Being a working mom does have some downfalls, ok several. One of them being that there is a chance that I will miss milestones in person. Thanks to technology however, I get to experience them via video, as do all of my co-workers.
While at work, Rick sent me a video of Noah pulling to stand for the first time. Who knew he had this in him? The last milestone Noah hit was the inch worm crawl, so we weren’t even on the look out for Noah to pull himself up on his own right now.
Just look at that proud little face.
Even if we aren’t expecting them, it doesn’t keep us from getting super excited and celebrating Noah’s accomplishments.
How To Help Your Child Learn To Stand Up / Pull Their Self Up.
There are several tools that need to come together for a child to stand. Noah is pulling up from a kneeling position, which we have been working on at physical therapy.Kneeling helps strengthen the legs to be ready for standing. There are several different activities to work on in kneeling, one that has helped with this milestone today is doing half kneeling, where one foot is placed flat on the floor with the other knee on the ground. Noah is pushing up from this position in the video.
Check out those knees in action.
Standing also involves something we are very familiar with which is the core. I am starting to notice a theme with all of our developmental milestones, that one must have a strong core to achieve them. Noah continues to work on his core muscles with each therapy session.
Since we first brought Noah home from the hospital he’s had a very strong desire to have his back extended. Tummy time was awesome for him, and he was great at it. It’s one reason sitting was a difficult task for us to accomplish, as he didn’t like to flex. I am excited that he now gets to extend his back again during these activities. He will be one happy camper.
When mastering pulling to stand the child will initially rely on upper body strength to get them up, and as they get stronger will transition to using the lower body, as well as being able to gain endurance so that they can stand longer.
Two Exercises to Work On Pulling To Stand
Our little man standing tall!
I will again reference Patricia Winder’s fabulous book Gross Motor Skills in Children With Down Syndrome
for these exercises. (If you don’t already own this book, it’s a must have for any parent raising a child with Down syndrome.)
- Have your child sitting on a bench, or box so that their legs are at a 90 degree angle. You put something in front of them that they can grab onto to pull themselves up, she recommends a crib, pack and play, large storage container with something to weight it down, or whatever your child is interested in. Put a toy on the pull up object to motivate your child to pull up. She mentions moving the bench or box against the legs once they stand up to offer support initially. You then work on sitting back down with bent legs
- Once they have mastered the 90 degree angle then you can move to working on standing from a kneeling position. You can see our post on supported kneeling to help with that position. Practice getting into half-kneeling with one foot on the ground. Put something to pull up on in front of them that they are actually able to reach and they will pull to stand from the leg that has the foot flat on the ground. This is what Noah is doing in today’s video
Motivation for Standing
This toy is a real winner!
Noah is playing with his current favorite toy in today’s video. The Fisher-Price Little Superstar Sing-Along Stage
has been an excellent motivator for him to work on kneeling and now pulling to stand. (This toy is also on our top 10 toy list, and without a doubt has been one of the toys Noah’s played with the most.) Noah’s fairly certain the guy he sees in the mirror is awesome and becomes quite chatty with him. You should hear their conversations. 🙂
This toy is hard to find in stores, but you can purchase it on Amazon by clicking the link above, and I’ve also seen it several times at second-hand stores like Once Upon A Child which is where we scored this one. It has a firm base, lots of lights and music and Noah’s best friend in the mirror. It has been a great tool for us to use.
Has your child shocked you by achieving a milestone you were not expecting? Any other working parents out there that experience milestones via video?
Woohoo! Way to go, Noah!
Thanks! 🙂 Are you guys doing anything fun on the 4th of July?
Totally awesome! Go Noah! I think my little Otto man is going to crawl before he ever learns to sit up. He seems to have no desire to do it. But, alas, he will do it at his own speed. And before I know it, he’ll be chasing his sister around the house. Thank you for the encouragement!
Hey Brandy, just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your little boy? What’s new in his world?
Fantastic work Noah! I hear you on the core strength, loud and clear! Honestly anything cooper does kind of amazes me as they did not give him much survival hope after birth ( he has cp) but the big thing was eating and its something he just adores!
Thanks for the comment. How is your son doing now? What’s he up to these days?
Wait a go Noah!! This is such an exciting thing!! I was cheering for him while watching the video. 🙂
Thanks! We’re pretty proud of him also!
Do you have children as well?
Little Man and I watched this video and Little Man kept clapping when he could hear daddy saying “yay, Noah” in the video.
He really enjoys watching videos of other kids (and himself) so these are perfect for him.
Would you mind sharing how often Noah goes to physio? Our little one is 9 months old and is adopted. She hasn’t started physio yet but they are telling us she will only get to go once a month.
He will turn 3 years old in December and now he goes once a week to physical, occupational and speech therapy. However there was a time when he was going PT/OT 2-3 times a week!
That’s great that you adopted a little girl…does she have Down syndrome (if you don’t mind me asking?)
How is she developing and growing since you left this comment?
I am SOOO going to miss watching him do the Inch Worm across our floor, but i LOVE this new milestone! Way to go NOAH!!!
Thanks so much! Be sure to check out all of the milestones he has accomplished sine this video was taken! —> http://noahsdad.com/milestones/
Yippy! Great work Noah.
Thanks! Do you have any children of your own?
Breanna, you have to push with how much you feel your child needs physical thep. My baby boy is almost 9 months and I had to push for him to get it once a week. I’m now going to work on getting it twice a week. You know your child and know what they need. Don’t let them decide for you.
WAY TO GO NOAH!!!!! I know I always say this.. BUT, THANK YOU SO VERY much for sharing Noah with the world! I have learned so much from following your family. My little guy is 5mo old so were still trying to roll and lift his head. I have an “OFF TOPIC” question. We want to start non formula foods.. such as cereal and baby food.. and I was looking for maybe some advice on how to actually start it… how much.. ? when? how often?.. I looked at your archives to see if you have a sample of Noah’s but I didn’t find anything.. I could be blind tho.. lol .. Thanks..any advice is greatly appreciated! – Mother of M2
I would start with rice cereal. Just one or two tablespoons to start mixed with breast milk or formula. I would do it just once daily then twice daily. You can increase the amount as tolerated. Rice cereal is mainly used to help kids figure out how to eat off of a spoon. At 6 months I would introduce purée. Start with just a single fruit or vegetable, give it for two days or so then add another one. This is so you know if they have any reactions to the foods you know which one caused it. You can use the different types at any time but when you start a new food don’t start another one for a few days. (does that make sense). Some people have a theory of starting with veggies and then fruits while others do colors, we did whatever 🙂 watch for tongue protrusion, initially it is normal but if they continue doing it after several weeks where the food is just coming out of their mouth talk to a speech therapist who can give you some recommendations 🙂
Thank you so much!!! This was truly helpful. I now have a starting point. Congrats to Noah on his amazing milestones. It’s an amazing experience to see our little guys world of wonder. Every accomplishment is a celebration!! til next time,,,,
I found your blog through Twitter and I have to say that I think your whole family is amazing. You took what could potentially be a difficult diagnosis and turned it into something beautiful. Noah is a very lucky boy to have such wonderful parents.
Thanks for the kind words! Parenting is a lot of fun, that’s for sure!
Do you have a child with Down syndrome yourself? How is he doing when it comes to pulling to stand?
OMG I LOVE WATCHING YOUR SON…he reminds me so much of my son..the excitement on his face is priceless..My son is now 16months w DS and just started walking on his push toy..he gets that same look on his face.Thank you for sharing your son and his accomplishments with us…God Bless you.
Thanks for the comment, and for the kind words! How is son doing these days? What sort of milestones is he working on / celebrating?
Today my 13 month old shocked me with clapping, I really didn’t see that one coming, I am so proud of her.
That is awesome!
How is your daughter doing now?
Hahahaha! John loves the little boy in the mirror! 😀
Very fun! Does he have the same toy to help him pull to stand?
Your web site is very interesting and would have very helpful when my daughter was Noah’s age. She is now a young adult so please remove my name from your e-mail list. Thank you.
Thanks Nicole. Not sure what list you are referring to.
Well, being Dino`s mum has made me realize that for example, his best motivator for pull-up to stand action is me, yes he crawls towards me, than grabs me with his arms, puts the feet up for standing position, and then works his way up with his arms to pull up to stand…also his best pincer-grasp excercise is trying to get the hold of the nipple, the mayor motivator from day one we started to excercise… I am all soar, but it makes him progress …
Thanks for sharing! I would agree that moms make pretty good motivators, so way to go!
What current developmental milestones is he working on?
Can you tell us more about this? I’d love to find out more details.
hii.. my son is a DS child nd is 23 month old he walk around d furniture walls bt can’t walk in middle of room or stand independently.. he also dnt eat anything he old take milk from bottle plz help can u help or suggest with some ways