The new world of Baby Stackage

[mum2maddy]

Hi All,

My gorgeous DD has recently begun crawling. She is pretty good at it but sometimes sticks one of her legs straight out which throws her off balance and she flips over and smacks her head on the floorboards. One of my mates said to me to laugh at her instead of being the over protective mother I am and pick her up and soothe her. I tried the laughing technique yesterday but it didn't help, kind of made things worse!

Today, she has learnt to pull herself up in the cot. She has also learnt how to let go once she's up there and smack her head on the rails as she falls back. I watch her when she's experimenting as much as possible but if I'm not there because she is "meant" to be going to sleep, how can I save her from the head smack?

I guess you sort of have to let them have a few stacks so they get used to pain and stuff but this crawling, standing, moving around stuff is really nerve racking!

I have no friends with kids and my mother is so vague about what the normal stack to Day ratio is that I am freaking out because I think I'm the only person who is seeing her kid stack 3 times a day.

What do you do when your bub stacks it? Do they eventually learn that if they let go of the bloody cot rail that they will get hurt?

Advice much needed! :confused:

[poshBecks]

LOL!! I know how you feel!! When my ds starting crawling and pulling himself up he would do the same thing. I would just sit him up and say "up a daisy, try again" give him a quick cuddle & let him go for it! It really doesn't take long for them to learn!! I think it's more traumatic for us to watch then for them! :o

Becky
____________________
Mum of.......
Connor, 18 mths
Bump, due in Dec

[rynosmum]

Hi Mum2Maddy,

When they first start bumping their heads, I don't think you can help but gasp :eek: when you hear/see it. It takes a while before you just gasp on the inside whilst saying 'uh - oh!' :p.

There was another thread I just read - I think it was in research - where there is talk about a type of 'stack hat' for the little ones.

I personally would rather try to prevent the falls and help to teach how to 'not fall' but accidents happen so perhaps it's something to think about if you are really worried about it.

As for the frequency of stacks per day ? I guess it depends on the bubba and how active they are but at that experimental age, I'd say my little one would have had some type of stack about 2-3 times per day - we have timber floors so I put down lots of rugs, blankets and pillows.

[Nickster]

OOh, floorboards and crawling babies! :eek: It sends a shiver up my spine - I'm so glad I have carpet! (but not so glad when it gets dirty!)
I read somewhere once that the best response to give a baby that has fallen over is acknowledgement by saying something along the lines of "ooh, sweetie, did that hurt or did you just get a fright?" and that way they learn somehow to differentiate between physical hurt and getting a fright/shock from the suddenness of a fall. I do this and then let Libby know she can come to Mummy if she wants to, but 9 times out of 10 she is okay, and carries on playing! :)
As far as standing up in the cot, it only took my DD about a week to learn to sit down smack on her padded bottom, instead of letting go of the rails and falling backwards, so maybe your little one is not too far off doing it herself? Perhaps you can spend some time with her gently practising a few times? Just a suggestion! I hope she finds her balance very soon - and yes, like Becky said, it's much more traumatic for us than them!

[Supermum]

Poor Mum2Maddy

It's horrible isn't it? You just want to follow them around 24/7 and cushion their falls to save them from bruises and grazes. But you can't unfortunately and yes, this is how they learn.

Babies and toddlers don't set out to intentionally hurt themselves so they generally only do the same stupid thing a couple of times before the brain tells them that's not such a clever thing to do ... remember last time?

The bigger they get ... the harder they fall.

Lucky she's got you to kiss the ouches better. :)

[Bronte'sMum]

Owww! My little one has also just started doing the same thing and I find my heart in my mouth every time she starts to push herself up!! Similar to a previous reply, my response is to soothe by 'naming' her feelings eg Did you bump your head? That hurt didn't it? and then distract by showing her the birds in the trees etc. My feeling is to laugh at her would invalidate her feelings and as she gets older embaress her, teach her that her feelings don't count etc. I also try to minimise her distress by saying Oops a daisy etc if she's not too upset... but when she lets out the big cry I know it really hurt and then I do soothe and cuddle. I know that's what i like when i have hurt myself!!!

Sounds like you're a lovely caring Mum
Take care
Bronte's Mum