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In the first year one of the biggest changes is the amount of mobility that
children have. Around the age of about nine months, this is when babies are
really learning how to stand up. Often they use the bars of their cot as a
great tool to pull themselves up. Parents will often see their child
standing gripped onto the bars for dear life not wanting to let go.
There is a difficult period where babies know how
to stand up, but they don't know how to get back down again. What we would
advise parents to do is during the day, spend lots of time with your
baby helping them to learn how to get back down from standing. So play games
with them in the day teaching them to sit, and then how to lay down from
sitting.
If you still find your child keeps standing and they can't get back down,
the best thing to do is just quickly pop them back down on the mattress and
leave the room as quickly as you can. Come back a few seconds or a minute
later.
If they're standing up again, then you quickly lay them back down
again. Do it very fast. Don't have a cuddle at the same time. It's almost
as if it's happened by magic. If your child resists you and really doesn't
want to let go of the bars, then just step away for a little while. Wait a
bit, come back and try again. If they resist you again, step away again.
Keep repeating that process until, eventually, they learn that they do need
to lay down because they're tired. You shouldn't try and fight resistance,
just wait for them to get to the point where they will go down easily
without a struggle.