7 Month Old Not Sitting Up...

Hi A.,

Every child is different and boys are slower than girls so don't expect the same thing from him that you saw in your daughter. Not being able to sit up and not wanting to sit up are two different things and it would worry me if he could not sit up on his own. He has found that he can move from one place to another on his back so that is where he would rather be. Try doing a bit more tummy time and I bet you will see him start to crawl in about two more months.

Don't worry...he is completely normal! <grin>

My son did not really sit up confidently by himself until about 8 months. You can always discuss it with his pediatrician if you're concerned about a delay. I know they are "supposed" to go from rolling to sitting to crawling and then standing. My son rolled, then crawled, then stood up, and then finally decided sitting was okay. He just wanted to move!

I would talk with your pediatrician about it. Your son is still within the normal curve of learning things, but he's getting closer to what would be considered delayed. I have six adopted kids with special needs, 5 of which had physical delays. The laying on his back and pushing with the feet is a way they can learn to move around, but it can be detrimental because it starts teaching the brain this is the way to move instead of the alternating pattern of crawling and walking. It can make crawling and walking harder to learn.

L.

My older daughter had her own way of doing things too! She refused to roll over and screamed her little head off whenever she was on her tummy. She did not roll over or crawl until AFTER she learned to walk! She did love to pull herself up. Just wanted to see the world from a taller perspective, I guess. I was worried sick that there was something terribly wrong with her - but no. This same child, now 5, is currently tap dancing across the living room floor.

I would ask your pediatrician on your next well-baby visit if it is still worrying you, but my hunch is that your baby just wants to do things on his own schedule, and right now sitting up isn't interesting to him! We used one of those exer-saucers for our daughter so she could stand up and jump around. She looooooved it.

A.,

I am a teacher of child development to college students and have worked with young children for over 20 years.

Your son is developing just fine.

All children develop differently. Do not be too concerned that he does not like to sit up. He will do it when he is ready. Give him lots of floortime and opportunities to move about. Don't try to confine him to a sitting chair and don't try to put him in the sitting position. It is obvious to me from what you have shared that placing him in the sitting position is only going to cause him to hurt himself because he does not want to be in it at this moment.

He will grow and develop just fine. Trust that he will let you know what he needs next from you. If he is still not able to sit up by himself when he is one, then we have a problem.

I hope this helps.

C. Johnson

I agree with everyone. When my daughter was 8 months I was a nanny for two babies for two families, so including my daughter I had three babies within 2 months of each other. All three developed at their own time. According to all the baby books, one learned at the earliest age, one at the most common age, and one always waited until the doctors told her mom that they were getting concerned and then she would do it. The girls are all 9 years old now and doing great. So don't worry he will get there.
It never hurts to bring it up to his doctor who will be able to examine your son to see if he sees any problems. He will also be able to tell you when you should start to worry and what you can do to help him. Good luck.