Date:
May 25, 2017
Source:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Summary:
Both the literature and practice indicate that children can
stand without support starting at around 9 months old. Yet, with practice,
children can stand without support even before they are 4 months old. This is
much earlier than has been reported in the literature.
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FULL STORY
Snorri Magnússon runs baby swimming
courses in Iceland. Here is four-month-old Eva standing on his hand.
Credit: Ungbarnasund Snorra
Baby swimming: Both the literature
and practice indicate that children can stand without support starting at
around 9 months old.
"But with some training,
children can stand much sooner than that, even before they're 4 months
old," says Professor Hermundur Sigmundsson at NTNU's Department of
Psychology.
Snorri Magnússon teaches a baby
swimming course in Iceland. Babies in the programme do various exercises,
including standing in-hand and on a corkboard.
Sigmundsson and his colleagues have
used results from Magnússon's practice for a recently published article in Frontiers
of Psychology.
Babies learn and don't forget
The babies are given the opportunity
to stand as part of a 12-week baby swimming course, with twice weekly one hour
sessions. "The results are sensational compared to what we normally expect
of children at this age," said Sigmundsson.
Of the 12 children who participated
in the course that the researchers studied, 11 managed to stand on their own
for more than 15 seconds by the end of the sessions. The 12th baby also managed
to stand for a good 8 seconds. Instructor Snorri says this is a common
experience.
"On average, the children were
4.3 months old when they learned to stand without support. The youngest was
only 3.6 months old," says Sigmundsson. He points out that once the babies
learn to stand, they don't forget how.
The study can provide us with more
information about how we develop balance and the ability to control our
movements. Practice also seems to work for the youngest among us. These
children are practising how to stand. So they get good at it -- very fast and
very young.
You get good at exactly what you
practise
"Children can do more than we
think," says an enthusiastic Sigmundsson.
This corresponds to other studies
Sigmundsson has conducted on mathematical skills. You get good at exactly what
you practice, like algebra or equations, not mathematics in general.
This study was a collaborative
effort with Associate Professors Håvard W. Lorås and Monika Haga, both at
NTNU's Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Norwegian University of
Science and Technology. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.
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