I would like to know if anyone has had this problem with their child. My Grandson is 15 1/2 months old and can not sit up on his own. Drs tested reflex and said it is weak. How can I help him? I babysit him during the week and would like to do things that will help him get stronger.....Would appreciate any input.
Child does not crawl yet. He had a long wait to get tubes in his ears that he needed, so he was almost deaf for the first year of his life. He goes to Therapy once a week. he is a happy bright child and I have him on the floor a lot of the time he spends with me as he gets to move around and stretch. For those whom suggested testing, we are doing that now and so far no real answers. The Drs are talking about a biopsy of muscles. Thank you for all your input and should anyone think of anything else I would love to hear from you.
Hi C.,
Yes, there's a lot you can do to help :)
You didn't say if he's crawling yet, but any floor-time play is awesome: rolling, creeping, crawling, kicking legs, pushing-up on arms or hands, throwing toys: all will help strengthen his tiny trunk muscles (the muscles we all need to sit up with).
Good luck with your sweetie :)
t
Why isn't he in occupational, physical and speech therapy? It is a total body problem. He needs strength, endurance and reflex integration programs. Exercises at home would be plenty of tummy time. Making him reach out for things on his belly. Rolling him over and over. Getting good head rotations by guiding him with somersaults. Getting up on hands and knees and rocking to get ready for crawling. Put him in a side sit to strengthen trunk for sitting. E-mail privately for more info. ALso keep him out of any contraptions like exersaucers, jumpers etc. Just him and the floor learning to resist gravity! Food allergies are a big problem for children and can cause havoc as evidenced by the ear infections. His vestibular system got really screwed up. To help it hold him upside down with top of his head parallel to the floor, count to 5 and slowly up repeat several times. This gets the fluid in the inner ear moving again so he can have a sense of balance and spatial awareness.
dear grandma...
I am no expert...but I will share some intuitive thoughts.
1. Have you tried having him sit in a soft front carrier, like the ergo. that way he can sit comfortably and get body contact. He can get used to sitting and enjoy.
2. Baby Bjorn has a trampoline chair that is soft and molds to the child. we bought it for our then baby son, and he learned to sit and eat in it.
3. have you talked to a physical therapist about certain exercises?
4. have you talked to a dietician about adding additional protein to his diet???
I am sure everything will work out on its own in time and he will be sitting at his wedding dinner with pride.
Good Luck.
.
Please encourage his parents to have him evaluated for some PT and/or OT. It will really help!
I think that I would want more information. Most babies can sit up with out support between 9 - 12 months. Is he rolling over, scooting on the floor or doing any other gross motor skills? It seems a little late to me that he is not sitting up at 15.5 months. Even if the pediatrician doesn't think anything of it maybe he can refer you to a specialist in your area.
For right now, some things you could do would be to have lots of floor time. Where he has to use his own muscle power to get what he wants. You can use one of those big exercise balls to roll him around on. Lay him on his tummy and roll him forward and back. My 15 month old has loved this play for a long time. Also, something like a Johnny-jumper or excersaucer would keep him up right and strengthen his back. As long as he is having fun, and using his muscles I don't think you can go wrong :-)
Best of luck and have fun playing.
S.
My young friend had a child like this. We took him to therapy and they thought he would never do much to improve, but she watched how they worked with him in therapy and when we went home, she got down in the floor with him and did the same things repeatedly until he could do whatever they had been trying to get him to do. (Clap, crawl, eventually walk, etc.) He was slower than other children his age but he did learn. He even had to go to speech therapy and learned to talk like a grown person. It was amazing to watch them together. He is a grown man now and after graduating from high school, he joined the United States Navy and is very successful. He has married. I give the credit to his young mother's persistent work and God's grace. He doesn't even know what he has been given. Sometimes it just takes prayer and work. She would put one knee in front of his body and then the other until he could learn to crawl.
15 months old and cannot sit up??? And the doctor just says 'his reflexes are weak?' Something is VERY wrong with this picture!!! There has got to be an underlying reason WHY this child isn't sitting up yet.
I would suggest you find a new pediatrician, who will schedule some testing to see what is wrong.
What is he eating- check with WestonPrice.com, and Dr. Bruce West, and then check w/ the International Chiropractic Pediatric Assn for a referal to have his nervous system checked.
best, k
Hi C.,
Not sure how it works in FL, but here we have free early intervention services for children 0 to 3-years-old. You might check into that and have him evaluated by pediatric physical therapist.
Hope this is helpful.
Victoria
