When should I teach my baby to sit?

Most babies learn to sit up independently between 6-8 months. There is a lot that needs to happen before this however. Your baby needs to be coming into good extension with their upper back in tummy time. Rolling should be well under way, back to front and front to back before you try sitting them. They need to develop upper body strength  coordination and overall body organization,  before sitting is attempted.

Ideally your baby learns how to sit on their own, without you "showing" them, this can happen after they learn to hands and knees crawl in some instances. What is important in babies learning to sit, is that we want them to know how they got into the sitting position, and we want them to know how to get out of it. Otherwise they are "stuck" there.

This is fun for them to be in an upright posture, interacting with us, however, if baby can't get out of the position, they are not learning about their own autonomy. What we are mapping in their body is actually stiffness! Yes, prolonged sitting can cause unnecessary stiffness in their shoulders and hips. Not only that, but when you take that baby who is used to sitting back down to tummy time it will be harder, they will protest!.
If you want them to learn about sitting, I like to practice with babies in what I call a "supported" sit. This is having them between your legs or on your legs if they are younger, and leaning against your body for support. See the picture above. That way they lean their back against you and don't have to stiffen in their joints (primarily their hips and shoulders) to keep themselves upright.

Come learn more about motor development, and have fun in my
Developmental Play With Babies class,

To Sit or Not to Sit

To sit or not to sit, that is the question.

Babies spines are C-curved when they are born. As they start to develop muscle control, strength and organization in their bodies (and spend lots of time on the floor), they develop a cervical curve and eventually when they creep and crawl a lumbar curve.

How can we support this? Floor time Floor time Floor time!

By giving babies lots of time on the floor to explore their bodies particularly on their bellies, they start to gain muscle control, learn how to right themselves, learn balance and coordination. and this is what facilitates normal motor development in the first year of life.

Why not sit your babies?

When we sit babies before they are ready, we put unnecessary strain on the spine, we cause stiffness in babies joints, and put babies in a position they can't get out of unless they fall over. It renders them helpless, and unable to actively engage in their environment, and does not support them to have physical confidence or a sense of security. We put them at risk also of delaying or skipping major developmental milestones such as crawling.

What can I do instead?

• Give baby lots of floor time
• Wear your baby
• Practice supported sitting with your baby in your lap leaning up against your belly, so they don't have to hold themselves upright.
• Do nothing! trust their innate desire to move.

“I believe in giving your baby a safe space in which to play and letting her move freely and develop on her own without assisting her. Refrain from propping her up to sit or helping her roll over. She has an innate desire to move through these developmental sequences and has inborn knowledge of how to do it in a way that is ‘right’ for her. She does this at her own pace and she gets pleasure from doing it.”

— Magda Gerber

Here is a video showing a baby's wonderful movement discoveries if left to figure it out on their own!