Have you been wondering what you can do to help your baby learn how to sit up?
In this video I’m going to show you the activities you can do to teach your baby
how to get into a sitting position. And I'll cover activities that will teach your baby how
to get out of the sitting position as well. If this is our first time meeting, I’m Dr.
Belousov. I’m a board certified pediatrician and I equip parents with knowledge, so they
can care for their children with confidence. I made this video in response to several of
you in my community asking for this content. If you have other topics that you would like
to see covered in future videos, please enter them in the comment section below.
So most babies will start to sit on their own without support around 6 to 7 months of age.
But it takes babies a little longer to figure out how to get themselves into the
sitting position. Babies typically start sitting themselves up somewhere between 7 and 10 months.
Remember that all babies are unique, and will develop at their own individual pace.
Just so you know what to expect, I want to briefly mention the progression babies go through to
develop the milestone of sitting. Once they are able to hold their heads up well on their own,
which usually happens by 4 months, they tolerate being placed into a sitting position,
but of course they require full support at that stage. Then around 5 to 6 months most
babies are able to start sitting in what we call the tripod position. They sit slumped forward,
with the hands resting on the floor to hold themselves up in the sitting position.
As the core and back muscles get stronger, babies are able to start sitting upright and are free to
use their hands to grab and hold things. Getting themselves from the position of laying down or
being on their-hands-and knees into the sitting position takes more work on the baby's part.
Once they start sitting themselves up, they don’t go from laying on their back to sitting straight
up. Instead they go from laying on the side and using the arms to prop themselves up into
the sitting position. Since your baby needs to learn how to sit before learning how to sit up,
first focus on doing activities that will teach your baby how to sit in the tripod position
and how to sit upright independently. I have a separate video that focuses on those activities.
It’s linked up here if you’d like to check it out. And once your baby is able to sit upright,
even if it’s just for brief periods of time, you can transition to doing the activities
that will help your baby learn how to get in and out of a sitting position.
So first we need to focus on engaging and strengthening the muscles that are
involved in making it possible for the baby to get in and out of the sitting position.
For the first activity have the baby sitting on the floor in front of you with a favorite object
laying in front and a little to the side, just out of reach. Be sure to use an item that your baby is
motivated to move towards. As your baby leans over to try to get the object, have your hand gently
resting on the baby’s hip area that is opposite to the side of the item. So if you have the item on
the baby’s right side, have your left hand on the baby’s left hip. Your hand will serve to provide
the stability your baby may need when leaning over too far. The gentle pressure from your hand
will make it possible for the baby to return back into a position of sitting up instead of toppling
over. Spend several minutes giving your baby the opportunity to reach for the object on one side.
Then switch to practicing for several minutes with the object on the other side as well.
A second activity you can do, which will allow you to challenge the baby a little
more, and help strengthen the muscles needed for sitting up, is to take the baby’s arms and guide
them off to the side towards the object. Then similar to the first activity, place your hand
on the baby’s hip opposite to the side of the object, and provide a gentle downward pressure
to serve as an anchor for the baby to return into the position of sitting up. Only provide as much
support as your baby really needs, to allow the baby to do more of the work. Don’t forget to do
this activity on the other side as well. We want to get the muscles equally strong on both sides.
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The third activity you can do is guide your baby through the motions of getting in
and out of a sitting position. Sit on the floor with the baby
in front and facing away. First you will show your baby how to get out of the sitting position
by placing your hands over the baby’s arms and guiding them across the body towards the floor.
This will cause your baby’s body to slide forward onto the floor and end up laying
on the tummy. After showing the baby how to safely get out of the sitting position,
now you’re ready to teach your baby how to sit up from the position of laying down.
First Roll your baby onto the side facing away from you. Then straighten the legs out in front.
Do it such that it looks like your baby is in a sitting position while laying on the floor.
If your baby is laying on the right side, put your left hand on the baby’s left hip and provide
a firm downward pressure over the hip and upper thigh area. At the same time use your right hand
to help bring the baby’s upper body off the floor, and provide as much assistance as your baby needs
to get into the sitting position. It’s easiest to do this exercise when the baby is in a good mood.
If the baby starts resisting and tensing the muscles, it may become difficult to get the
baby onto the side or get the legs straight out in front to guide the baby into the sitting position.
With this exercise, the main focus is to use the hand that you place on top of the baby’s hip,
upper thigh area, to create an anchor the baby can use to get into the sitting position. When
you first start doing this exercise, your baby will probably need your full support to bring
the upper body up. But with time your baby will help bring the upper body up by using his hands.
So only provide as much assistance as your child really needs to get into the sitting
position, and let the baby do the rest. For the fourth activity, I want to show you
how you can help your baby learn to sit from the kneeling position or the hands-and-knees crawling
position. When your baby is in the kneeling position, place your hands above the baby’s hips
and guide them back past the knees and a little off to the side towards the floor. This will teach
the baby how to get into the sitting position so the legs get tucked out from underneath the body
and then can go straight out in front of the baby. If your baby is in the hands-and-knees
crawling position, with your hands placed just above the hips, you will first need to guide
the baby’s upper body up and back, so the baby ends up in the kneeling position, and then guide
the hips back past the knees and a little to the side to get your baby sitting on the floor.
And for the fifth activity, I want to show you how to get your baby out of the sitting position
into the hands-and-knees crawling position. While sitting on the floor with your baby in front of
you, place an object that your baby is motivated to move towards in front and off to one side. If
the object is on the baby’s right side, bend the legs toward the baby’s left side, so the knees are
pointing in the direction of the object. Give your baby an opportunity to move the upper body forward
and get out of the sitting position into crawling. When the object is placed on the baby’s left side,
then you will need to bend the legs to the baby’s right side and see if the baby will get out of
sitting to move towards the item. Initially you might need to guide your baby through these steps.
So after bending the baby’s legs toward the side, you can hold your baby above the hip
area and guide the upper body forward. Once your baby puts the hands out, you can lower
the baby towards the floor. It’s only a matter of time before your baby gets the hang of it,
and starts doing it on her own. Just like with any skill set,
it will be a process for your baby to learn how to get in and out of the sitting position. So
keep giving your baby the opportunity to practice with these activities. See you in the next video.