Could specialist cushion or wedge help my wilful 'W sitter'? Advice please!

[Poubelle]

Hi all,
Have you found seating alternatives for your 'W sitting' DC's? My DD (4) is a die hard W sitter - and despite numerous reminders to change sitting position will revert back within moments. She's done it for so long now I do believe its uncomfortable for her to sit in other positions so wondered about special cushions, wedges or seats?
We've seen a physio who has suggested reward charts for sitting 'criss-cross' or kneeling and exercises to loosen tightness in her hamstrings. She didn't have any tips on actual seating alternatives which I found a little odd! Any advice gratefully received!

DS2 is a W sitter too. He sits on a chair during "carpet time" and assembly at school. At home I just try to encourage him to use different positions eg lying on his tummy when he is playing on the floor.

Thank you!

I'm an adult die-hard w sitter, I was a SENCO myself when I first made any connection between it and my joints.

At work I find a lot of w-sitters go into an asymmetric position in carpet time to compromise. The cushion has a universal hatred from all I've ever worked with. You may find as carpet time at school increases your dd copies those around her and i regularly prompted to sit with crossed legs, however this does depend on the school and your dd.

My dd is also a w sitter, i tell her to sit properly which she does for 5 secs. I find that shes so stiff when her legs are crossed

Just had a look at the link polter posted, love the sn resources but the prices are

DD was a hard-core W sitter, but has improved with age and encouragement. She is now nine and I hardly ever catch her in that position.

Thanks so much for all your advice and help and polter in particular for the web link. I get so baffled by all the stuff available on line it's good to hear what's worked and what hasn't. Shall give some of them a whirl.
ThreeBeeOneGee - I'm greatly heartened to hear about your former 'w sitter'. I'm curious - how long was it before you saw a difference in her sitting position? And any tips on encouragement. I'm worried my encouragement sounds more like nagging....!

She started to improve at around 4-5, but she was making progress in so many areas (global delay) that it's hard to pin-point the exact time she stopped. We were encouraging other sitting positions using praise when she spontaneously used them, but our big focus at that time was speech & language, so that's where I was putting most of my effort.

Ds2 is 3 and his physio suggested avoiding chasing him round and getting into a battle of wills. She suggested we target times when he will be sitting for longer periods and begin encouraging better habits then.

She's also persuaded me of the benefits of giving up w sitting. I might try to stop. At age 40. When i was a child my physio did the battle of wills and it was definitely counterproductive in my case.....