Standing at Furniture to Sitting
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
So your little one is enjoying playing in standing but they are stuck and don’t know how to get down safely. There is the typical progression and the video will show you how to help them safely maneuver their way to the floor for the first time. They tend to keep their knees locked in the straight or extended position when first standing. First you typically see them keep the knees straight and bend their hips while holding onto the furniture to a controlled fall to their bottoms. Next they will bend their knees to a squat while holding on then plop to their bottoms in sitting. Finally, you will see them lower down to one knee, then the other and come to sit or all 4's depending on what they want and can do.
It will be important to keep their chests forward so they do not fall on the back of their heads. Protective extension responses emerge as our nervous system develops in standing just as they did in sitting. The forward direction emerges first, then to the sides, and last to the back. At this stage, they will not be able to catch themselves if falling back and likely not to the sides either. It will be important to keep their chest forward and their hands on the furniture as long as possible for this reason. If they fall back with their head further back than their hips, of course catch them, but let them feel the fall then push them back up into standing safely at the furniture so they know this is not how to get out of standing. If they let go of the furniture quickly or lift their hands up immediately when trying to come down, do the same thing and bring them back to standing. We don't want our little ones to think that doing these things gets them safely to the floor.
Check out the video below to see how to safely help them lower to the floor.
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