Learning to stand in the crib- what to do!

It’s great when your child starts to crawl, pull themselves up and cruise around the furniture. Their legs are getting so strong and they are getting the co-ordination to learn to walk. Yay, they’re becoming so grown up! Is it still great when they start learning to stand in the crib?

When children are learning new skills, they try it whenever they can. They have a desire to just keep practicing. This is good. This is how they learn and this is how they learn quickly. Your child will learn how to get themselves stood up in the crib quickly. They will do it whenever they can.

One thing to note here, they don’t learn to get back down for a little while. They need physical help getting back down. Of course you will help your child get back down, repeatedly. I do mean repeatedly! You may find yourself going in laying them back down only to find you are having to do it less than 5 minutes later. Repeat until your child has fallen asleep exhausted (it’s hard work getting from laying down to stood up 500 times!). This can be very very frustrating for everyone!

Can we help your child learn to get themselves back down? We certainly can help.

When you find your child stood at the crib rail, don’t pick them up and lay them back down. Do the following.

~ Unclasp their hands from the crib rail.

~ Hold your child’s hands and sit them back down. (If they have gone ridged and won’t bend in the middle(!), just lay them back down)

~ Scoot them around and lay them back down.

Your child may well roll straight over and jump back up, but you want to get them down (when they let you know they need the help) the same way every time. Getting them back down this way, lets them know that they can do this by themselves. When you pick your child up and lay them back down, they may think that they need you to help them get back down.

Hang in there. This can go on for a week (or more). It will get better, I promise.