Please or to access all these features

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Training sitting up unassisted, what counts?

2 replies

izzyboobear · 01/11/2024 22:09

Parents to a 23 weeker here, now one year actual or 8 months adjusted.

He's still unable to sit up on his own, even though he's done so with help for many months now. Between his high chair, bath seat, wearable seat wedge, and his pram, it's safe to say he's had a LOT of practice at sitting. Yet he still just slumps to one side without support? I've started sitting him on his playmat with teddies wrapped around him while he plays, for however long he'll tolerate it, but now I'm thinking isn't that no different to all the other forms of assisted sitting? Are any of these things getting him to use those muscles? It seems like he takes the support for granted and so doesn't try, so we're not sure where to go from here.

Of course, if this is just something he'll do in his own time, that's completely okay too. We're just worrying this is our fault somehow.

OP posts:
PolaroidPrincess · 02/11/2024 18:37

Have you tried taking him swimming? I think that helped to build the muscles they needed to sit. I could be wrong though Wink

skkyelark · 02/11/2024 20:42

Not an occupational therapist, but I think the teddies could be different in that they potentially offer less support (depending on how you've arranged them) than a high chair or pram seat – just a bit of stabilisation around his hips.

Mine were not prem, but I feel like they learnt to balance themselves sitting from the top down, so first head/neck control, then shoulder/upper chest, then down to about the waist, and then down through their hips.

Can he sit leaning on forward on his arms?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page