Dear All,
This will be a slightly unusual post, as I have a favour to ask of you. ANd hopefully, you will agree, you will e-mail me, you will forward this to whoever else you think can participate in this, and we will all learn and share the knowledge we gain from this. So this is what it's all about:
A few days ago a friend of mine expressed her concern about her daughter's motor development. She said she was a bit worried that her little girl didn't sit up on her own until she was almost 10 months old. I thought about this, and realised that our son sat up about the same time. Only, we were not too worried.
There is very little information about the age, or rather age range, for when babies who are allowed to move freely achieve certain milestones - rolling, crawling, sitting up, standing, walking. The study done by Emmi Pikler, who observed 722 babies over time, shows that overall the age in which 'Pikler babies' achieved these milestones, was not much different from the other babies.
Still, we worry. That's what we do, we are parents, after all ;)
So, I thought about gathering information that would let us see what the age range is (after all, what are the chances of all babies reaching the milestones at exactly the same age?). And here is where I am asking for your help:
If you are raising your child allowing them to move freely, and if your child reached each of these milestones on their own (that is, without sitting them up, teaching them to walk etc.), please share with us. If you have any date recorded for the age when your child reached any of the milestones, please e-mail us and tell us about it.
If you are willing to participate in this, please send us and e-mail to: movingbaby@gmail.com with the following information:
1. What week of pregnancy was your baby born in?
2. What age did s/he learn to do the following for the first time:
(i) roll to the side
(ii) roll to their tummy
(iii) crawl
(iv) sit up
(v) stand up unsupported
(vi) take first step unsupported
We hope to get as many parents involved as we can. If you know anyone who can help, please forward it to them. We will be grateful for any information you can share with us, even if you remember only one or two of these (we actually have absolutely no idea how old our son was when he started crawling. We know it was around Christmas :)
After we get a reasonable number of responses, we will share our results. We will have your e-mail addresses, so all of you will get an e-mail from us, telling you what we have found out.
And, of course, if you have any questions, please e-mail us as well!
Looking forward to hear from You,
Ania, Pawel & Antek @ Every Moment Is Right
Oh I just recalled how in developmental psychology class, they told us that parents all over the world have tried for generations to teach their babies to sit up or walk or talk. And it works or it doesn't, depends on what they wanted to see. I don't think you should worry, and if you do, go see a podiatrist, don't set up a foundation! :) /pats backs
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the comments. Not too sure what it is you are trying to say though... I am not worried at all, but I do feel for the parents that are and am trying to get some information that is hardly available (on how children develop WITHOUT being helped to sit and walk). Also, going to see a doctor is not always a solution, as we are all a product of our won training, as I'm sure you are aware of... so, I am not setting up a foundation, but inviting parents to participate in a dialogue that will hopefully produce interesting results (so far, it's been working wonderfully). And... why would setting up a foundation be a problem, anyway?
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