Standing up

[HelenLG]

Hi,

My DS is only 11 weeks, but all he wants to do is stand up or crawl on me, as in if you lay him down after standing up for a while he cries.

He has excellent hand control and very strong legs. But I worry that letting him stnad up for long periods of time is going to damage his little legs.

When did your kids start wanting to stand up? Should I just let him do as he likes?

My DS did this, he absolutely hated lying down. He's 17 months now, and his legs seem absolutely fine to me. (He has no problem with running away as soon sa I try to change his nappy/get him dressed/wipe his nose, anyway :) )

We got him one of these as soon as he was old enough for it, and he loved it- it meant he could stand up and watch what was going on.

you need to keep him on the floor as long as possible so that his core muscles get strong. They need to be flat and to reach for things, twist and pull themselves into positions in order to develop a strong core. This will help him later on and with posture etc. What do you do with him when he is on the floor? ARe there plenty of things for him to watch/touch? Is he near a window? He will also need to cry for good lung development and also learning to self soothe. I wouldn't push him to stand.

He has two play mats on the floor, one with a play thingy over the top of it and a plain one. He does spend time on the interesting one, kicking at the bars and things.

He rolled over from his front to his back the other day, so I've been encouraging him to do it again so his daddy can see but he gets upset after a few minutes on his tummy. It's like he's realised he can roll over but can't quite build up the energy to do it.

Sometimes he lays on his mat and looks out the window or watches the telly, but as soon as he's on any kind of incline he tries to sit up (spends all his energy reaching for his toes in the bouncy chair) and then if you sit him up, he wants to stand, makes it difficult to have nice cuddles, cos he just wants to walk on you...

My DS was the same - wanted to stand all the time, and was putting all his weight his legs from very little ( standing was obvious by 6 weeks as the doctor at the 6 week check noticed) I think full weight was later but can't remember when exactly. Basically he's always been very upright! He's now 9 months and his legs are fine - I don't think you can hurt them by standing up early. Downside is he has always hated sitting and means I've spent hours breaking my back holding him up. Even now he doesn't sit still for long. But it's just personality I think - some babies like to, others don't.

We got him a baby jumping thing ( that you hang in a doorway) and he loved it.