Motor Milestone Series: Sitting

Most babies will learn to sit without help by the age of 8 months. There are several activities that you can work on with your baby to facilitate independent sitting. You baby should be able to hold their head up independently when their trunk is supported to start these activities. This is typically around 3-4 months of age. All  activities should be supervised with enough support given to prevent your baby from falling.

• Support your baby at the hips only while he or she is sitting on the floor. Your baby should try to hold their chest off of their legs at a 30° angle or more. As their strength improves, he or she should be able to keep their trunk upright to 90° with support at the hips. Use a Bumbo or with supervision to work on trunk  control. Do not use Bumbo on an elevated surface, like a counter.
• Have your baby sit using only pillows or a Boppy (as seen in the picture) for support while having them reach in front and overhead for toys. Have your baby sit without support with your hands on their hips. Remove your hands but keep them close by to catch your baby before they fall.
• When your baby can sit still without help provide them with toys to play with while sitting.
• When your baby can sit and play with a toy without falling, place toys further away from them so they have to reach to grab the toy and return sitting. Place toys to the left, right, and in front up to 12” away.
• When your baby can sit without help, grab toys placed on the ground, and return to sitting without falling, start to work on dynamic balance. Have your baby practice sitting on soft surfaces like a pillow and play with toys.
• When your baby can sit on soft or unstable surfaces without falling, start working on seated balance reactions. Gently push to the side, forward, and backward. Make sure you push slowly so that you give them enough time to adjust their balance and maintain sitting. If you push too fast or too hard, your baby will not be able to adjust quickly enough and will fall.

Always make sure to celebrate the small successes, and make it fun! If your baby isn’t crawling, they might benefit from a physical therapy evaluation. Contact MOSAIC Health & Rehab to schedule a free screen or to set up an evaluation. Check out Gross Motor Milestones: Crawling to learn what your child should develop next. To learn more, check out this great milestone moments list from the CDC.