Learning to stand offers a whole new world (and view!) for your baby and begins their journey towards starting to walk. But when exactly will your youngster start to find their feet?
When do babies stand?
As with all development, this exciting milestone will vary from baby to baby.
To start with, your little one has to gain muscle strength and coordination. This will help them be able to sit up,with a little help from you before they can do it alone. This tends to take place between four and seven months.
While you will be able to gently pull your child up to help them stand after they've nailed sitting up, they most likely won't be able to do it on their own until between nine months and a year.
This could start from them pulling themselves up from anything they can grip such as the sofa or even your legs. At this point, they will probably only be able to stands briefly before falling and landing backwards onto their bum. While your baby is unlikely to hurt themselves falling backwards in a cleared space at this stage, it's important to keep a close eye as it could be a shock for them in the beginning and they may require comforting.
Some babies are confident enough to stand alone without any help from their first birthday, while others won't be able to do this until around 14 months.
Encourage your baby to stand
Many babies will look to their parents for guidance as they learn and grow and there are a few ways in which you can help your youngster get the hang of standing.
• Sit your baby forward on your lap with their feet touching the floor.
• Offer your fingers for your child to hold onto to help balance them as they stand.
• Consider buying an activity table. As well as being sturdy enough to hold onto, this type of toy will encourage your baby to stay standing while the 360-degree design will entice them to move around and explore the whole table.
• Make it fun: Place some of your baby's favourite toys on the sofa then position them so they can grab hold of the sofa to try and retrieve the toys. This helps them practice pulling themselves up and reaching.
• Be their cheerleader: Give plenty of encouragement including clapping and smiling to help give your baby the confidence to push themselves.
What happens next?
Once your child has nailed standing, a whole new world opens up for them to explore. It may take a little time to progress from this point but soon enough your baby will start considering moving around the room while holding onto furniture for support. This is known as cruising.
Remember, once your baby is standing, you may want to move their cot mattress down to a lower height as they'll now be able to pull themselves up on the side.