Sitting is one of the important stages in the physical development of infants. Under normal conditions, babies begin to sit independently at about 6.5-7 months. Parents are often concerned about the question of whether there is or is an opportunity to help the baby master this process, and whether it is possible to sit the child down. Reckless attempts to plant a baby at 4-5 months can cause serious problems with her health in the future.
To prepare the baby for sitting, mother and baby must lead a healthy lifestyle. The baby needs to eat well and get enough sleep. It is necessary to communicate with the baby when she is awake and stimulate the development of motor skills. Suitable for this:
How do you understand that a boy or girl can be seated (if they are at least six months old), or that the baby is about to sit up on his own?
It is important to understand that all children are individual, and the normal range is quite wide. Every healthy child will begin to sit in due time. The limits given in the domestic literature on pediatrics are very wide - from 4.5 to 8 months.
Dr. Komarovsky shares the point of view of most European pediatricians. Parents need to understand that the child cannot be imprisoned before he tries to do it himself. It is not allowed to do this at 4 months or six months.
When your baby begins to master the skill of sitting, do not help him under any circumstances if he cannot do it the first time. When a baby learns independently, his muscles and spine get used to new loads and become stronger and stronger. It is also undesirable to cover children with pillows during this period of time.
While the baby is 5 months old or has recently turned six months old, it is recommended to stimulate crawling by all available means. Create a safe environment in the room by placing a blanket on the floor. Place a bright toy a few meters in front of the child, and let the baby, lying on his tummy, try to get to it.
When should you sit your baby down? How many months?
For the convenience of parents, the industry produces many devices for verticalizing children. It is important to remember that you can put your baby in a high chair no earlier than 6.5-7 months, when the necessary curves of the spine have formed. Baby car seats, jumpers and lounge chairs for babies can be used from the age of 5-6 months, when the back and other muscles of the baby are ready for this.
Mothers are often interested in how many months they can put their baby in their arms, because it’s hard to hold him in a “column” in your arms all the time, and household chores require attention.
Women should remember that a boy or girl should only be held in this position when the child begins to try to sit up while in a crib or other similar place. This will happen no earlier than six months. Therefore, at 5 months, the baby cannot be carried like this; for transportation, use a sling or a special baby backpack.
Walkers are one of the convenient ways to give the child an upright position and allow the mother to take care of adult matters for a while. Most manufacturers indicate that their products can be used when the baby is six months old.
Often the question of when to put a small child in a walker is decided individually. Some models are equipped so that they can accommodate a 5-month-old baby. But before purchasing such walkers, mom and dad are advised to consult a doctor about the age at which they can place their son or daughter in them.
There are prejudices according to which a boy can be imprisoned earlier than a girl, since the physical development of a small man is somewhat ahead of the fragile female body. They are not confirmed by modern medicine.
Do not place a child of either gender early, do not place him in a jumper or other device. This will happen naturally in all babies between 6 and 8 months.
You shouldn't rush things with girls either. You can hear from some parents that early sitting down may cause the baby to develop a curvature of the uterus, and she will have problems with childbearing in adulthood. This is not true.
Mothers of little princesses ask the question: “When can girls sit down?” Healthy girls, depending on individual physical development, try to sit down at the same period of life as boys. Therefore, do not try to sit up your beloved daughter at 4 or 5 months, do not offer her jumpers - this will harm her spine and fragile muscles.
Parents who are trying to find out what time a boy or girl can start should be very careful not to unknowingly harm their children. It is important to understand how to properly interact with the baby in order to prepare her for this important process and not cause problems with the spine in the future.
In some cases, only an experienced doctor can say exactly when a not entirely healthy child can be seated, and at how many months it is worth starting to do this.
If your son or daughter is already 7-8 months old and still cannot sit, this is a reason to contact a pediatrician and neurologist. Doctors will examine the baby and find the reason why his motor development lags behind his peers. If no pathologies are identified, engage in physical activity with your baby - gymnastics will strengthen his muscles and help him sit up. Buy jumpers or another device for verticalization and, after consulting with a doctor, give it to your offspring.
Remember that a child cannot be imprisoned by force. If the baby has any health problems, suffered a birth injury or was born premature, then the question of when the baby can be seated is decided individually under the supervision of a neurologist after performing a series of preparatory exercises.
It happens that very active and curious babies try to sit up at 3-4 months. Do not stimulate this process under any circumstances. Gently stop your son or daughter’s attempts to sit down, distract the baby’s attention with a bright toy or conversation. At this age, the child’s body is not yet ready to sit; this can seriously harm him.
There are a number of exercises that will help strengthen the child’s muscles and prepare him for a new position in space. Your pediatrician will tell you at what months they can be done, since all babies develop differently.
With proper care and proper preparation, every baby can sit down within the time allotted by nature. The task of the parents is to help him in this important matter, but at the same time not to harm the fragile health of the baby.
When can I sit my baby down? Is it necessary to teach a child to sit?
The question that worries all mothers is how many months can you start placing your baby and how to approach this with minimal negative consequences. When can it be planted and what to do for this, whether to use a kangaroo, at what age to do this, read below.
Already in the first months of the child’s age, he begins to actively move, lies and moves in a horizontal position. After just a couple of months, his muscles become stronger, so he begins to roll over and explore the world. The child’s independence worries parents, so they wonder when to start sitting him down and what should be done for this, whether to use a kangaroo or other devices.
When a baby is just born, his spine can only be in horizontal space, because he does not have naturally formed curves in it. They form later, so they serve as a manifestation of normal posture in a sitting or standing position. In a newborn, the spine is not in a stable condition, so its muscular frame is weak. If you sit down a child too early, the spine will be curved and the bones, muscles that form the motor system, and internal organs will suffer. All this happens under the child’s own weight.
When you can sit your baby down, check with your doctor, but basically everyone advises waiting until the baby’s overall development. The muscles and spine are strengthened as the baby rolls over, lifts his head, and moves his limbs very quickly and easily. To an adult, these movements may not seem worth attention, but for a child these are important actions that gradually lead to the body becoming stronger.
At six months, the desired position of the musculoskeletal system in anatomical terms is achieved, so it is at this age that the child can be seated - not earlier. The timing of planting depends on the nature of the child’s manifestation: if he is phlegmatic and reluctant to turn over, or shows indignation when turning over, then it means that he is not actively developing. Muscles and bones strengthen more slowly, so they should not be attached before 6 months.
Some, on the contrary, can already show high motor activity from birth, independently roll over and turn their heads. They flap their limbs, which strengthens the spine with a muscular corset, so when they reach the age of 5 months, you can begin to carefully sit them down.
From what month can a baby be placed in a walker, the pediatrician prescribes. Manifestations of the time when to sit down a child will be:
The child's body type will also indicate the time when he can begin to sit down. If the baby has a dense body and weighs a lot, then it is better to start sitting him later so that his body weight does not negatively affect the spinal column. If the baby is thin and weighs little, then you can sit him down as early as 5 months using a kangaroo. When the baby begins to crawl, he can be sat down for a short time so that when moving on all fours, the spine forms its position.
Girls are imprisoned at a later age to prevent effects on the pelvic organs. Girls are expectant mothers, so it is better to sit them down at 7-8 months, unless they learn to sit on their own. The impact on the pelvic organs leads to their abnormal development, which affects the ability to have children in the future and can even lead to infertility.
When you start to sit your baby down, a sudden transition from lying to sitting is unacceptable. You cannot immediately put the baby in a kangaroo or cover it with pillows so that the load on all organs does not cause harm. Moreover, it is forbidden to leave the baby in a kangaroo sitting position for a long time.
You need to start sitting your baby down gradually - first hold him in your arms at 3-4 months in a semi-sitting position and not with his legs bent too much. Sitting down for the first time should not last longer than 3-4 minutes, then you need to monitor the baby’s condition. If he does not roll over on his own, does not stand well and does not crawl, then it is better to postpone sitting in a kangaroo.
To strengthen the muscles, you need to carry out a light massage, daily gymnastics, lay the child on his stomach and encourage him to roll over. He will also experience lifting of the head, grasping of fingers and the ability to rise.
It is better to sit the baby on the mother’s lap so that the back is fixed and without the tailbone resting on a hard base. This leads to safe sitting, which affects full sitting within a few seconds from 5 months. Then you can move on to using a kangaroo or walker.
Sometimes the baby does not want to sit on a chair, kangaroo or sofa even at the right age. If he is capricious and stubborn, then it is better not to sit him down until he does it on his own. Subsequently, you can use a kangaroo and other devices. Sometimes a baby may first learn to crawl, then stand up, and only then sit. This is not a deviation from the norm, so there is no cause for concern.
The body of a newborn child develops intensively. Some processes go faster than expected.
But there is no need to rush things if the child’s development does not occur as it is written in encyclopedias.
Physiologically, the child needs a sitting position at the age of 6 months. He needs it to play, eat, and communicate with people around him.
If the time has come for the child, and he has not yet done this, then he is not yet ready for this and you cannot force him to sit down. Doing various exercises can only harm the body.
With normal development, by 6 months the child has sufficiently developed muscles that are needed for sitting, namely:
If the above muscles are sufficiently developed, then the sitting process will be natural and will not cause discomfort. At this age, the baby's back is straight and does not need to be supported.
At the age of six months, if the child does not sit, you can begin to help him. If he is only 4-5 months old, then this is not worth doing. This applies to both boys and girls.
If a child does not try to sit up independently after six months, then he needs to be shown to an observing pediatrician.
There is an opinion that a boy can be prepared for a sitting position a little earlier than, about a month. A boy can begin to sit as early as 6 months; it is advisable not to let a girl do this until 7 months.
If a child’s muscles have not yet strengthened, deformation of the joints of the spine may develop and at school age he may encounter problems such as:
Before the child sits down, he should already be able to perform several
operations. The baby must have sufficiently formed bone and muscle tissue. Before sitting down, the child must be able to hold his head up confidently.
If a child tries to sit up at 5 months, then there is no need to interfere with him, it means his body is already ready. But you need to constantly be nearby and make sure that he doesn’t sit for too long.
It should be taken into account that the child will not sit up straight immediately. At first he will lean on the handles, he may fall on his side or on his back. This is a natural process. Gradually, the baby will become more confident, the muscles will get used to the new physical activity. There is no need to interfere with the child; he himself will feel what is best for him. There is no need to be afraid that he will get injured and cover him with pillows, keeping him in a sitting position.
To teach a child to sit, the teaching area must be safe and preferably uneven. You can specifically provide him with “uncomfortable” conditions so that he tries to roll over on his own and take a comfortable position.
To make it easier for the child and help him cope with the new function faster, his muscle corset can be gradually prepared. Regular exercises and massages will help for this.
For a few minutes, from the age of 2 months, you can lift the baby so that he holds on to the parents’ fingers. The baby will tighten up a little and thus the muscle corset will become stronger. The exercise is performed with a gradual increase in load. At first, the angle of inclination of the body will be very small, gradually increasing.
Some exercises will help your child sit up faster:
After a short rest, you can perform another exercise that
There are special exercises to make your child more assiduous.
aimed at strengthening the muscles of the back and neck. The child is laid on a soft surface, his favorite things and toys are laid out around him. The baby will try to reach them, will reach for them, crawl, all muscle groups will be involved, which will be useful for sitting in the future. The exercise should be performed several times a day for 3 minutes, no more.
The child needs to remember the sitting position so that he knows what he needs to strive for in the future. The baby sits in the parent's arms; mom and dad should hold him tightly so that the muscles are not overloaded. Up to 5 months, the exercise is carried out for 2-3 minutes, after six months you can sit like this for 20 minutes. Every day the child will sit more confidently, and gradually the parent will be able to let go of his hands.
To make the child more diligent, you need to prepare a hard surface and place the baby on it. The baby's legs are secured with one hand, and the parent's thumb should be held with the other. In this position, the child needs to be rocked very slightly in different directions. They will train the muscles, abs, oblique abdominal muscles, and vestibular apparatus. This should be done for no more than 3 minutes.
Bends will help prepare your muscles for sitting. The child should be placed with his back to himself, one hand of the parent fixes the knees, the other above the chest. The tilt is carried out to a horizontal position. Do no more than 10 repetitions.
The optimal age at which a child can sit independently is 6-7 months. You can start preparing your baby earlier, at about 3 months, by doing gymnastics and massage.
In the video - expert advice:
A mother’s reverent attitude towards her child makes her ask a thousand questions about the timeliness of certain actions, about the correctness of the baby’s development.
Women sometimes become experts in the field of medicine if it concerns her child.
It is very important to help the baby develop properly, teach new skills and not miss the right moment, but not every mother can answer how many months can boys be placed so as not to harm him in the future.
The desire to develop your child as early as possible, to give him the opportunity to succeed in all areas, often forces young mothers to take the wrong path. They rush things too much, which subsequently leads to various complications in the child’s life.
How many people know that placing a child in walkers, kangaroo backpacks, pillows and high chairs ahead of time can change the correct course of development of the child’s spine? In turn, this leads to various diseases associated with incorrect posture, from gait disturbances to disruptions in the functioning of the heart, lungs, stomach, intestines and nervous system.
To figure out how many months old boys can be, you need to understand how the spine is formed:
From birth to 3-4 months it does not have clear bends;
A bend in the cervical spine appears when the boy learns to hold his head well (about 3-4 months);
The thoracic curve is formed while the baby learns to sit (from 4-6 months);
The lumbar curve is formed when the child learns to stand (from 7-9 months);
The final formation of the spine occurs only at the age of 25.
Now we are interested in the stage of formation of the thoracic curve. How the parents behave at this time will determine how smooth the child’s posture and good health will be throughout his life.
It is important to understand that a healthy child will want to sit down on his own, without being forced by adults. It is much more necessary for parents to prepare him for this important event. However, preparing the baby does not consist of covering him with pillows or sitting him in a highchair, but of helping him learn to crawl. While crawling, the muscles of the back, abs and chest are strengthened, which in the future, when the boy sits down, will help him maintain his back in the correct position, preventing curvature of the spine. Pillows are absolutely not suitable for this purpose!
Usually, children can sit down independently and remain in a sitting position for a long time only by 7-9 months. Only at this age do adults have the right to intervene and seat an already strong child on their own.
It happens that a child turns 8-9 months old, and he is still not going to sit down on his own. Before panicking, parents need to show the baby to a neurologist and orthopedist to find out at what months the boy can be forcibly seated and whether this can be done at all. The absence of this skill may be a sign of some disease, and excessive insistence of parents can only aggravate the disease.
At the appointment, the doctor will immediately or after an additional examination tell the parents whether they should be concerned or whether they need to wait a little longer.
If the child is healthy, but not yet ready to sit independently. Such a child can lie on his stomach, roll over in all directions, crawl, raise himself on his arms, but his coordination is still poorly developed to keep his body in an upright position.
Ways to solve the problem:
encourage him to sit, offer toys, interest the baby in games that require an upright position;
conduct a course of massage that promotes the development of the baby’s back and shoulder muscles;
Perform daily gymnastic exercises recommended by your doctor, perhaps visit the pool.
If deviations in the development of a child are detected (delayed psychomotor development, delayed motor development, cerebral palsy, etc.), depending on the diagnosis, the doctor may prescribe:
massage course;
hirudotherapy, acupuncture;
drug treatment;
The child is prescribed an additional examination followed by regular monitoring by a doctor.
Recently, the number of children's devices that make life easier for mothers is becoming more and more: baby bath seats, high chairs, rocking chairs, swings, walkers, jumpers, slings, etc. There are a great many types of such devices, and the manufacturers of most of them claim that they can be used, if not from birth, then literally from the first months of life. If you understand carefully how many months you can put boys in such devices, then a different picture will emerge.
Let's look at the main groups of devices.
Car seats. Child restraints are strictly divided into groups depending on the weight, height and age of the child. For children under one year old, only infant carriers are used. Their design completely eliminates the load on the baby's spine.
Strollers, high chairs, sun loungers. Children under 8-9 months are strictly prohibited from being seated directly in any of these devices. The bottom of the stroller, high chair or armchair must be folded completely into a horizontal position or fixed at an angle of no more than 45°. Even children who can sit up on their own are not recommended to sit for too long at first.
Slings and kangaroos. Carrying a baby in a sling is allowed from birth, however, you need to ensure that the baby’s position is approximately the same as in the mother’s arms; the baby’s head and back should be approximately on the same line, without forming strong deflections. Depending on the model, kangaroos can be used from 6-8 months. In this case, great importance is given to supporting the spine.
Walkers, jumpers. Models that provide support for the child by the armpits can be used from 6-7 months. If there is no such support, then no earlier than 9 months. In any case, doctors set the limit on the use of such devices within 10-40 minutes.
In order for a boy to grow up healthy and strong, it is important to pay attention to his development, but in no case should you overdo it, so as not to turn your actions against your own baby. Remember that every baby is different, don't rush things too much, instead enjoy every day you spend together.
Everything related to small children bears the imprint of expectation. First, the parents wait for them, then they wait for their first smile, walk, turn from back to tummy, first feeding, and so on. By 3-4 months we are already waiting, when will it be possible to place the child? Grandmothers of the “old school” began to sit down their children as early as 2-3 months. The opinion of modern doctors on this matter is completely different.
Many mothers have heard that a child cannot be kept until a certain time. However, the abundance of all kinds of children's devices (car seats from 0+, walkers, jumpers, high chairs) casts doubt on this. And everything is very simply explained. There are several approaches to the question of when to sit down a little one.
The inconsistency of approaches between various specialists on the issue of the time of dropping off a child has given rise to many myths among parents, which instill false fear and plunge deeper into the abyss of ignorance. You may encounter the following views:
In fact, sitting in pillows leads to an arched position of the spinal column and “compression” of the spinal discs. Rolling onto one side (which often occurs in this position) leads to the development of scoliosis during school years. The baby is deprived of the opportunity to accumulate his own experience of sitting down; his muscles do not work. Guess whether he will sit down faster with this approach?
For the full development of the baby’s muscular system, he simply needs to go through the experience of clumsy attempts to sit down. All his attempts to roll, rise, all falls, pushes only strengthen him, allow him to feel his body and learn to control it. For the physical development of a small person, such attempts are similar to gymnastic exercises. By helping him, supporting him, you deprive him of the opportunity to learn from his mistakes.
Each of the newly born children is an individual. Everyone has different rates of development. And if the baby makes attempts to sit up on his own already at this age, then you should not prevent him. You won't tie him up, will you? And if your “obstacles” are announced by loud childish protests, you and he strive to get into the neurologist’s office in a short time. Do you need it?
This point of view occurs not only among mothers, but also among doctors. However, it has not been confirmed by any scientific facts. Numerous discussions on women's forums show that a curvature of the uterus does not in any way affect the ability to conceive, bear or give birth to a child. It’s just that if there is an opportunity not to place girls earlier than expected (6-7 months), then it’s better not to do this. Boys are allowed to sit down a little earlier (5-6 months).
This is partly true. Even Dr. Komarovsky, beloved by mothers, recommends not to sit the baby down, but to encourage him to crawl. The most natural and physiological option for the development of human skills is the chain: crawling - sitting - standing - walking. However, in practice, everything happens completely differently: the child first sits down, and then crawls, or does not crawl at all, but immediately gets to his feet and walks. Individuality does not fit into the framework of the norms established by someone!
The baby can sit not only on the bed or the floor. There are a number of devices in which it can be planted, but this is not advisable. Of course, these devices make life easier for parents to some extent, but for the child they can be fatal. We are talking about walkers, jumpers, kangaroos, car seats, lounge chairs and feeding tables.
Few people know that these products can only be used from six months of age. Some of them are adjustable so as not to sit down, but to sit down the baby. However, then the fears of parents who do not drop off their girls, but quite calmly “put” them into a kangaroo, baby sitter or walker, are incomprehensible. It is not advisable to place babies in car seats or sun loungers until they are at least 3 months old. It is better to transport the baby in a baby basket and rock it in your arms.
All of these devices are harmful to the developing spine. Not only the spinal column, but also the legs (for example, in walkers) can be subject to deformation. It is better to pay attention to gymnastics and massage of the baby and wait until he sits down on his own. If your son or daughter begins to crawl, you don’t have to sit him down, but give him a little “suggestion” on how to do it. To do this, one leg of the little one (when he is in a position on all fours) should be bent under his body and, supporting the body with his hands, lift it up and to the side. After several demonstrations, you will not have to specially sit down your child. The child will do it himself!
Let's summarize: there is no need to force the baby to sit down. When the muscles responsible for sitting are formed, he will sit down on his own. However, parents can help him from the cradle by doing strengthening massage and gymnastics. Patience to you, dear mothers!
