Helping Baby Sit

[SeattleRain]

My 4m DS seems to really want to sit up. He's always lifting his head and feet off the ground if he's laying on his quilt on the ground. If he's sitting on our laps, he wants to be sitting up straight. He seems quite frustrated laying flat. His favorite place to be is in the bouncy chair, I think because it sits him up a little bit so he can adequately play with is toys. He loves to lay flat on my legs and have me pull him up by his hands, he'll even hang out there alone just holding my hands. He's really showing all the signs of readiness to sit, but he can't seem to figure out how to get up there, so I want to help him out a little bit.

I have a Bumbo seat, which he likes in theory, but he's too skinny to really get a good fit in there. He tends to slide around too much. I also have a Boppy which I heard is supposed to help.

How did you help your baby sit? What was the progression like?

[LeaPea]

I also have a 4 month old. I sit on the floor with her with my legs open, and I sit her between my legs. I sort of spot her with one hand. She will bend over to pick up things, and I just make sure she doesn't face plant! It seems to be helping her out.

[Blessed1]

I agree with the above!
My 4month old sounds a lot like yours as far as sitting goes. But she can now sit unassisted for a few minutes at a time. I always sat with my legs crossed (indian style) and put her in the middle of them facing out. She pretty much has to balance on her own but she gets the support she needs from me. I think within a week she will be a sitting pro.

We have a bumbo and have used it maybe 5 times...
I do use the boppy! It helps her a lot. You just have to watch that she doesn't face plant when reaching for a toy. I think the boppy has helped her tremendously and it keeps her from hurting herself.

Keep pulling him up to sit...it helps strengthen the core muscles needed to sit up. I did a lot of those with my LO and I feel it helped. Now I am working on pulling her up to the sitting position and then to the standing position. She can now bear all of her weight for longer periods of time.

[SeattleRain]

I'll try sitting with him between my legs, I actually hadn't thought of that! DS loves to stand. He could probably stand for 15 minutes or so, I guess his legs are quite strong.

[ErinYay]

Those sit-ups he's doing are really good for his core muscles. It's definitely a frustrating period, but it goes by very quickly.

[Abraisme]

I supported my DD with the boppy while she was learning to sit. She could sit without any support just after 4mo. Once she got a little more sturdy I would put a pillow behind her incase she flopped over.

[rhiOrion]

I put the boppy behind her and sat in front of her. Then I sat her up "tripod" so leaning forward with her hands on the ground. That eventually evolved to just sitting. And then eventually to sitting unassisted.

When she was mostly sitting unassisted but not quite free of randomly falling over, I'd put the boppy behind her and a pillow in front of her. Basically making a full circle of cushion around her.

[Asiago]

Sitting baby in a laundry basket can offer a little extra support without being restrictive. The nurse from our ped's office reccomended this idea.

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I put the boppy behind her and sat in front of her. Then I sat her up "tripod" so leaning forward with her hands on the ground. That eventually evolved to just sitting. And then eventually to sitting unassisted.

When she was mostly sitting unassisted but not quite free of randomly falling over, I'd put the boppy behind her and a pillow in front of her. Basically making a full circle of cushion around her.

This is exactly what we did too. Cecilia was sitting tripod around 4.5 months and sitting erect unassisted around 5.5 months.