is w-sitting really that bad.....

[tzs]

...in an 11 month old???

my dd sits like this all the time. i know it should be corrected in older toddlers but have no idea if this is a problem in babies? or is it only a problem to be corrected once they start walking?

i mean, to me it seems the most natural sit to go into for a crawling baby. she crawls, she stops, she leans back, and kind it seems kind of natural that when she puts her tush down she goes into the w-sit.

should i be working on this? do all babies w-sit before they sit other ways?

[Mrs-Mama]

DS never sat that way, but DD always has (almost 22 months now). She walks a bit pigeon-toed, but her ped is not concerned for now. She says that they almost always grow out of it without intervention. The same advice was given to my friend regarding her daughter who still sits/walks that way at almost 4 (but no longer to the extent that my DD does).

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My cousin always sat like that as a child. She is 45 yrs old now, and has very severe arthritis in her hips. She's had one hip replacement already, and wants to have the other one replaced. She's been told it was because of the W sitting.

I have been doing daycare since the early 80s, and I've had kids who sit that way, I tell them "Sit with your feet in front of you", but that's mostly because if they are sitting next to someone, their legs are in the way, the the child next to them eventually gets kicked, so we always sit preschool style in a group.

All the kids who naturally sit W style have outgrown it by grade school age. None of them have any problems. My cousin didn't outgrow it for some reason.

I think a lot of that was back in the 60s and 70s, we didn't have furniture that we lounged around on. Kids always sat on the floor watching tv. She sat like that all the time. Her record player was on the bottom shelf and back then, we mostly had little 45s, so we sat on the floor with her records for hours looking at magazines. Even when she was 20, she still sat like that.

I think Sitting W style can be bad, but most kids do outgrow it. At nine months, I wouldn't even be concerned. But, maybe at age three, I might start reminding her to sit with her feet in front.

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http://www.pediatricservices.com/parents/pc-22.htm

Here is one of the links we use to discuss excessive W sitting with parents.

[sarahr]

When my dd was little (I don't remember how old) I asked her pedi about that. The answer was that it was fine in younger children (who didn't have other physical issues) and nearly always went away. I don't remember what age they said, but it was never a problem for dd (who now sits normally at almost 4, but is still super flexible).

[dakotablue]

My understanding is that w sitting is viewed similar to hand flapping. Totally normal for certain ages. Its only when it continues that it can be a possible concern.

Your DD is so young I wouldn't worry about it yet, but I guess my question would be if she CAN sit differently and just prefers to w sit? If you put her down in a feet forward position can she stabilize herself? (if not than its a possible indication of low muscle tone...but really I think you would have noticed other signs, I would however work on her balancing occasionally if she can't)

My DS has not yet w sat, but he has really really chunky thighs, he's 10 m.

[tzs]

yeah, she can sit other ways if i plop her there or if i fix her legs. i teach 2 year olds so we correct it with them...i just wasn;t sure in a baby....or if they all do it....

[confustication]

My 8.5 yo still w-sits as a preference. We remind her to shift most of the time, but since her bio dad (whom she has not seen in years) still sits that way as an adult, I don't have a lot of hope of her 'outgrowing' it. Now, if I tried it, I would need a few strong guys around to help me back up.

[Scarlet_Redhead]

My hubbys uncle is 60 and still sits like that. He has been in construction his whole life. He says that is the most comfortable way to sit when working on the floor (installing carpets and flooring). He said he can sit like that for hours....comfortably!!! Ouch!

[SunRise]

Interesting, First time I ever heard it was a bad thing!

I sat like that well into my teens. I also would sit in a T. My sister was envious. It didn't seem to be a problem then. I am 43 now and I don't have any problems. I can't sit like that any more, lost the ability in my 20's. Not so bendy.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

I'm 27, and I still sit like that! I'm not very flexible in my hips, and I've never been able to comfortably sit cross-legged. If I sit with my feet together and knees bent outwards, my knees point up; I can't get them even close to parallel with the floor. I stretch every night to try to improve my flexibility, but I think it's just the way I'm built. After a year of stretching, I see no noticable improvement. I don't know if it's related, but I did have foot/leg problems as a child and was in braces and orthotic shoes for a while before I was a year old... Who knows?