Until your baby starts sitting independently, she looks and feels like a helpless newborn. But once she starts sitting up on her own, she's taken a huge step toward independence and later development. As a milestone, sitting independently usually occurs sometime before the baby's eighth month of life. Other related milestones, like crawling and walking, tend to follow not long afterward.
If you're wondering when your baby will start sitting up by herself, here are some facts that you might need to know.
1. Sitting without support usually occurs between 4 and 7 months of age.
Most babies start sitting up sometime between the beginning of the fourth month and the end of the seventh month, according to BabyCenter. By the time she is 8 months old, your baby will probably be able to sit without support for a few minutes before toppling over. Even in healthy children, there is some variation in the development of this milestone. A few unusually strong babies might develop sitting-up skills earlier, while some will develop the skill slightly later.
2. It develops gradually. Don't expect your baby to go straight from holding his head up to placing himself in an erect seated position. Your baby starts to learn to sit up at about 4 months, when he learns to hold his head up while placed on his belly. He then learns to briefly sustain a seated position while bearing his weight on his hands, in a sort of tripod position. At seven to eight months, he masters this milestone. The ability to deliberately enter a seated position, without your help, will probably arrive at 9 or 10 months.
3. Sitting relates to other milestones. Your baby's ability to sit correlates directly with other milestones. In almost all cases, babies begin sitting shortly after they master rolling over. A month or two after sitting up, your baby may start crawling or creeping through your home, and "cruising" while holding onto furniture may come a month or two after that. Remember that some babies will follow an unusual pattern of development. This is not necessarily a reason to be concerned.
4. You play a role. You don't have to participate in "teaching" your baby to sit up -- it's something he will do naturally without encouragement. However, this is one milestone that affects the way you relate to your baby. Once he starts sitting with little or no help, it's about the right time to begin introducing him to solid foods. It's also time to start babyproofing, if you haven't yet. Your baby will become mobile very soon, and it's best to prepare your house for his meddling before -- rather than after -- he starts exploring it.
5. Talk to a pediatrician if you're worried. If your baby seems to be significantly behind his peers in his ability to sit up, schedule a chat with his pediatrician. If your baby is 6 months old and can't bear weight on his arms or hold his head up steadily, he may be dealing with a delay in his motor development. If your baby can't sit well without help by 9 months, this is another potential red flag for a delay. In these cases, an evaluation is important to determine if your baby has an underlying medical problem or needs physical therapy.
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