Development Milestone for your baby: Sitting. How old will my baby be when they learn to sit? My Baby can't seem to sit up straight. Is this normal?

We will spend a lot of time in our lives sitting, lets get it right from the start. What do I need to know about sitting?

Sitting is another developmental milestone for your baby to work towards. Is your baby able to sit by themselves? Are they have difficulty sitting on their own, or avoiding it? Our Osteopaths at Osteo for Families tend to see babies that have such difficulties with milestones such as sitting. 

When does sitting happen?

The aided sitting is sitting with the support of someone or something to help them maintain that position and usually starts at about 4-7 months of age. 

Unaided, or independent sitting occurs  at about 7-12months. This is where your baby will be able to maintain an upright sitting position due to the development of torso strength while being able to  reach and play with things.

Why is sitting important?

All that strength and coordination work from tummy time and rolling helps your baby to be able to sit. Your baby will initially need support for sitting, then they will support themselves in the tripod position, later they will progress to independent sitting with free hands to play with toys and the ability to pivot and twist. A lot of balance development is required to be able to keep themselves upright without toppling over.

How can Osteopathy help my baby? How would I know to bring my baby to see an Osteopath?

At Osteo For Families, we see lots of babies that find sitting tricky. As Osteopaths, we look at the whole body picture to see how we may support your baby. Some things that we consider when assessing your baby is; Does your baby tend to lean to one side instead of being centred and upright? Is there a one sided tightness that is contributing to that? If so, our treatment may help reduce the tightness that is contributing to them being off balance.  

Sometimes tight leg muscles mean that your baby isn’t comfortable in the sitting position because the muscles are on stretch. Simply loosening these muscles may make sitting more enjoyable for you baby.

We assess their arms and legs and spine, their whole  body, to see what we can do to help assist them and their muscles and joints. 

 Osteopathic treatment involves a light pressure to relax tight muscles and increase joint movements. If your  baby’s body is free of these tightness and restrictions, it may help promote good range of motion allowing your baby to sit and reach for toys independently!

Do I need to be aware of any other important information?

Yes! Do keep in mind every baby is different. One child may be advanced in one type of milestone and less advanced in another (eg. Verbal). If a child is an early achiever in one type, they tend to be early on the rest of them too (ie. tummy time - rolling - sitting - crawling - cruising - walking. Find more information on these milestones on our website soon ).

Other considerations to acknowledge is your baby’s age at birth: for example, being a premature baby may affect the times that they meet these milestones as well. If your child is outside the usual age range guides, that is ok too, we can help be a part of your support team to assist them where we can. 

Other kids skip milestones altogether. As Osteopaths, we would try to see if there are musculoskeletal issues contributing to the skipping of milestones, and try to assist in helping your child integrate the skills as skipping milestones is not favourable. 

If you have more serious concerns about your baby’s development, we encourage you to consult with your medical practitioner. 

In the interest of your  baby’s growth and development, we are happy to keep in contact with your healthcare team (GP, Maternal Child Health nurse, etc) in order to allow for good communication and understanding between us.

If you require an osteopathic consultation for your baby, please contact us on 0416 161 411. 

As Osteopaths who treat babies, we do see babies who struggle with milestones. With a thorough structural assessment of their back, neck, shoulders, hips, arms and legs, we are looking to promote their ability to access their full range of motion needed to complete these milestones.   

To book an appointment, please follow this link https://osteo4families.cliniko.com/bookings