Which comes first? Crawling or sitting?

[vez123]

All my mum friends have always been propping up their babies (now around 6 months) against pillows/sofa since they were about 3/4 months old. I never bothered doing this with my DS (nearly 6 months) because another friend of mine told me that babies will learn by themselves how to sit up unaided once they have learned to crawl. She told me not to bother propping him up because sitting will come naturally.
DS is now doing the crawling basics, i.e. on his front, bum in the air, shuffling a bit on tummy, rolling from back to front.
Should I bother encouraging him to sit up or should I let him learn it by himself?

The thing is, I am a bit confused by the weaning requirements - i.e. being able to sit up unaided. Feel that we are still miles away from that..

Thanks a lot!

[BertieBotts]

You can't really encourage them to sit up, walk or any of those things - they'll do it when they are ready. There's no harm in propping up a baby so they can see, but it's not going to make them sit any earlier either!

Most babies sit before they can crawl but DS did it the other way around. He didn't sit unaided until 9 months. We started BLW when he could reliably sit up in his highchair without flopping over (and he was showing other signs obviously)

[Hulababy]

DD sat at 17 weeks and crawled at 8.5 months. She was a very "uprght" baby and always wanted to be up and able to see. She was cruising and standng very early. She wasn't very interested in crawling and only walked for about 4 weeks or so until she could walk.

[Rhian82]

DS was sitting at around 6.5 months, didn't crawl until 11.5 months (then was walking a few weeks later).

We started weaning before he could sit unaided - we used a Bumbo to sit him up, then moved to a padded highchair.

[LIZS]

dc could be sat unsupported form about 5/6 motnhs but didn't sit themselves up until they were crawling 8/9 months

[vez123]

Thanks everyone.. might as well get the cushions ready then :).

[AngelDog]

What Bertie said.

Sitting upright without support is one of the signs of readiness for weaning before 6 months (according to the recommendations www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/en/docs/FINAL_QA.pdf). If you start at 6 months, supported sitting is fine. We just padded DS's high chair (the Ikea Antilop one) with towels behind him.