Sitting: Supporting Developmental Milestones
Developmental milestones represent how the BRAIN the brain and body are changing. A baby’s brain, in general, develops from the back (the location responsible for reflexes, vision centers, and overall muscle tone of the body). As they grow and develop, the brain makes more connections moving forward, crossing side-to-side and eventually into the front of the brain.
This development, step by step, is crucial for balance and coordination, sensory processing, and mental reasoning. It is so exciting to see your baby progress and advance, we just can’t seem to help ourselves from trying to push them along. Let’s learn how to support these natural stages so you can enjoy watching your baby flourish.
If development is delayed, specialized pediatric chiropractic care can be helpful! Removing tension patterns, optimizing communication between the brain and the body, and providing parents with helpful tips and exercises can make all the difference. Discussing and assessing developmental milestones is a normal part of wellness pediatric chiropractic visits.
Babies and Sitting: What you need to know
For our second installment, let’s talk about sitting. Generally, babies begin to sit on their own around 6 months of age. There are certain positions and seats that are supportive while others can interfere with the development of motor skills. Seats that put a baby in a forced seating position work so well that they can compromise the natural strengthening of the hips and low back. Propped in an upright stationary position also does a great disservice to the stimulation and development of the brain.
Tummy time works to strengthen the spinal muscles, and rolling also stimulates the primitive brain responsible for important reflexes, balance, and coordination. We want to encourage rolling all directions before moving on to sitting! (see our post on rolling here)
When it is time to learn and practice sitting, a parent’s lap is a great place to start and once balance and control increase, sitting on their own with their hips supported by a caregiver’s legs or hands will help steady them as their low back and hips strengthen and learn to balance them.
We all need a safe place to put the baby while tending to other children or tasks. A bouncer, swing, crib, or playpen are great options! If a seated apparatus is the only way to keep your baby occupied, try to use them for short periods of time and as infrequently as possible.
