06/01/2026
No, they don’t help your baby walk.
As pediatric OTs who specialize in feeding and development, this is one of the topics we get asked about.
And the reason is ⬇️
Infant standers and jumpers aren’t developmentally appropriate for babies. If your baby isn’t sitting independently or crawling… they definitely don’t need to be standing.
Milestones are in a progressive format and we don’t need to skip any and when placing baby in a standing position, we’re skipping steps.
From a feeding perspective, posture is everything. Oral motor control, swallowing, and safe feeding are all directly tied to a baby’s overall postural stability. Rushing upright positioning can interfere with the development of the muscles babies need to feed well.
NOW, this doesn’t mean you have to throw them away if you already have them. I mean, you need a safe place to put baby while you take a sip of coffee or even quickly load the dishwasher BUT but if they’re being used, short increments only (think 10–15 minutes max), and only once your baby already has solid head and neck control.
Then, get back on the floor… because this is the best place for development to happen.
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Hi! We’re The Blue Door Holistic Therapy and Lactation.
Our expertise:
🪴 Whole-body infant feeding & lactation
🪴 Pediatric development & early milestones
🪴 Head shape & torticollis
🪴 Starting solids
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