Chorevia

Day 252 of 300 · Week 34

Pulling up, the first try

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Pulling up to stand often comes before knowing how to get back down. It's a 12-month milestone, so today is the first try, the knee-bend lesson, and the crib mattress at its lowest.

A Latina mother kneeling beside a low sofa in afternoon light, her thirty-four-week-old on both knees at the cushion's edge, hands gripping the seat, the grandmother watching from an armchair.

One day soon you'll walk in and find your baby upright, holding the sofa, delighted and completely stuck. Today is how that happens, how to teach the way down, and the one thing to change before it happens in the crib.

Heart

After crawling, or instead of it, comes pulling up to stand, often before a baby knows how to get back down, then cruising sideways along furniture, then wobbly first steps that many babies take around their first birthday (AAP). Pulling up to stand and walking while holding on to furniture are 12-month milestones (CDC). Your baby is 8 months old. For many, the first try this month ends at the knees, chin on the cushion, and that's a full success.

Head

CDC suggests placing your baby near furniture they can safely pull up on (CDC). The AAP adds the step parents forget: once your baby is standing, show them how to bend their knees and sit down, which saves you many trips to a crib where a baby is standing and crying (AAP). The way up gets practiced all day. The way down has to be taught, and it takes a few days of your hands on their hips, folding them gently to the floor, before they do it alone.

Body

Before any of that, the crib. Set the mattress at its lowest position before your baby learns to stand, and keep cords well away from the crib (AAP). Keep it bare: no pillows, blankets, bumpers, or stuffed toys, which a standing baby can also use as a step (Moon, AAP). A baby who pulls to stand on a mattress at the middle setting can go over the rail, and the first time they stand in the crib is usually at 5 a.m., with no one watching.

Try today

  1. The baby standing at the sofa, hands flat on the cushion, one foot shuffling sideways toward a cloth ball at the far end, the mother's hands open an inch behind their hips.

    Cruise to the toy

    Time: A few minutes, several times a day · Cruise to the toy in the guide

    1. Check that the couch or low table is sturdy, won't tip, and has no sharp edges (CDC).

    2. Sit your baby at one end and set a toy on the cushion at the other, just out of reach.

    3. Let them pull up and step sideways to get it. If today's version is pulling to their knees and reaching, that's the version.

    4. When they're stuck standing, put your hands on their hips, say "sit," and fold them gently down to the floor (AAP).

    Make it work:

    Stay an inch behind their hips the first few times. The way down is the lesson.

Watch for

  • Normal

    pulling up to the knees at the sofa and no higher for weeks; pulling to stand is a 12-month milestone (CDC).

    Talk with your pediatrician

    if your baby uses one arm or leg much more than the other (AAP).

  • Normal

    a thump onto a diapered bottom from standing, and a surprised look.

    Call your pediatrician

    for any head injury in a baby under 1 (AAP).

  • Normal

    a baby found standing in the crib, holding the rail, crying to be rescued, with the mattress already at its lowest (AAP).

    Call 911

    if after a fall your baby has a seizure or was knocked out for more than a minute (AAP).

For you

The grandmother and mother lifting a bare crib mattress out together in the evening, the lowest support rail visible, the baby on the floor beside them chewing a teething ring.

Lower the mattress tonight if it isn't already at the bottom. The AAP's rule is "before your baby learns to stand," not after (AAP), and nobody gets a warning. It's a ten-minute job with a second pair of hands, and it is the one piece of babyproofing this month with a deadline you can't see coming. Do it before the bedtime routine, not after, so you're not lifting a mattress at 9 p.m. with a sleeping baby in the next room.

If you're the partner: this is yours tonight. Mattress to the lowest setting, the mobile down if it's still up, and every cord moved out of reach of the rail (AAP).

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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