# 8 month old can't sit up?



## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

I'm starting to worry about my 8 month old son - I know "they" say not to compare your child's progress, but he can't sit up on his own yet and it's starting to worry me. His head is bigger than normal so I am thinking that might be pulling him over... but still, shouldn't he be able to compensate?

He's not crawling yet either, but he's able to roll where he wants to go and he pushes himself up on his hands really well, just hasn't figured out the knees. The sitting up worries me more than the crawling though.

Have any advice maybe for helping him learn to sit or for calming me down?


----------



## trancechylde (Apr 14, 2008)

My son was a late sitter.

He had *great* head-control, was scooting by early six months, was pulling up to stand on fingers, could sit _with_ support, but it wasn't until...probably around 8.5 months that he was sitting WELL unsupported.

It really used to worry me after reading all over the place about babies of 4-5 months sitting unsupported!









I know how hard it is NOT to compare, but I think you have to go with your gut sometimes.
If you feel that he's meeting other milestones appropriately and is developing okay, then don't worry- I'm sure he'll catch up when he's ready.

If you have a gnawing feeling of something being *not quite right*, then go and have him checked out maybe??

I used to sit DS in between my legs and put interesting toys etc on the floor in front of him and then gradually move away so he was supporting himself.. we "practised" this a few times a day.

Even to this day (9.5 months) sitting still isn't his favourite position- he'd rather be on his tummy playing or standing up


----------



## geck_07 (Jun 14, 2006)

My ds has a bigger head too, he's 8.5 months and has just recently been sitting on his own. He actually learned to pull himself up and crawl before sitting. Don't worry, every baby is different and he'll learn before you know it!


----------



## lexmas (Jan 9, 2007)

DS couldn't really sit up well enough unsupported that I knew he wouldn't tip over until he could get into a sitting position himself, and that wasn't until after he started crawling on hands and knees at 11 months. He's on track now, running and jumping all over the place, so I wouldn't worry about it!


----------



## rcr (Jul 29, 2008)

My DS just turned 9 MO and just started sitting a week ago. He got good at it real fast. Try not to compaire, it kills me to do it. I know other LOs are walking and talking at 9 MO, and my LO is not even crawling.


----------



## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

It is sooooo hard to not compare! But I am glad to hear that there are other late-sitters out there. Most of the babies in Toby's playgroup are sitting/crawling and there's one who is a month older than him walking







: and I guess it just started worrying me.

Thanks mamas!


----------



## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

ds CAN sit unsupported, he just doesn't want to. I saw him do it once, and maybe it wasn't even "official" since he was on a bed and i was lying right next to him so all he had to do was reach out a hand if he started losing his balaNCE.

He's a big baby with a big head. His sister was tiny, very active, and walked at 9 months. i'm not even sure you could call what 8 month old ds does "crawling" yet.

Both kiddos are perfectly normal, just different.


----------



## Justmee (Jun 6, 2005)

ds can't sit unsupported yet either. If I sit him up he flops over pretty fast. He pulls himself on his arms to get around a bit, and he can get up on his knees and rock but nothing close to a "real" crawl. He is pretty floppy though so I might think about starting PT at some point. The ped. said to bring him back for a check / referrel if he wasn't sitting by 8 months (and if I wanted to)


----------



## RomanGoddess (Mar 16, 2006)

Can't sit unsupported or can't put himself into a sitting position? These are two very different things. The first generally starts at around 6 or 7 months (although it can occur even at 9 months). Putting oneself into a sitting position is much much harder. I think my DD only did at 11 months and many babies are not able to until beyond a year. Nothing to worry about.


----------



## Girlprof (Jun 11, 2007)

My DD is in the same boat. She will stay in a seated position for a few moments without support - maybe even 30 seconds to a minute - but then she topples over. She can't maintain herself sitting for any length of time. She'll be 9 months next week.

I know it isn't good to compare, but DS was walking at 9 months so I feel like I have no knowledge of what else is normal. DD seems otherwise fine and indeed, is one of the happiest babies I've ever met. I'm going to ask the ped about the sitting at her 9 month appt, but it's good to hear she's not alone.


----------



## matey (Sep 15, 2006)

My ds army crawled before being able to sit on his own. He JUST started sitting on his own really well in the last couple weeks and he is almost 10 months old. He does have a big head, fwiw, but I think really babies just develop differently.


----------



## Krisis (May 29, 2008)

Toby is JUST about crawling, but still no sitting up (though he did pull himself up to a seated position today). The pediatrician said if he hasn't mastered sitting unsupported by the 27th (when he is 9 months) she wants to start him baby physical therapy.


----------



## Kealli (Dec 8, 2007)

It is interesting that some of your late sitters are pulling up to stand and crawling. My ds was sitting unassisted at 5 months, but at 9 months is far from crawling. He doesn't like to be on his tummy and likes to sit, and pp's babies like to be on their tummy and not sitting.


----------



## bobandjess99 (Aug 1, 2005)

odds are everything is fine.
I developmental screenings for my job and we use a continuum to evaluate all skills.
The percentiles we use are 10th, 50th, 75th, and 90th. A child who is doing aomething prior to the 10th percentile is considered "advanced" a child doing something between the 10th and 75th percentile is considered normal, and ahicld who is doing things between 75 andx 90 is ALSO considered normal, although we do take a slightly closer at look at the overall picture and the vast majority of the time, there is absolutely no reason to worry...
If a child is not doing something by the 90th percentile, that is considered to be a possible delay and we closely look at the overall picture and do a more in depth assessment. Again, the vast majority of the time, everything is perfectly fine, and the kid is just slow at..whatever. BUT....sometimes we can catch problems this way, which is the purpose of a screening and/or evaluation.
for sitting up unsupported, the 10th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles are actually really close together..about teh closest out of all the skills we test. They are 5.25 months, 5.75 months, 6.25 months and 7 months.
So...7 months is the 90th percentile for sitting up unsupported. So yes, we would start to look at reasons why by then....however, again, the vast majority of kids not sitting at that point are going to be normal. things like "has a big head" are going to be figured in, and other motor skills will be factiored in..obviosuly he is developing if he can roll and pull himself up.
was he premature at all, because we subtract weeks prior to edd, so he might actually be "younger" than he is.....

and yes, "get to sitting" like roman goddess said is a completely different skill..the range on that one is about 7.5 to 11 months from 10th to 90th percentiles, so significantly later.


----------



## trancechylde (Apr 14, 2008)

Very informative post, Bobandjess, thanks!


----------



## Girlprof (Jun 11, 2007)

Thank you Bobandjess. Can I ask what counts as sitting unsupported? DD is 9 months and can stay seated for about 30 sec unsupported, but then topples over. She can not really prevent the topple. I think this puts her past the 90th percentile.

She does not have a particularly big head, but she is very tall - about 95th percentile for height. She is also a snuggler so she gets held a lot and is not motivated to crawl. She rolls fine.


----------



## *Aimee* (Jan 8, 2007)

My eldest was like this. He was also a month early. He has a HUGE head though!

I'm trying to get DS2 to sit unassisted but he's too interested in eating his own toes, which makes things difficult!


----------

