Holy Sit!
As you can likely imagine, the ability to sit is an important task for your little one. A child who can sit independently shows that they have good postural stability. A baby who is able to move in and out of sit with control shows that they not only have good stability, but also good transitional mobility. I often hear from parents that their baby does not want to sit at all, but rather, would love to spend all their time in supported stand. Does this sound familiar to you? Read on to learn more!
At what age should a parent start working on sitting with their little one?
Technically, with a bit of training, education, and practice, a parent can begin working on modified, supported sitting with a very young baby. Of course, you would only do so in very small spurts of time and in a gentle manner. If you have a little one and would like to learn more about how to practice sitting, please feel free to join one of our upcoming Infant Gross Motor Development classes.
Once Baby has stable head control and is beginning to sit upright with less assist, skills that often happen around 4-5 months, you can practice supported sitting with more regularity and for longer durations.
Here are three ways that I like to practice supported sit around the 4.5 - 7-month age range:
1. Supportive seats: While I am not normally a big fan of baby ‘equipment,’ I do like the Upseat, Bumbo seat, or Fisher Price ‘Sit-Me-Up’ for brief periods of sitting practice starting around 4 - 5 months—or whenever Baby has good head control. The Upseat is the most expensive, but it is my favorite of these three seats, as it encourages a more active pelvis and posture. In these seats, you could try using a rolled receiving blanket around Baby’s trunk to increase their stability in the early days. I would recommend trying this for just 5-10 minutes at a time; I find that most babies don’t like to go much longer than that anyway.
2. Prop sit or ring sit: Baby is usually more ready to practice this around 5-7 months. With baby seated on the floor, help them move their legs into a circle-like shape. Most babies like to start off in a ‘prop sit’ position, where they bear weight through their hands on either the floor or on their own legs. If you find that Baby is leaning back or is trying to get out of sitting, try to actually lift their bottom up and back, leaning their trunk forward a bit more. You can also give gentle, sustained downward and inward pressure at their breastbone to encourage forward sitting posture. I prefer to sit behind Baby while I practice this activity. Try to support Baby at their hips in this position—or at their trunk if they need more support. You might also try a Boppy pillow (or similar) around your baby in this position. If you REALLY want to get creative here, you could create a little table for baby out of an empty box wipes/diaper box, cutting out one side for their legs.
3. Short sit: Baby will likely be more ready to practice this task around 6-8 months. With Baby on your lap or seated on a small seat (like a toddler soft chair or play couch cushion), bend their knees so that their feet are planted on the floor. Having their feet ‘rooted’ into the floor allows for greater trunk control and stability. In this position, you will likely support under their armpits at first. As Baby gains trunk control, you can try to lower your hands down closer to their waist. As the base of support in this short sitting position is smaller than the prop/ring sit position, this will likely be a more difficult position to hold.
When babies often push back in supported sit, as if they want to stand up and out of the seated position, I find it helpful to put a super engaging, ‘tall’ toy in front of them. This Sit and Spin alphabet toy is my #1 go-to for sitting practice. It might not be a beautiful, wooden Montessori-like toy, but it keeps the Babe’s attention and gets the job done!
Here are a few other toys that I like to use when working with Baby on supported sit:
As is the case with any of my recommended gross motor developmental activities, if Baby is starting to get super fussy in the position, you can take a break and try again later. Chances are, Babe is tired from all of that hard work!
Happy sitting, friends! Please reach out to lizzie@littlelightmke.com with any baby/kiddo-related sitting questions!
