such gymnastics will strengthen the abdominal muscles, back muscles, and tune the vestibular apparatus. It is important not to let go of the baby so that he does not fall off the moving ball.

Fitball helps prepare your body for walking

• You can put the child on his haunches, turning his back to you. By analogy with the previous task, you need to hold him by the hips, swinging him to the sides. To achieve the effect, you need to encourage the baby to straighten his legs. If he continues to squat, it means his leg muscles are not yet strong enough. Then this training should be repeated after 1-2 weeks.
• You need to wait until the baby stands near a reliable support (no need to place it). Then give him a toy that the baby will probably be interested in. Immediately give the second one - in order to take it, he will have to let go of the chair he is holding on to. It is important here that both toys are new to him, otherwise the first baby will simply throw it on the floor.

How long will it take to train? If you do this regularly, the effect of the exercises will be noticeable after 1-2 weeks. However, even without exercise, the baby will begin to stand and walk independently when his body is ready for it. You shouldn’t force things too much, trying to make your child a role model. It is better to give the baby the opportunity to develop as nature intended.

How many months?

On average, babies begin to stand on their own feet by 8 months of age. At first, these are attempts to stand next to the support on his knees, then the child begins to rise on one leg and finally, holding onto the support, the baby confidently stands on both legs.

When the baby lets go of his hands, he immediately lowers himself onto his buttocks. He continues to “train” - gets up and falls again - for quite a long time. Sometimes he immediately starts trying to walk along the support.

At first, it is very difficult for the baby to keep his body in an upright position. He makes a lot of effort to keep his balance and stay on two legs, so most attempts end in falling on his buttocks. But if you take a closer look, you will notice how happy the baby is to learn a new skill and how interesting it is for him to look at everything around him, taking a vertical position.

Opinion of E. Komarovsky

A well-known pediatrician recalls that children often begin to stand, holding onto support, at 7-9 months, and without support - at 9-12 months. Some completely healthy children begin to stand later than their peers, for example, if they are very calm or plump. If the doctor says that the child is healthy, there should be no reason to worry.

Often a child learns to stand up, but does not know how to sit back down. The baby stands as long as he can, and then falls from fatigue. If such a child is seated with his arms removed from the support, the baby will immediately forget that he is tired and will again begin to reach for the support and stand up. After some time, the child will learn to carefully lower himself from a standing position. Very soon the baby will see that he can take steps along the support. Gradually he will let go of one hand and will hold on to the support with only one hand. This is how the baby learns to walk.

Once a child has learned to stand up and stand, parents often think about buying a walker. With this device, the baby can move around until he learns to walk. The main purpose of using a walker is to provide the baby with a safe opportunity to move around the apartment, freeing the mother.

Komarovsky does not recommend keeping your baby in a walker for more than 40 minutes, as he is sure that staying in them will do nothing. useful for the child does not give, but even does harm. Child development should occur naturally. In addition, while crawling, exploring the world is much more useful for a child.

You should not buy a walker for your child, and if you were given one, you should not stay in them for more than 40 minutes.

What do you need to know when your child starts standing?

A toddler who is learning to stand with and without support needs more attention than a baby who has not yet begun to try to stand up. Since many babies learn to get up faster than they understand how to get back to sitting position, then they really need their mother’s help during this period.

You should remember that now your child will get up almost anywhere, so you must be extremely careful and control all the baby’s actions, ensuring his maximum safety. Corners of cabinets and tables, doors, tablecloths and other objects can be dangerous for a baby getting up on his feet. Hide objects that are dangerous to your baby in a timely manner. The doors of the bedside tables can be temporarily sealed with tape to prevent the baby from opening them (he may get his fingers pinched).

If the child begins to stand up, provide him with complete safety, taking into account his height

If your baby less than a year, he crawls and sits well, but he hasn’t learned to stand yet, no need to worry. Each child develops according to his own schedule, and the goal of parents is not to interfere, but not to force, but to support all the child’s independent attempts to learn new motor skills.

Exercises

Once your baby has learned to stand up, you can encourage him to use this skill more often and quickly move to standing without support with the help of some exercises:

• Invite your baby to stand on supports of different heights. When he learns to stand up well, holding onto a support at the level of his waist, offer a “barrier” higher - at the level of his chest.
• Give an interesting toy to a child standing at the support and holding onto it with his hands. This way you will force the baby to lean against the support with his stomach and perform various manipulations with the toy with his hands.
• To teach your baby to sit up from a standing position, you can also use a toy. Place it on the floor next to standing baby and support the child as he tries to reach the toy.
• Place your child near a rack, on the shelves of which place several toys at different heights. The baby will try to reach the toy and will begin to rise up and let go of one hand.
• Place the baby at a low table, let him hold on to this table. Place several toys on the floor around the baby and invite the child to pick them all up and put them on the table.
• Place a cushion between the baby's legs so that one of the baby's legs is in front and the other is behind. Let the baby try to maintain balance in this position.
• Hang the ball next to the support so that it is at the level of the baby’s knees. The child will stand at the support and try to kick this ball with one foot, transferring his body weight to the other.
• You can also practice with your baby on a balance board.

Why does a baby like to jump when he is held by the arms? Because his entire body is preparing to stand on its feet. While the baby cannot yet stand on his own, the body muscles are trained during this children's dance. When does a child begin to stand on his own? Let's learn about this from the article.

Observant mothers notice how a baby from the age of five months begins to train his feet, doing real gymnastic exercises on his own: he turns his feet to the right/left in a figure eight while lying in the crib.

Then, at six months, the baby gets on all fours and rocks his body back and forth, cheerfully pronouncing his favorite sounds: yes, yes, yes, ma-ma-ma. What it is? This is strengthening the back muscles, preparing to stand on your feet. Crawling on all fours also helps strengthen the back muscles.

At the same time, a six/seven month old baby loves to jump when his parents lift him by the arms and hold him in a standing position. The child does not want to just stand: he needs to jump cheerfully and babble his first children's words, understandable only to his mother and himself. This exercise trains the flexor and extensor muscles.

The baby’s physical education doesn’t end there: he grabs the crib with his hands and, trembling all over, tries to stand on his own feet! And he does this with enviable persistence, constantly. So, his time has come! He gets up, lets go of his hands, falls on his butt and gets up again. Don't stop him from doing this!

And that's not all: the child tries to move along the crib, holding on to the railing. He really likes this activity. The baby can happily walk around the crib, accompanying his actions with cheerful babble - as much as he likes!

Getting up early

Some mothers worry about whether getting up on their feet early will harm their child? If the baby himself shows the desire to get up, then it won’t hurt. Even if the mother forbids the baby to get up out of fear, he will still do it: when he is left alone in the playpen or crib. As soon as mom turns away, he’s already back on his feet.

Pediatricians are unanimous in the statement that a baby at four months old is strictly prohibited from standing on his legs due to an undeveloped skeletal system.

However, when the child already sits down independently and bounces merrily with the support of his mother, he physical development allows you to start standing.

To reassure mothers: initiate crawling if you are worried about getting up early. While crawling, the baby's musculoskeletal system is perfectly strengthened and thinking develops. If you stimulate your baby crawler more often, attracting him with bright toys, there will be no problems with a crooked back and legs.

Walkers and tiptoeing

What do pediatricians think about such a children's simulator as a walker? Many parents strive to teach their baby to walk with the help of this device. Dr. Komarovsky strongly does not recommend training your child in a walker. The reason is simple: physical development should be natural.

A baby on a walker is in a “suspended” state: he does not feel the weight of his body. Agree, such training will not lead to anything good: after all, when walking, a person must feel the weight of his own body, and the musculoskeletal system must withstand this weight.

Another disadvantage of walkers is that you get used to touching the floor with your toes. The baby does not reach the floor with his entire foot because he is hanging on the seat: as a result, he is not properly formed. muscle tone. Have you tried walking while suspended? In the future, it will be difficult for him to relearn how to put his foot on the full foot: he will run on tiptoe.

If the child was not kept in a walker, but he still stands on tiptoes in the crib, it means that the baby has muscle hypertonicity. The pediatrician will advise how and when to massage the legs to bring the muscles to normal tone. Some children tiptoe until they are 1.5 years old, and then everything returns to normal.

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Learning to stand

What should mothers do whose children cannot stand on their feet yet? It’s a shame if the neighbor’s baby is already walking around the playpen at seven months, while your own baby is still just sitting. The reasons for getting up late may be hidden in:

• high weight of the baby;
• phlegmatic character;
• developmental features;
• heredity;
• low muscle tone.

If a baby at eight or nine months is of normal weight category (according to age), eats well, but does not stand on his feet, contact an orthopedist and neurologist. Perhaps the cause is neurological.

If your baby doesn’t show interest in getting up at nine months, try to provoke him: lift him by the fingers, try to rouse him. Active babies from six months old jump, even while sitting in their mother’s arms. When lifting your baby by the arms, try turning his body in different directions.

Place bright toys in the playpen that will arouse the baby’s interest. But make sure the toys are out of reach. With the help of such a game you can teach a lazy baby of nine or ten months to get up. Be smart! Children have great curiosity; they always want to touch an object of interest with their hands and try it out for their teeth.

How else can you help a baby who is not going to get up? If your baby only likes to crawl on the floor, arrange “obstacle zones” for him: place pillows, large toys, or some kind of cushions along the path. All these obstacles will stimulate and encourage you to make a variety of movements to overcome the obstacles. One wonderful day the child will learn to stand on his feet.

Important! If a child at ten months is actively crawling, sitting and rolling over, don’t worry. Sooner or later he will get up and go on his own.

How long to wait for this event? Be patient.

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