The climbing instinct begins to appear by this time—­the seventh month—­and here the stair-case has its great advantages.  It ought not to be shut from him by a gate, but he should be taught how to climb up and down it in safety.  To do this, start him at the head of the stairs, and, you yourself being below him, draw first one knee and then the other over the step, thus showing him how to creep backward.  Two lessons of about twenty minutes each will be sufficient.  The only danger is creeping down head foremost, but if he once learns thoroughly to go backward, and has not been allowed the other way at all, he will never dream of trying it.  In going down backward, if he should slip, he can easily save himself by catching the stairs with his hands as he slips past.

The child who creeps is often later in his attempts to walk than the child who does not; and, therefore, when he is ready to walk, his legs will be all the stronger, and the danger of bow-legs will be past.  As long as the child remains satisfied with creeping, he is not yet ready either mentally or physically for walking.

[Sidenote:  Standing]

If the child has been allowed to creep about freely, he will soon be standing.  He will pull himself to his feet by means of any chair, table, or indeed anything that he may get hold of.  To avoid injuring him, no flimsy chairs or spindle-legged tables should be allowed in his nursery.  He will next begin to sidle around a chair, shuffling his feet in a vague fashion, and sometimes, needing both of his hands to seize some coveted object, he will stand without clinging, leaning on his stomach.  An unhurried child may remain at this stage for weeks.

[Sidenote:  Walking]

Let alone, as he should be, he will walk without knowing how he does it, and will be the stronger for having overcome his difficulties himself.  He should not be coaxed to stand or walk.  The things in his room actually urge him to come and get them.  Any further persuasion is forced, and may urge him beyond his strength.

Walking-chairs and baby-jumpers are injurious in this respect.  They keep the child from his native freedom of sprawling, climbing, and pulling himself up.  The activity they do permit is less varied and helpful than the normal activity, and the child, restricted from the preparatory motions, begins to walk too soon.

[Sidenote:  Alternate Growth]

A curious fact in the growth of children is that they seem to grow heavier for a certain period, and then to grow taller for a similar period.  That is, a very young baby, say, two months old, will grow fatter for about six weeks, and then for the next six weeks will grow longer, while the child of six years changes his manner of growth every three or four months.  These periods are variable, or at least their law has not yet been established, but the observant mother can soon make the period out for herself in the case of her own child.  For two or three days, when the manner of growth seems to be changing from breadth to length, and vice versa, the children are likely to be unusually nervous and irritable, and these aberrations must, of course, be patiently borne with.