You Child needs to stand

(and you probably know this already. However, some parents haven`t been told)

If your child is not in a standing position by the age of about 18 months, please see an orthopedist, and keep in mind standing is very important to include this into your schedule - even with the help of a standing device. This might prevent an operation or dislocated hips.

All children are born with hips that are not fully developed and "too flat". The weight they put on the hips during their first years of development forms their still soft bones to the finally fully rounded hip joints (in standing, but also on all fours). Without their own body weight, a child`s hips might not develop and stay too flat - this might even result in legs that are not resting in the hip socket anymore and need operations. For further information please contact your doctor, and have the hips examined regularly (they might be perfectly fine).

Remember

Preparation

The child is lying on the back. Start with small circles with the head (see video below for further explanations).

• Make sure there is some padding under the knees.
• Do this for about one or two minutes.
• Now we do something new: lift the child's head, parallel to the floor - you don`t tilt the head, bringing the chin closer to the neck. Instead, you want to get the front of the neck longer. This is an unusual movement we usually don`t perform. It looks a bit like a picking chicken.
• Again, do it for about one to two minutes.
• If it is too hard, don`t do it - your child`s back might not be ready for it.

Standing

This lesson is for children that can stand (assisted) already.

If your child loves to stand (many children do), you can start in standing - either with the child playing or holding on to something, or stabilized between your knees. If standing is taxing, you can start this lesson by sitting, leaning against yourself.

You are sitting behind the child. Now we want to repeat the "picking" head movements in a vertical position.

• start by moving a toy around, so the child is following your movements - up / down, right, left, in a circle or 8. (about 1 minute, or as long as the kid is having fun)
• now place your hands under the child`s chin and very gently move it up and down. The movements should be no bigger than "the nose makes a circle no bigger than a medium coin".
• Go right / left, then a circle.
• Take a break and have some fun.
• Imagine your child`s chin is resting on a table. This is the direction we are moving in now: back and forth parallel to the floor (help the child with your hand under the chin). Do this very slowly, it is an unusual move that has to travel all the way to the pelvis.
• Help your child to stand up. Shift the child right and left, to help it transfer the weight from one foot to the other - either by placing your hands at the side of the pelvis or by shifting it between your knees.
• Find the easier side and start there, just going from the middle to one side and back to the middle. Do the tiniest, almost invisible circles with the child`s pelvis when the child is on one foot, and when it is in the middle. The child`s head will have to adapt to the movement.
• You can switch back to moving the child`s head, then shifting weight again.
• Do the other leg.
• put the child`s feet in slightly different positions, one leg more forward, one back.

Variations

Here are some variations you can do the next time you do this lesson:

• Cross the legs, then transfer weight.
• If the child is able to stand himself while holding on to something: Do some of the "picking" movements (chin forward and back).
• Put a belt around the pelvic bones - a little lower than usual, or grab the pants. Gently pull it back - you want the lowest part of the spine to move backward while the chin is going forward.
• put your hand at the child´s head (don`t push, just hold) and move the pelvis.
• Again try this with different positions of the feet.