Strong muscles and joints in their body help to keep them balanced and upright.
Your toddler has now been holding weight momentarily on one leg for some time, while taking steps when walking and using stairs. These daily activities have been strengthening their muscles and joints in preparation for the trickier task of standing for a brief time on one leg.
During these activities, their core muscles, glutes, hips, legs, knees, ankle and foot muscles[2] work together to keep them steady on one foot.
If you see your toddler experimenting with lifting one leg off the ground, you will no doubt see them wobble and tip their bodies to one side.
These actions are helping them learn how to correct any unwanted movements; muscles all over their body work incredibly hard to keep them stable. Each time their body wobbles, their brain learns from the signals it receives and helps improve their balance.
Gaining balance requires sensory systems and muscles to work together.
Information from your toddler’s eyes (visual sense), ears (vestibular sense) and body position (proprioceptive sense) work in coordination with feedback from their muscles and joints.[2]
And while they work together, their body constantly battles against the pull of gravity.
Unseen forces want to pull them back down to the ground. Not only will your toddler’s foot want to rest back on the floor, but their body may tip forward or to the side and pull them back down.
Yet, they still show true determination to lift one leg!
You might notice your toddler lifts a leg to help when getting dressed, or when they dance one leg rises from the floor for a moment. Your incredible toddler is managing lots of different things when they make these movements so be sure to give them lots of praise and encouragement while they master this tricky skill.
References:
[1] Vaughan, D. Why Do Flamingos Stand on One Leg? Brittanica.
[2] Heuer, H., Keele, S.W. (1996) Handbook of Perception and Action Motor Skills. Academic Press.