Can it be harmful if my 2-month-old daughter tries to stand?

Question

This is about my second daughter, who is now 2 months old and happily smiling at me ^_^

An awful lot has happened with my 1^st daughter since she was born...I've forgotten quite a bit about the ages at which infants should start turning, lifting their heads, when they should be at what weight, etc.

But something tells me my second daughter is fast. Too fast, perhaps, which is why I'm asking this question here.

She's been fast with everything so far. She was born in under 1 hour, doubled her weight in two weeks, started lifting her head almost immediately after birth (she can hold it up and control it completely now), and since a few weeks, when I lie her down in bed on her belly, she's starting to show signs of wanting to go crawling.

But here's the thing. Lately, she starts squirming and showing general signs of being displeased. There seems to be nothing in the world I can do to please her at that moment, except...help her stand on her legs. When I do that, she turns all smiles and becomes happy once again. Her stance is quite firm already; I can sometimes even let go for a sec (which she thoroughly enjoys, obviously).

Of course, as a good parent, I want to stimulate everything they indicate they are ready for. However, there's this gnawing concern I have when letting my daughter stand like that...she's barely 2 months old! I vaguely remember some doctor saying to me in the past that stimulating the legs, hips and back at too early an age can cause deformations later in life, because not all the cartilage has turned to bone.

Is this true? What should I do here?

Answer 1

Both my sons loved "standing" at an incredibly early age. My mother-in-law was horrified and assured us this would cause a bow-legged stance. Our pediatrician confirmed that leg or hip deformation is caused by nutritional deficiencies (vitamin D) or congenital defects, rather than too much weight on developing bones. (So the solution was to not let the boys pretend to stand when Nana was around... easy enough!) Ana's link is great for laying out the issue :) Feel free to let her stand, jump, and bounce.

Ironically, and not necessarily relevant: All that infant standing had no bearing on their eventual walking. My older son was walking at around 11 months, his younger brother waited until almost 15 months. (Their legs were equally strong, but the littler just didn't trust his balance as much.)

Answer 2

I had the exact same issue with my son. I Googled and found that pediatricians do not consider it problematic to let the baby hold up its own weight if it can, much to the delight of my little one. And to the horror of all other family members who come from countries where it's almost considered child abuse :)