Developmental milestones - Standing and Cruising. What do I need to know about Standing and Cruising?

Is your baby using the household furniture as a prop to pull themselves up to the standing position? Are they using the furniture to help them ‘cruise’ to another spot in the room? Surely they are delighted with their new skills to navigate their surroundings and discovering a new view on the world. If your baby is between 9-12 months of age and they are not doing these things, we hope this blog can offer you some helpful advice and the comfort you may need.

Our Osteopaths at Osteo For Families have experience in treating babies who struggle with reaching milestones, including standing and cruising. We understand you may be concerned if your baby appears delayed or is refusing to stand or cruise. Let’s explore how osteopathy may be able to help assist you and your baby if your baby is finding standing and cruising difficult.

What exactly  is cruising? 

Cruising is when a baby uses furniture to help them balance as they side-step to get to where they want to be. By this point they are weight bearing mostly on their own, with a bit of balance support from the couch; and are learning to shift their weight, balance momentarily on one leg, and head off in a direction.

My baby isn’t standing or cruising as expected yet, what can Osteopathy offer us? 

As Osteopaths we are looking at your baby’s musculoskeletal system, to see how they are managing the movement. Are they free to move and get the range of movement they need to pull themselves up in the first place? Can they lift their legs and feet up and over to take the step, or is their hip tight making it tricky to side step?

At Osteo for Families we see babies who find standing or cruising a bit tricky. They might do it unevenly, or cruise with a leg turned out. They might not want to do it at all. 

We will look at your baby’s arms, legs, spine, their whole body to see if there are any restrictions preventing that part of the body’s contribution to the smooth movement needed and then how we can address the restrictions in their muscles and joints. For example, tight muscles in one leg may restrict hip movement and they may walk with one leg turned out to the side. Or, a restricted shoulder might mean they avoid pulling themselves up from the floor. They still may be happy cruising once someone has helped them stand beside the piece of furniture, but may not enjoy pulling themselves up into the standing position from the ground themselves.

Osteopathic treatment involves a light pressure to relax tight muscles and increase joint movements. If your  baby’s body is free of these tightness and restrictions, it may help promote good range of motion for your baby to pull themselves to standing, and cruising evenly and comfortably.

What else can you tell me? What important information should we know about?

Every baby is different and develops at different rates. One child may be advanced in one type of milestone and less advanced in another (eg. Verbal). If a child is an early achiever in one type, they tend to be early on the rest of them too (ie. tummy time - rolling - sitting - crawling - cruising - walking. Further blogs are available on these topics if you would like to read more).

Other considerations to acknowledge is your baby’s age at birth: for example, being a premature baby may affect the times that they meet these milestones as well. If your child is outside the usual age range guides, that is ok too, we can help be a part of your support team to assist them where we can. 

Other kids skip milestones altogether. As Osteopaths, we would try to see if there are musculoskeletal issues contributing to the skipping of milestones, and try to assist in helping your child integrate the skills.

If you have more serious concerns about your baby’s development, we encourage you to consult with your medical practitioner. 

In the interest of your  baby’s growth and development, we are happy to keep in contact with your healthcare team (GP, Maternal Child Health nurse, etc) in order to allow for good communication and understanding between us.

If you require an osteopathic consultation for your baby, please contact us on 0416 161 411. 

As Osteopaths who treat babies, we do see babies who struggle with milestones. With a thorough structural assessment of their back, neck, shoulders, hips, arms and legs, we are looking to promote their ability to access their full range of motion needed to complete these milestones.   

To book an appointment, please follow this link https://osteo4families.cliniko.com/bookings