One of my RIE® Parent-Infant groups that had been with me since the babies were newborns (therefore these parents had been learning and practicing the Educaring™ Approach since their baby’s birth) suddenly became nervous when I introduced the Pikler® ladder to the babies’ play environment. This happened after about 10-12 months that the babies had been freely exploring the environment, the play equipment and free movement. Upon seeing this new structure, however, the parents suddenly began to imagine and worry that their babies would hurt themselves while trying to climb up and over what seemed to them to be a very tall ladder. To their surprise, on the first day, all the babies either gave a quick glance or completely ignored the new climbing structure. It took several weeks before one of the babies actually became curious and went over and touched it. Most continued to ignore it. Only after about 2-3 months, did the babies begin to pull up on the ladder and some even tested climbing up on one rung. The second rung was attempted some months later. These babies that had been trusted to know their own capabilities, attempted only what they felt comfortable with. There was no ‘teaching’ or ‘showing’ the infants how to use the new climbing structure. We trusted in the infant’s competence to do what they could do in their own time and in their own way!
