Sitting is a skill that starts to emerge around month 5, but there are activities before that age that will contribute to sitting such as body on body righting & rolling, pulling to sit up without head lagging, reflex integration ,etc. All of these movements contribute to sitting. Unsupported sitting happens around months 6-8, but everything we do up to those months helps, and during those key months lots of practice is great!

Babies are born with a reflex that makes them want to curl up when on their tummy (angel picture) and lay in extension when on their back. In the first few months, babies are working hard to use their muscles against gravity and this reflex. Playing with their feet is one example of flexion while on their back instead of having there bodies lay in extension flat against the ground. Pushing up onto extended arms or “swimming” while on their bellies is an example of working out of that curled up fetal position on the belly as seen in the angel picture. See other pictures and videos for more examples of newborn sleeping on back posture then development of muscles over the first 5 months working against gravity.

So things are smooth sailing, or maybe not?, those first 5 months giving your baby head control and some trunk control. The point here is that your baby needs these above skills to sit. Head control. Working out of flexion when on their tummy, Rolling. Playing with their feet. So what’s next? Giving our baby vertical sitting opportunities in a variety of ways! Babies learn to sit on the floor first. This is great for so many reasons. Number one, if they topple over they are close to the ground. Boppy pillows are wonderful to ease the going down. Protective extension reactions/parachute reactions are also emerging around this time. Propped sitting will develop protective extension reactions to the front. Floor sitting also helps babies to have a wide base of support. Your baby may not know how to get this wide base of support without a little help from mom. Look at this superstar in the following 3 videos. The first video is baby rocking and rolling a little bit too much on his “tailbone”. Baby has not quite learned how to ground himself with his legs. Second video, he is set up nicely and maintaining it nicely. (Legs out in front in a V shaped long sitting fashion.) And finally, in the 3rd video he is learning to alternate between flexed legs and extended legs on his own, grounding himself in and out of tailor sitting to long sitting. You know what the neatest thing is? His mom did this in 5 mins. These videos were shot all on the same day within a span of 5 minutes. ( sweatpants removed to help him feel the floor) . Also he is 5 1/2 months here. Not a safe sitter. Not at the age of sitting quite yet, but can you see how it is fostered and how he learned so much from the hands on help and 5 minute workout with mom?and more tips coming soon.

Sitting Series Success