Berkeley Parents Network: Baby Not Sitting Up Yet

Berkeley Parents Network

Baby Not Sitting Up Yet

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Worries Big & Little > Baby Not Sitting Up Yet

8.5 mo old cannot sit by himself
10-month-old not sitting up yet

8.5 mo old cannot sit by himself

Sept 2006

Our 8.5 month old son cannot sit by himself for more than 10 seconds, and has no interest in pushing himself up into a sitting position. Although he has strong neck muscles, and great head control (and started rolling both ways before 4 months) he prefers to roll everwhere, and pull objects up and in front of his face, rather than crawl and sit up to explore. My pediatrician said if he's not sitting at 9 months, then we should explore more, but I'm worried now! Any advice? alycia

I know you'll hear it a million times and it doesn't help ease those worries much, but: all babies really do develop at different paces and by the time they're 3 years old, they're all on pretty much the same playing field. My nephew was also a roller, not crawler. He would wiggle himself around and roll to things he wanted. (He was also pretty pudgy as a baby). He never did crawl. He rolled and rolled, and finally one day decided he could pull up on things, then tried it a few more times, and off he went walking...at about 13 months. He's now 9 and is one of the sweetest, brightest kids I know. You'd never know he didn't sit or crawl when he was ''supposed'' to do it. I'd just follow your pediatricians advice, but also just know that your little one has their own schedule to follow.
Roller now walking

10-month-old not sitting up yet

April 2006

I have an otherwise normal 10-month-old with significant large motor delay on the usual scales...can't sit by herself yet, still prefers back to belly, on belly props on elbows more than straight arms. Rolls well & does so to get things she wants. Reaches & points for things. Normal pregnancy, easy birth, no feeding/growth issues at all, no health problems whatsoever. Very early motor milestones normal--head control/loss of head lag at 2-3 mo, rolled back to front at 3 1/2 mo. Didn't roll front to back consistently until 9 mo. I didn't realize importance of tummy time and didn't put her on her belly much b/c she didn't like it. Her day care has a philosophy of never propping babies to sit. She's chubby and a good sleeper with a super-mellow, placid temperament, although she doesn't hesitate to let us know when she's unhappy. VERY social, interactive and happy. Normal to advanced fine motor skills. Vocalizes all the time with widely varying tones, listens & clearly understands a lot. I don't hear the ''strings of consonants'' that you read about, but not quite sure how to judge that anyway.

Our pediatrician was worried at 9 months & referred us for baby PT (we start 4/21). No down side to that so of course we'll go. Would love to hear from anyone in a similar situation, re: were you aggressive about evaluations and diagnostic testing? Did your child eventually receive a particular diagnosis or did (s) he just catch up at some point? Also, does anyone have any knowledge regarding validity and range of the standard developmental scales? Thanks to all! Allison

I don't know or remember about sitting up. But our daughter didn't walk til she was 17 months. Our ped. said he would only start to worry at 18 mos. She is 6 now and does soccer, tennis, swimming etc. and just fine. What I suspect looking back - she has a very 'dense' build - very heavy and solid - was that her body just wasn't strong enough to hold her. While not fat she certainly is solid. She weighs the same as her 8 year old brother. Don't know if that will help. In general I recommend doing lots of assessment and intervention if warranted. We have another child with suspected learning issues and are SO happy we did assessment at age 4 and early heavy intervention. It has made a world of difference. If we had waited til he was older he would have missed out on all that help. Anon

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