Is weightbearing (standing, sitting) unsafe for young babies?

[wutti]

hi everbody!!

christ, that is a really though diskussion here. I agree with most of the statements. if an infant or child is normally developed (no neurological disorders) it goes his own way. every individual has its own way and speed of development. to force these things often results in problems. if an infant is not able to sit, stand or walk on its own, or starts to do so on its own, it needs more time to develop these motor skills and control mechanisms. Most people think, that if they bring the infant in the special position (jumper etc. )it might help or speed up things. but this is all passive and only active movements with repetition has real learning effects.
i would suggest to give a little baby the time to make its own experience, as long as its physiological.
cheers

[phunphysio]

Yes, a discussion and a half! The enthusiam and passion is great! Yes it's a question of a child developing at it's own rate vs exposure it centain positions. I face this battle everyday in my clinic where mothers are either doing too much or too little to facilitate normal development of the infant. I too do not support jolly jumpers or walkers and there is reasonable evidence to support their non-use. Teaching a 6 month old child to jump when they are not yet sitting is a case of common sence lost in our world today. Both have evidence for the danger in use (children can access things they otherwise couldn't-jug cords, christmas trees, hot coffee-you name it) On the other hand some parents don't do enough to help the little ones develop-especially low tone babies- floor time is essential, rolling, sitting, commando crawling etc. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out if a child has enough muscle tone to support the position they are in, early sitting is flexed and I havn't seen evience to support wearing of joints etc at this young age. How is a child supposed to sit if they have never been exposed to the position?