Time’s flying by! You’ve reached your little one’s eleventh month, and they’re surprising you almost daily! By the end of this month, your baby might be able to stand freely! Or maybe they already can? Some babies achieve this at nine months, others at 14 months. The differences between children are never more pronounced than with this milestone. But don’t worry – it’s all perfectly normal. Our midwife and expert Katrin Ritter agrees. In today’s instalment of our blog series “Baby’s Developmental Milestones with Ergobaby: Baby’s First Year”, she’ll share what 11-month baby milestones you might observe in your baby’s eleventh month and how best to support their development.
11-Month Baby Milestones: “Free Standing” and other steps
Has your baby developed strong core muscles and good body tension? These are key signs they’ll soon master free standing. If your little one shows no readiness to stand or can’t sit up from an angled position to a long-sitting position then consider consulting your GP or health visitor.
You’ve likely noticed your little one eagerly exploring and tackling everything in sight. Crawling, sitting, and pulling up are now accomplished with ease. Your baby conquers stairs on all fours and investigates objects on shelves and tables. They often stand with legs apart, tummy out, one hand on furniture for support, the other free to explore. This is brilliant for developing their muscles further. Their standing posture is also becoming more stable through bouncing and swaying.
Swaying and bouncing
Have you seen your baby bouncing up and down while standing, shifting weight from one leg to the other? This is how they’re stabilising their stance. This swaying later develops into side-stepping. Now, if you offer a toy from behind, they’ll simply turn and reach for it. At this stage of baby development, they can only get down with a plop or with your help.
Bear Walking
Most babies now progress from all fours to the ‘bear walking’, with knees lifted. They’ll move about like this – walking on hands and feet – for a while. It’s excellent training for core and leg muscles, as well as coordination.
Cruising
As your baby becomes more confident standing, they might start moving sideways along furniture. This ‘cruising’ is a key step towards walking. It helps develop balance and coordination, preparing your little one for those exciting first steps. Remember, each baby develops at their own pace, so don’t worry if yours isn’t quite there yet.
As we’ve hinted, your little ones will soon start side-stepping from their swaying and bouncing.Their feet point forward as they sidle along tables, chairs, and later even smooth walls. You can encourage this by placing a toy just out of reach. You’ll see, it won’t be long before curiosity wins. This sideways movement is brilliant for foot muscles and arch development.
Free Standing
And voila, if your baby gets momentarily distracted, they might suddenly – quite by chance – stand freely. Just like that. When they realise they’re not holding on, they usually plop down quickly. But yes, they can now stand independently and will practise this more often. Interestingly, holding a small object often helps, as it gives your little one the feeling of still holding onto something.
Clapping and Playing
By the eleventh month, your baby can typically clap hands neatly and push cars back and forth. They’ll also play with balls, rolling them to and fro. During this stage of baby development, they might soon correctly address you with “Mummy” or “Daddy” or whatever they call you.
How to Support Your Baby’s Developmental Steps
Creating playful incentives is key for these baby development steps. How can we best achieve this? With toys, of course. Place various objects your little one desires just out of reach, encouraging them to use a bit of effort and creativity. The goal is to improve your baby’s balance and get them used to standing. This works best barefoot, so let your tot toddle around without shoes as often and as long as possible if you have a warm floor. Otherwise, non-slip socks and tights with nubs can also help. Please avoid shoes at all costs.So, get your little one up on their (bare) feet. Initially, you might hold them at the hips, applying gentle downward pressure so they can really feel what standing involves. You can also support them at the hips while they play with a large exercise ball. It may roll away but still provides security for those first standing attempts. Perhaps your little love can even pull themselves up on it? An air mattress is another option. It’s wobbly to stand on, but that’s great for balance training.
For more muscle and stability work, try this: place a basket on a chair and smaller objects around your baby. This encourages them to repeatedly squat and stand as they move items into the elevated basket. Climbing onto chairs or stairs is also excellent for coordination and muscle building. You should only assist with getting down – this teaches them that backwards, feet-first is the safest way down.
Music is also a brilliant tool to support your baby’s development in their eleventh month. Kneel or squat, holding your standing baby’s hands, and move to the rhythm. You’ll see: your little one will bounce, sway, and laugh with delight. Whatever you do, this quality time will bring joy to everyone involved and contribute to your baby’s developmental milestones. It’s a guaranteed way to boost their growth and create happy memories together.
Your Baby’s 11-Month Baby Milestones
Your baby is inching ever closer to that walking milestone! Their 11-month baby milestones have taken them from bear crawling to cruising and now they’re nearly there! It’s very exciting. We’ve got one last important tip for you: never practise walking during this time by holding your child by their raised hands or under the armpits. Your child is not yet ready to walk and foot malpositions can develop. In addition, walking while holding both hands above their head has nothing to do with the natural movement pattern of independent locomotion and can be more harmful than beneficial. So please wait until the next milestone which we’ll share here on our blog next month. Your patience will be rewarded! And don’t forget, if you’ve missed any of our other baby milestones blogs, just search “milestone” here and you’ll be able to see them all. Happy reading!
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Source: Babys in Bewegung, Kienzle-Müller, Kaltenbach, 4. Auflage, Urban & Fischer
