8 Month Old Not Sitting Up

sitting up is work...it's so much easier to recline in a swing/carseat...try putting baby in an exosaucer or something where she is sitting straight up(a little at a time) also practice with baby sitting in front of you...she will sway and wobble and you can catch her...as she gets better at it place pillows all the way around her...practice for a little bit, then stop and give it a rest...as long as she's meeting other milestones I wouldn't worry...I mean who likes to fall flat on their face/back??? keep your eye on it and at your next appointment talk to your doctor....I had babies who sat up at 5 months and some at 9...they are all fine and all walked by 13 months(some earlier)...you will drive yourself nuts if you try to compete with the milestone chart...it's an average..and your baby will hit some early, some on time and some late....and that's OKAY!!!!!

Yes, question this and possibly look into getting an assessment from early intervention so that you can get some occupational therapy - but, while I say look into it don't assume that there is a long term problem here. Children can catch up quickly. My son was born premature and was still not sitting up at 10 months. We started to get worried, brought him to a neurologist for an assessment, was referred to early intervention who sent us an occupational therapist. After nine months of therapy (only one hour a week) we stopped therapy and my son, who will turn two in three weeks is running everywhere. He started sitting at 10 1/2 months, crawling at 13 months, walking at almost 19 months, now he is running around everywhere. Also, with delay in these he had delayed speech too. He spent his time learning to crawl, stand, walk, etc so he did not try to learn to speak for a while. Now he is talking up a storm and that started slow then moved quickly after he got going. Go with your gut feeling, my pediatrician also did not think there was a problem and personally I am so glad he got the extra help he needed. Now he is caught up and doing great and I know I got him the help he needed. Good luck.

Hello M....hope all is well with u and yours..i understand how u feel..and to b honest i would get a second opinion before i worry..i c this as a problem also ...however each child is an individual..some do things faster than others..some are more advanced ...my youngest child,my daughter, is 9 months old...i have 3 members of my family who had their baby the same month i did or at least one month after,,anyway they are all four..nine months old..my baby didnt get her first two teeth till last month and now she has four..but everybody elses baby was biting already by then..with at least 6-7 teeth..my baby was holdin her own bottle at 3-4 months old..their children wasnt..my baby was also the fast 2 stand on her own and walk around holdin on to things..anyway i say this to say every child matures differently..what u can do is keep ya baby propped up with pillows behind and in front of her for practice..and she will get used to it..that was my method for all three of mines..anyway dont be so n a hurry but dont ignore these things either so it would be good to keep ya ped..dr. Informed because she might also b delayed ..lets pray not but some things happen that way..but girl when she does start doing all of the things that u say she doesn't do and should be...u r going to b writing back cause u cant stop her from getting into things..i sure remember when my 17 yr old was a baby and i couldnt wait for him to start walkin..whoooo..once he did i couldnt catch him...lol...so let her take her pace but help her with practice and be consistent..hope all goes well for her..and u also..

As long as she is strong enough to be able to sit up i think is the important thing. Whether she has desire to is i think less important. Do you have a bumbo seat? That can put her in the upright position and while she sits supported, her muscles are strengthening. Also tummy time will strengthen the back muscles as she lifts up her head and limbs from that position. maybe even the doorway bouncer can help strengthen muscles to make sitting up easier for her, if that is the problem. But try not to worry, as it is true every baby develops differently. If she is attempting to crawl, that's fantastic and shows that there may not be any problems at all. Encourage crawling! Good luck!

Use a boppy pillow to prop her up.. maybe being propped will help her sit up in time. Does she move from place to place when on the floor.. does she reach for things, does she make sounds, does she hold things in her hands.. these are all the things you need to look for. if she does all of these things.. that's really good. does she smile and frown? does she hold her own bottle? things like that. wait a little longer, if she doesn't start to do sitting up, and rolling the other way, or even pulling herself up into a standing position, then get her checked out... My friends son wouldn't do much and at 10 months old they had early intervention.. he is now 16 months old.. and he is running around.. and right on target.. he just needed a little help getting there.. good luck..

One day you will wake up and she will be crawling, sitting
and pulling herself up. Some babies are just very laid
back, but once they start hold on to your hats. Be careful
what you wish for LOL!!!!!!

Hi M.,

I wouldn't worry...our 3rd (Ava) has done everything - EVERYTHING - slower than our first 2...

She's just a little pokey...enjoy it while you can - pretty soon you'll be on the go all day chasing her!

Best wishes,
J.

Hi M.
Congrats on wonderful child and realizing that MD may have some advice for you. Sounds like MD did, saw no problem. That is good news. Encourage sitting, and other typical development and continue to mention it at MD appts,
My story:
One of the girls from my set of twins seemed to be always on target with the charts, and then there was the other. I brought her into MD specifically at 10 months because she would not pick her head up even when I laid her on the floor. Her twin sister was crawling. Since I worked special needs I knew we had passed the line. Made special appt, and MD said she seems fine, and mention it next month if still a problem but I think she will catch up. OK, did I believe that No, did I want that Yes I am glad he believed that because it saved my daughter lots of testing. By the time we went in for checkup, she was pulling herself up on the furniture and cruising around the house. He was thankful he was right also. By a year they were both walking.
One of the girls development is steady like walking up a ramp, the other is more like walking up steps with long landings. When she gets there she just goes up.
Today, both girls are in college. My ramp learner decided she wanted to live on campus and go to the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, which she is pursuing. The steps learner was not quite ready to leave home so is at the community college. She is finishing her first semester and she and I can both see she is ready to go off to college. She is going to finish there but is looking into colleges much further away and we are thankful now that she has these 2 years at home.
I am trusting God that your situation turns out as well.
Please let me know what happens next.
Probably old enough to be your mom, talk to her she probably has stories too
K. SAHM married 38 years --- 4 adult children 37entrepreneur, 32 lawyer who had our first grandbaby this summer, and the twins are 18.

Your daughter is still in the normal range for sitting up. If she's attempting to crawl it's probably that she's putting her efforts into that skill at the moment. Babies develop differently and seem to focus on one skill at a time. My daughter did not sit up until nine months, never crawled and walked at ten months. My son, however, did not sit up until 14 months and learned to crawl at 17 months and is still learning to walk. We heard "nothing wrong" at 9 months from the ped. but when I insisted on an eval by the occupational therapist he was diagnosed with low muscle tone. Most likey, your daughter is fine but if you begin to feel that she is lagging too far behind don't be afraid to ask for further evaluation.

Is your baby big? Often big babies hit the physical milestones a little later, just because they have more body mass to move around. I wouldn't worry though. My daughter didn't roll until late, then everything kind of happened at once - she started crawling, pulling up, etc. soon after. If you are concerned, you can do little floor exercises with her and help her figure out how to move her body and roll the other way. Put toys just out of her reach so she tries to go after them.

You could also prop her up with pillows or sit her in the corner of the sofa, put her in a high chair, get the Bumbo seat (all under your supervision of course) and give her new things to look at so she sees how fun it is to be sitting upright. She needs to build up her trunk strength, you could probably google this and get some good tips for different floor exercises. If you know anyone who's an occupational therapist working with little ones, they could show you some good moves for helping babies build their trunk muscles.

You will probably hear this a dozen times but every baby is different. Just be sure to provide plenty of opportunities for her to practice her skills and she will get there. I have twins who are so different. My daughter would practice and practice to roll over, or walk and it would take her much longer than my son. He would just out of the blue do it! I remember he HATED to be on his beely so I thought he wold never roll...then one day to everyone's surprise he just rolled. I think he as shocked too. SO my point is that each child is different and it will happen when they are ready. Just be sure to encourage and upport her and provide lots of time to practice. She'll get thereand once she does there's no lookin' back! ;)

have you tried a bumbo seat?

some babies never really want to sit up...my first child never really cared to and she walked at not quite 8 months.
let her crawl, stand her up in your lap or on the floor and let her stand holding onto your pinkies, or put her in a walker and prop her back a little to promote her keeping her back straight nstead of slumped...she'll do it when she's ready

a side note...this was typed one-handed while holding my 2mo old :) apologies for poor grammar!

My youngest son (age 22) did not roll over until he was 12 months. He started crawling at 11 months. He walked at 15 months. His speech wasn't the greatest either and now he is the captain of his college hockey team.

I know it is worrisome. Use your mom intuition over the doctors. i'd say if she didn't have any muscle tone in her back to hold herself up then the doctor would notice.

Some kids are slow starters but at some point they catch up!

Enjoy!

Hi M.,

If your baby is chubby it will be harder for her to sit up.
If she is still making the effort to try than don't worry about it. My nephew was 10 pounds when he was born and had a big head and he was nice and chubby - not fat, (he's not fat now either at 18yrs) - its that perfect baby chubbiness.

If her head is bigger than her body - its just not going to happen. My daugher didn't even crawl she just walked at nine months! I was worrying about crawling and she just begun to walking. After that I didn't bother about the charts. You can work with her. Like help her stand up and let her fall down and help her stand up and let her fall down. Make it like a game and she will love it.

Be open minded - every child is different and don't compare babies - its too much stress.

check with an occupational therapist, and see if there is any reason for concern

Hi,

My 10 month old son just started sitting up on his own two weeks ago. I was beginning to worry, but the ped said all was fine. And in truth, he looked so happy with what he was doing (beginning to crawl) I could see that he had no interest in sitting (why sit when you can discover the world by scooting around?) And then out of nowhere, one day he was sitting up. And then a few days ago (again out of nowhere) he's pulling himself up into standing position. What amazes me is that I didn't see the progression of him trying. It was just one day he felt like doing it, so he did it. Your daughter may be the same. Just enjoy her and watch her absolutely love crawling.

Best,
M.