DS not sitting up...should I be concerned

[Myira]

DS completed 7 months on 19th April, but is not sitting up yet. If we put him in the sitting position and let go of our hands, his torso eventually slides down to the side.

He is otherwise very active, started rolling back to tummy before 5 months. He even moves around in a circle, just rolling himself and when on his tummy can completely pull himself up using his arms.

But now, I am wondering whether I should be concerned about his not being able to sit. Any advice?

[AnnieW625]

I had the same concerns about DD2, but it started at 5 months when she wasn't really rolling over at all. Instead of consulting the pediatrician which could have ended up with physical therapy I started by signing her up for Gymboree class once a week. Within a couple of weeks the class really helped her out. Overall I would not be very concerned about him esp. if he is doing all of those other things.

[brittone2]

Does he know to put his hands down to hold himself up?

Sometimes you can do something like put a small, heavy box in front of him and encourage him to put his hands on that. See if he'll try to prop up using it, but be ready to catch him.

Does he use his arms and upper body well to roll, pivot (turn on his tummy like hands on a clock), etc.

You can try sitting down (You, the mom) on the floor with your legs extended in front of you. Put him down in sitting between your legs, but with his body perpendicular to yours. Use one of your thighs as a "desk" for him (put his legs under your thigh, not squished obviously...bend your knee a tiny bit). Your other thigh will be behind his back, and you can play with how much support you give him. Bend your knee a little more and you can support him higher up on his back (more support) for example. Put his hands on your thigh that is the "desk" so he can use his hands to help correct himself. Make sense at all?

I don't think anything you describe sounds very concerning, but it would be good to work on and you can discuss w/ your ped at your next WBV so they can take a look. If I was concerned, I'd make sure to do a little floor time several times a day-after each diaper change for example, and would limit time in saucers, walkers, jumpers, etc. so he gets more floor time to work on shoulder strength, core/back strength, etc.

eta: when you put him down, are you spreading his legs into a pretty nice V shape so that he has a wide base of support? If you are and that's not working, try a small, heavy box as a "desk" for him to prop on. Be ready to catch him and don't use anything that will hurt if he falls forward and bonks his face, obviously.

[lutefisk]

myira, does your DS have a big head? Mine did, and he was crawling (at 7-8 months) before he would sit up unassisted. Otherwise, what brittone said. :)

[vonfirmath]

DS completed 7 months on 19th April, but is not sitting up yet. If we put him in the sitting position and let go of our hands, his torso eventually slides down to the side.

He is otherwise very active, started rolling back to tummy before 5 months. He even moves around in a circle, just rolling himself and when on his tummy can completely pull himself up using his arms.

But now, I am wondering whether I should be concerned about his not being able to sit. Any advice?

My 8.5 months old girl is also not sitting up, but coming VERY close to crawling (She gets herself up on hands and knees and rocking). And our doctor has said he's sending her to therapy if she isn't sitting up very well by her 9 month appointment. Because these concerns have been ongoing so long (He mentioned it at her 6 month appointment) she has spent NO time in walkers, exersaucers, etc. She is on the floor, held, in her crib, or in a bouncy. And as much of that as possible on the floor and it just doesn't seem to be helping. She can't sit on her own at all. But with just the lightest support from us, she can sit up and be fine. Take that support away, and she topples.

brittone: My daughter doesn't seem to have upper body strength problems. She is pulling herself along now with just her arms -- and pretty fast at it -- mostly dragging her legs behind her.

[barkley1]

DD is 7.5 months and just in the past two weeks started to sit on her own. I wouldn't be worried!

[swissair81]

Only 1 of my 4 was sitting at 7 months. The rest sat up when they started crawling, or in the case of DS 2 full months after he started tummy scooching (he never crawled). He was my latest at 10 months. My ped wasn't concerned.

[Myira]

brittone2, he does not use his hands to keep himself up when sitting. He uses his arms very well to raise his torso while on his tummy. He moves about 2-3 feet atleast from where we leave him just by rolling and scooting on his tummy.

He is a reflux baby, so we try to keep him in the rocker or hold him upright for some time after feedings. Otherwise, he is mostly on the floor.

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'll definitely try these things out. Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention, he does lift his bottom up in the air quite a bit when on tummy.

[klwa]

myira, does your DS have a big head? Mine did, and he was crawling (at 7-8 months) before he would sit up unassisted. Otherwise, what brittone said. :)

One of my nephews had a big head & a lot of his gross motor development was slower than average, just waiting for the neck muscles to grow strong enough to hold that head up.