And just like that, my son is standing and cruising

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The baby experts in the USA recommend that babies should have tummy time as soon as they get home from the hospital. In my son's case, he did not enjoy tummy time one bit, screaming each time I placed him on his belly. I was worried because babies are supposed to be on their bellies for a specified number of minutes per day. And my son didn't even last a few seconds before he started wailing. Luckily, I came across Janet Lansbury's book, Elevating Child Care, which advises parents to wait until the baby is developmentally ready. And so I waited... then my son flipped from his back to his belly all on his own.

Aha! The people who formulated RIE were correct! For my son's next mobility milestones, therefore, I decided to skip reading about exercises to encourage my son to sit or to crawl. I'd place him on his back and let him roll or move in whatever way he wanted as long as it's safe. This meant that once he started rolling, I kept a close watch on him while he played in the bassinet (which was already placed on the floor for playtime; he already began sleeping in his crib). Once he was able to raise his head high enough to bite the rails of the bassinet, I stored it and let him play in the playpen. However, the playpen seems (to me) to be too confining so I also set up a bigger play area for him to play on activity mats, with building blocks, with stacking cups, and with balls. Sans the activity mats, his play area is pretty bare, encouraging him to crawl around.

A few weeks later and voila! He's crawling (albeit army-obstacle-course style) quite fast and can reach his toys. He's standing up, cruising, and hopping. He's even learning to sit down from standing all on his own. As he discovers how to do these things, I try to limit my interventions to catching him when he falls from standing (in the play area), keeping him from pulling at cabinets, and preventing him from hitting his head on furniture corners (as I wait for babyproofing stuff I had ordered to arrive). Soon, I'm sure that we'll have to forego the playpen as his demand for space increases.

The take-home message for me is this: Wait until the baby is developmentally ready. And so I sit back and watch as the wee one grows right in front of me.

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