Standing Up in the Crib
The day that Peanut learned to pull himself up to stand in his crib was such a mix of emotions. I was so excited and proud of my little boy for being strong enough to reach this milestone, but also terrified for what happens now. Part of me thought that none of us would sleep again! Peanut because he was so obsessed with standing up and me because I was obsessed with watching him on the monitor. I still cannot believe he could get his feet under him to stand in his swaddle but he could!
The most important thing I want to share that we experienced is that Peanut would FALL ASLEEP STANDING UP and then fall over! He was so tired but wouldn’t sit or lay down. I think part of that was that he was scared of the drop from standing to sitting. I realized this because when he would stand in his play pen he also wouldn’t want to sit down.
Celebrating Sitting!
I started teaching Peanut to sit down! I never thought that was something to teach but he is still learning how to control his body and muscles. I held his hands and showed him how to fall on his butt to sit down. I repeatedly said “sit down” as we practiced this and would cheer to celebrate when Peanut sit down successfully. I continued this teaching this in his crib. When he would stand up during nap time, I would go in
- hold his hands
- say “sit down” and sit him down
- lay him down
- shhh him
By the time I made it out the door, he was usually standing again! I kept going though and doing this over and over. After a few days of teaching him and celebrating how AMAZING he is when he could sit down himself in his play pen, he started to sit himself down in his crib.
Also about a week after he learned to stand up in his crib, the novelty wore off and he would stand for a minute or so then lay down and nap.
The most important thing I am figuring out as these new, exciting but scary milestones occur is that Peanut is learning to navigate moving his body and interacting with the world around him, but he doesn’t have to figure it all out by trial and error. I can teach him little things like sitting to help him be safe.
