Learning to sit

Owen could not get himself into sitting position until he was 3 1/2 years old.  He could sit unsupported a while before that.  It was a LONG, LONG process.  Here's some of the tips I picked up along the way.

Therapy Help:  Get your therapist to show you how to help your child into sitting position, step by step,  Get in the habit of doing it each day, even just a couple of times.  These kids need so much repetition in order for their brains to form the pathways to remember it.

Make sitting "normal":   What I mean is get them used to being in sitting position as much as possible. So provide play time in a safe sitting environment. Get them used to seeing the world whilst sitting up, then hopefully they will want to sit. Owen had no great desire to sit, so we had to REALLY work on this one.

Get some aids to help you work on or encourage sitting:

• Such as a Clam Shell Paddle Pool.................But not just any sort. You want one like the pink and green one's  in the photo's, where the sides go straight up from the pool floor and they have curves for the child's back.  Put water, balls, toys, rice, pasta in it (not together though).  Use it to provide different experiences for them.  When they get tired of sitting or aren't quite strong enough, there is built in support for them.   
• Or maybe a sturdy rectangular laundry basket or box, to sit them in with some toys.  Put it somewhere it isn't going to tip it over.
• Get a Bumbo or the like (I used to pop Owen in the bath tub with his Bumbo, It would be a little unsteady until the water got high enough).
• Look at what you already have, can your highchair double as a play chair? Can you put supports or rolled up towels in their to provide  extra support.   Can you give them toys to play with while they are sitting there?
• If you can afford it look into a corner chair, posture chair or the like (whatever your therapist recommends). You can sometimes pick up a second hand one online or loan one through a toy library (such as Noah's ark or you local council) or even your therapist (if they have a loan pool).

Build Strength: Through tummy time.............I know they get upset but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.  If they hate it, do it regularly but in short stints.  Get a therapy wedge (or something similar) so it helps them be a little further off the ground. Put toys in front of them but not just any toys, make sure they are their favourite toys and only bring them out for tummy time.  Get a gym ball.  

Get your therapist to show you some fun activities you can do with them on there eg bouncing them up and down whilst  they a sitting (and and you are holding them) or tummy time rolling and reaching for toys.

Build endurance: They will need endurance to sit, so to build Owen's strength I spent hours, upon hours sitting behind him, putting him into sitting position.  I was there to position him, provide support (when required) and to stop him from falling over and hurting himself. I had a picnic rug that he and I would sit on at the park, at a picnic or while watching his big brother play sport.  I even sat with him like this if we were watching TV at home.  There is even a picture of me in a holiday unit, looking 
at the view whilst sitting with Owen.

Be cunning:  It got to the stage where the only way Owen would to push up into sitting position was if he had no other choice.  So I put him on his tummy (which he still hated) and I would position my self so the only way out of it was for Owen to try and push up into sitting position.  He hated tummy time more than he hated trying to sit.   Once Owen mastered sitting, he would get lazy and just lie backwards, so we placed a low but sturdy toy (Fisher Price Xylophone)  just behind his bottom, so he would lean, feel it and sit back up again. Took him ages to work out that it could be moved.

Lastly, don't give up. There were times I thought it might never happen but it did.